1654. Treaty of Pereyaslav: Among other things, it established the union between Russians and Ukrainians. In celebrating its tercentenary, in 1954 Russia ceded Crimea to Ukraine.
1917. Foundation of the Ukrainian People’s Republic: the first time an independent Ukrainian state is formed, with an extension about half of its current extension. But it does not last long: in 1922 it will become part of the USSR. It is necessary to wait until 1991 for a new independence.
1922. The USSR is born: Ukraine enters with the territory indicated in red in the Figure, but the territory will be enlarged, first, at the time of the establishment of the USSR, and then at the end of the last world war, in 1945.
1941. Operation Barbarossa: is the code name for Adolf Hitler’s planned invasion of Russia. He took advantage of the collaboration of anti-Russian Ukrainians, who joined Nazism and swore allegiance to him. Over the next two years, the murder of over a million Jews will take place in Ukraine (Ukrainian Holocaust). Among the German collaborators was Stepan Bandera, who will be elevated to the rank of Ukrainian national hero in 2010 when, thanks to the Orange Revolution of 2004, the Ukrainian ultra-nationalists, heirs of those Hitler collaborators, will find themselves in power (in 2019 they will pass laws of ethnic discrimination against Russian speakers).
1954. Transfer of Crimea from the Russian Soviet Republic to the Ukrainian Soviet Republic: Some people mistakenly claim that the transfer should have been validated by a referendum in the Republics involved, but this is not the case. In any case, Russia will recognize the territories of Ukraine in 1991 and 1994.
1955. West Germany joins NATO: NATO member states thus become 15. In 1982 Spain will also join NATO.
1962. Cuban Crisis: The USSR considered allocating missiles to its ally Cuba but, in the end, Khrushchev gave up after Kennedy withdrew the American ones from Turkey: the compromise won.
1989. Fall of the Berlin Wall: The two Germanies will reunite in 1990. The USSR will dissolve in 1991.
1991. Declaration of Independence of Ukraine: Ukraine and its territories (then kept intact until 2014) are also recognized by Russia (in 2014, with a local referendum, Crimea will separate from Ukraine and enter the Russian Federation).
1996. Promulgation of the Constitution of Ukraine: Article 10 establishes that Ukrainian is the state language of the country, and this despite the fact that over a third of the population is a native Russian speaker. Article 18 reiterates the promise of neutrality declared on 16.07.1990: the promise will be betrayed in 2019, when the Constitution will be amended.
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