How the historical map of Ukraine was formed

History is a science that studies the life of people in the past. Interest in the past does not fade away, a person needs to know his history and, of course, draw conclusions. History studies all possible sources, establishes a chain of events, a historical process, systematizes. A historical map is one of these sources. Consider what this source is, and what information we can get from it.

Historical map as a source of information

The main goal of the historical map is to convey to the posterity a fixed and preserved display of historical events in a certain locality, ie to show that historical process, then the time and those events in space are clearly visible. A historical map is an image of a planet or a certain part of it, a territory at different times of human history. Thus, historical events become not just dry facts in the textbook, they come to life in the eyes and become more understandable and clear. We can see the emergence of entire civilizations, the economic development of a state, trade routes, the course of military operations, the conquest of one state by another, the emergence and decline of entire empires - an entire epoch on just a few historical maps. Historical maps are divided into ethnographic, archaeological, historical-economic, historical-political, military-historical and historical-cultural. In these branches, maps are common, which show the processes as a whole, and private, characterizing certain aspects of events or phenomena and facts. Thanks to these maps, we can learn more about the native land, the history of our native country.

Ukraine and Russia: a common history

Ukraine and Russia have a common history, and this can not be disputed. Historical maps of Russia will always tell about this close relationship, because for many centuries the territory of present-day Ukraine was displayed on them. The borders between Russia and Ukraine were artificially created, although the national, cultural differences between the peoples located in neighboring states on different sides of the border are minimal. This happened after the First World War. Under pressure from the occupation of Germany at the Paris Peace Conference , Ukraine appeared on the world political map.

How the historical map of Ukraine was formed

The location of Ukraine in the central part of Eastern Europe, in addition to profitable trade routes, led to the fact that the country repeatedly became a participant in military operations. It all began with Kievan Rus, with the decline of which the Galicia-Volyn principality arose, most of which later is captured by neighboring countries. In 1569, these neighboring countries - Poland and Lithuania - united in one state - Rzeczpospolita, it included almost all the lands of present-day Ukraine. At the beginning of the XVII century there was a division already between Poland and Russia of the territories, thanks to which more and more lands were part of Russia. This was the beginning of the uprising in 1648 Zaporozhye Cossacks due to increased pressure from the Polish tycoons. The rebellion was led by Bogdan Khmelnitsky, and in 1654, at a meeting called Pereyaslavl Rada, it was announced that the insurgent territories were withdrawing Protectorate Russia. During the Russian-Turkish wars, the so-called "Wild Field" land development took place. Thanks to the conquests of Russia, the most important cities of the south and the southern coast of the Black Sea were founded: Kirovograd, Kherson, Nikolaev, Odessa, Dnepropetrovsk. Then Bessarabia joined. Austria-Hungary still included the territories of Transcarpathia, Bukovina and Galicia.

Ukraine in the USSR: the continuation of the formation of modern borders

The USSR liberates the present territories of Western Ukraine in 1939, which earlier in 1918 and 1920 were captured by Poland. In 1940, in response to the demand of the USSR, Romania returns the territories of Bessarabia and Bukovina captured in 1918. Transcarpathia was liberated in 1945 and also became part of the USSR. Thus, thanks to tsarist Russia and the redistribution of the borders of the USSR after the First and Second World Wars, a new historical map of Ukraine was formed in its current borders.