In the natural sciences, the investigation towards the desired “truth” proceeds by purposely casting doubt on the belief one has arrived at, and if the more one doubts it, the more that belief resists, it acquires the right to be part of the body of knowledge called “scientific theory”. One must be aware that sometimes – indeed, I must say that in the natural sciences it almost always happens – what appears obvious is not true. For example, if bullets from a gun are fired at a speed of 300 meters per second, when the shooter is on a train that passes in front of you at a speed of 100 m/s, it would seem obvious to conclude that you would measure the speed of the bullet as 300 + 100 = 400 m/s. Well, the fact is that the more one investigates this “obvious” conclusion, the more it turns out to be wrong.
I imagine that the scientific method can also be applied in fields other than the natural sciences. Certainly in any field where specific experiments can be designed to test the initial belief. And I imagine that this is possible, to a certain extent, also in the field of History. Here, however, experiments cannot be done, but one must rely only on written documents: it is no coincidence that History begins with the use of writing.
When it joined the USSR in 1922 and changed from the Ukrainian People’s Republic to the Soviet Socialist Republic, it was assigned new territories. In particular The USSR assigned it the southern territoriesbordering the Black Sea, which in 1734, under Catherine the Great, Russia had reconquered from the Ottoman Empire; assigned to it the eastern territories, including Donbass, which were part of Russia; and assigned to it the region of Kiev, which in 1667 the then Tsar of Russia had purchased from Poland for hard cash (200 thousand rubles). This last circumstance was, at the end of conflicts with Poland, the content of the Treaty of Andrusovo, which stipulated that Kiev, even though it was on the western bank of the Dnipro River, was also part of Russia: initially only for 2 years, but then this became permanent following the payment, in 1686, of another 176 thousand rubles.
The reasons why Lenin decided to expand the borders of the newly formed Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1922 are many, but all linked to the internal organization of the USSR: nothing due to Ukraine, therefore; whose territories were again expanded to the West in 1945 with the conclusion of the last world war, and in 1954 with the assignment of Crimea from Russia to Ukraine. Even this last act cannot be seen as anything other than an internal reorganization of the USSR.
When this one decided to dissolve, at the time of the definition of the Independent Republic of UkraineRussia could well have demanded that the former return to the borders it had when it joined the USSR, and that Russia take back the northern territories purchased from Poland, the southern ones reconquered from the Ottoman Empire, and the eastern ones (including Donbass) that were-not Russia. In short, the size of the Republic of Ukraine in 1991 could well have been the original one of 1917, increased, if anything, by the western territories assigned to it after the end of the last world conflict. But History, they say, is not made with “ifs”.
During its barely twenty years of democratic life, Ukraine has been divided – roughly half and half – into two main, so to speak, “parties”: the pro-Western one and the pro-Russian one. External interference, of course, has not been lacking, from both sides. But, as far as we know, initially, it did not go beyond the minimum of decency. The 2004 elections were won by the pro-Russian partybut the so-called Orange Protests – supported by American interference – forced the elections to be repeated until the pro-Westerners won, who governed until 2010 without Russia intervening in any way to provoke protests from anyone. Then in 2010, the pro-Russian “party” won, and this time so overwhelmingly that there was no excuse for demanding new elections.
TheVermilion.com is also on Whatsapp. Just click here to subscribe to the channel and always be updated (free)