1.
Ukraine
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Ukraine is currently in territorial dispute with Russia over the Crimean Peninsula which Russia annexed in 2014 but which Ukraine and most of the international community recognise as Ukrainian. Including Crimea, Ukraine has an area of 603,628 km2, making it the largest country entirely within Europe and it has a population of about 42.5 million, making it the 32nd most populous country in the world. The territory of modern Ukraine has been inhabited since 32,000 BC, during the Middle Ages, the area was a key centre of East Slavic culture, with the powerful state of Kievan Rus forming the basis of Ukrainian identity. Following its fragmentation in the 13th century, the territory was contested, ruled and divided by a variety of powers, including Lithuania, Poland, the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary, and Russia. A Cossack republic emerged and prospered during the 17th and 18th centuries, two brief periods of independence occurred during the 20th century, once near the end of World War I and another during World War II. Before its independence, Ukraine was typically referred to in English as The Ukraine, following independence, Ukraine declared itself a neutral state. Nonetheless it formed a limited partnership with the Russian Federation and other CIS countries. In the 2000s, the government began leaning towards NATO, and it was later agreed that the question of joining NATO should be answered by a national referendum at some point in the future. Former President Viktor Yanukovych considered the current level of co-operation between Ukraine and NATO sufficient, and was against Ukraine joining NATO and these events formed the background for the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014, and the War in Donbass in April 2014. On 1 January 2016, Ukraine applied the economic part of the Deep, Ukraine has long been a global breadbasket because of its extensive, fertile farmlands and is one of the worlds largest grain exporters. The diversified economy of Ukraine includes a heavy industry sector, particularly in aerospace. Ukraine is a republic under a semi-presidential system with separate powers, legislative, executive. Its capital and largest city is Kiev, taking into account reserves and paramilitary personnel, Ukraine maintains the second-largest military in Europe after that of Russia. Ukrainian is the language and its alphabet is Cyrillic. The dominant religion in the country is Eastern Orthodoxy, which has strongly influenced Ukrainian architecture, literature, there are different hypotheses as to the etymology of the name Ukraine. According to the older and most widespread hypothesis, it means borderland, while more recently some studies claim a different meaning, homeland or region. The Ukraine now implies disregard for the sovereignty, according to U. S. ambassador William Taylor. Neanderthal settlement in Ukraine is seen in the Molodova archaeological sites include a mammoth bone dwelling
2.
Maidan Nezalezhnosti
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Maidan Nezalezhnosti is the central square of Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine. One of the main squares, it is located on Khreshchatyk Street in the Shevchenko Raion. The square has been known under different names, but often it is called simply Maidan. In the 19th century, the square contained buildings of the city council, Maidan is also a regular site for non-political displays and events. Maidan is a Ukrainian word for square, open space, ultimately from Arabic language ميدان maydān, via Turco-Persian transmission, Persian ميدان meydan meaning field, park, open space, the Arabic word originally meant horse-racing ground, hippodrome. Kropyvnytskyi, Kremenchuk and Odessa have Independent Squares named Ploshcha Nezalezhnosti, Independence Square is one of three squares located along Khreshchatyk, close to the northeastern end of the street. It is situated close to European Square, which is the end of Khreshchatyk. Besides Khreshchatyk, which splits the square in half, several other lead to the square. These include Architect Horodecki Street, Institute Street, Michael Street, Kosciol Street, Minor Zhytomyr Street, Sophia Street, Taras Shevchenko Lane, the square itself is a multi-level location. At ground level is the intersection of Khreshchatyk, which splits Institute Street, underneath the square, the Kurenivsko-Chervonoarmiyska Line of the Kiev Metro stretches across with its station Maidan Nezalezhnosti located underground. Until the 10th century, the future site, as well as the rest of Khreshchatyk, was called Perevisyshch. It was located just to the south of the Kiev City, beyond which were located territories of the Cave Monastery along the Dnieper. At the lower end of Sofiivska vulytsia, which led to the High City and those gates are also mentioned in 1151, and around them lived the Polish population of the city, Lacka Sloboda. The Lyadksi Gates were destroyed during the storm of city by the Mongol army of Batu Khan in 1240, sometime during the 18th century, the new Pecherski Gates were erected, they stood until 1833. Until the early 19th century, the area was a vacant ground known as Goat Swamp. In the 1830s, the first wooden dwellings were built on the site, the most famous Ukrainian writer, Taras Shevchenko lived in that area in 1859, in a building between Mala Zhytomyrska and Mykhailivska vulytsia. Until 1871, it was called the Khreshchatitskaya Ploshchad, it was a location for the local market, in 1876 the Kiev City Duma building was built here, and the area became to be known as the Dumskaya Ploshchad. A line from the Kiev tram, the first electric tram built in the Russian Empire reached the square in 1894
3.
Main Street
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Main Street is a generic phrase used to denote a primary retail street of a village, town or small city in many parts of the world. It is usually a point for shops and retailers in the central business district. The term is used in Ireland, Scotland, the United States, Canada. In most of the United Kingdom the common description is High Street though Fore Street or Front Street is commonplace in some regions, in Jamaica the term is Front Street. The Main Street of America branding was used to promote U. S. Route 66 in its heyday, in the general sense, the term Main Street refers to a place of traditional values. Social realists from 1870 to 1930 used the name as a symbol of stifling conformity, sherwood Anderson, for example, wrote Winesburg, Ohio, A Group of Tales of Ohio Small Town Life in 1919. The best-selling 1920 novel Main Street was a critique of small town life, the locale was Gopher Prairie, presented as an ideal type of the Midwestern town, and the heroine, Carol Kennicott, was a more urbane, ideal-typical Progressive. Thus, in the 1949 movie adaptation of On The Town, Main Street Republicans, for example, see themselves as supporting those values as against urbane or Wall Street tendencies. Main Street is part of the iconography of American life, for example, the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, the outfit that operates the PX and BX stores on military bases, chose the name Main Street USA for its food courts. Main Street was a popular term during the crises in 2008 and 2009, the proposed bailout of U. S. financial system, the 2008 US presidential campaign. One widely reviewed book was Bailout, An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street by Neil Barofsky, a slang term popularized in the early 20th century, main drag, is also used to refer to a towns main street. These areas, which are designed to look like the street of a small town, house gift shops, restaurants and various services. While the architecture of these appears to be turn-of-the-20th-century, in fact these are decorative false-fronts on industrial-style buildings. Main Street, U. S. A. is also present at Disneyland Paris, at Tokyo Disneyland the area is named World Bazaar, but has the same look as Main Street, albeit housed under a decorative glass roof for protection from Japans unpredictable weather. Disneys design copied visual elements of small-town America seen in films by Frank Capra and others, disney wanted to embed the values and memories associated with life in small towns into an entertainment experience for tourists. Main Street Inc. is the name of a community revitalization program begun by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the late 1970s, the core of the Main Street philosophy is the preservation of the historic built environment by engaging in historic preservation. Main Street focuses on an approach to revitalization based on the 4-point approach of design, promotion, economic restructuring. Originally targeted at small, traditional downtowns, the program has expanded to include towns of various sizes, in many communities, a merchants association or business improvement district serves a promotional role on behalf of the merchants of a downtown Main Street
4.
Red Army
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The Workers and Peasants Red Army was the army and the air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, and after 1922 the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The army was established immediately after the 1917 October Revolution, the Bolsheviks raised an army to oppose the military confederations of their adversaries during the Russian Civil War. The Red Army is credited as being the land force in the Allied victory in the European theatre of World War II. During operations on the Eastern Front, it fought 75%–80% of the German land forces deployed in the war, inflicting the vast majority of all German losses and ultimately capturing the German capital. In September 1917, Vladimir Lenin wrote, There is only one way to prevent the restoration of the police, at the time, the Imperial Russian Army had started to collapse. The Tsarist general Nikolay Dukhonin estimated that there had been 2 million deserters,1.8 million dead,5 million wounded and 2 million prisoners and he estimated the remaining troops as numbering 10 million. Therefore, the Council of Peoples Commissars decided to form the Red Army on 28 January 1918 and they envisioned a body formed from the class-conscious and best elements of the working classes. All citizens of the Russian republic aged 18 or older were eligible, in the event of an entire unit wanting to join the Red Army, a collective guarantee and the affirmative vote of all its members would be necessary. Because the Red Army was composed mainly of peasants, the families of those who served were guaranteed rations, some peasants who remained at home yearned to join the Army, men, along with some women, flooded the recruitment centres. If they were turned away they would collect scrap metal and prepare care-packages, in some cases the money they earned would go towards tanks for the Army. Nikolai Krylenko was the supreme commander-in-chief, with Aleksandr Myasnikyan as deputy, Nikolai Podvoisky became the commissar for war, Pavel Dybenko, commissar for the fleet. Proshyan, Samoisky, Steinberg were also specified as peoples commissars as well as Vladimir Bonch-Bruyevich from the Bureau of Commissars, at a joint meeting of Bolsheviks and Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, held on 22 February 1918, Krylenko remarked, We have no army. The Red Guard units are brushed aside like flies and we have no power to stay the enemy, only an immediate signing of the peace treaty will save us from destruction. This provoked the insurrection of General Alexey Maximovich Kaledins Volunteer Army in the River Don region, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk aggravated Russian internal politics. The situation encouraged direct Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War, a series of engagements resulted, involving, amongst others, the Czechoslovak Legion, the Polish 5th Rifle Division, and the pro-Bolshevik Red Latvian Riflemen. The Whites defeated the Red Army on each front, Leon Trotsky reformed and counterattacked, the Red Army repelled Admiral Kolchaks army in June, and the armies of General Denikin and General Yudenich in October. By mid-November the White armies were all almost completely exhausted, in January 1920, Budennys First Cavalry Army entered Rostov-on-Don. 1919 to 1923 At the wars start, the Red Army consisted of 299 infantry regiments, Civil war intensified after Lenin dissolved the Russian Constituent Assembly and the Soviet government signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, removing Russia from the Great War
5.
Stalinist architecture
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Stalinist architecture is associated with the socialist realism school of art and architecture. As part of the Soviet policy of rationalization of the country, each was divided into districts, with allotments based on the citys geography. Projects would be designed for whole districts, visibly transforming a citys architectural image, the interaction of the state with the architects would prove to be one of the features of this time. The same building could be declared a formalist blasphemy and then receive the greatest praise the next year, as happened to Ivan Zholtovsky, the Vysotki or Stalinskie Vysotki, high-rises are a group of skyscrapers in Moscow designed in the Stalinist style. The English-language nickname for them is the Seven Sisters and they were built officially from 1947 to 1953 in an elaborate combination of Russian Baroque and Gothic styles and the technology used in building American skyscrapers. In terms of methods, most of the structures, underneath the wet-stucco walls, are simple brick masonry. Exceptions were Andrei Burovs medium-sized concrete block houses and large buildings like the Seven Sisters which necessitated the use of concrete. The masonry naturally dictated narrow windows, thus leaving a large area to be decorated. Fireproof terra cotta finishes were introduced during the early 1950s, though this was used outside of Moscow. Most of the roofing was traditional wooden trusses covered with metallic sheets, about 1948, construction technology improved – at least in Moscow – as faster and cheaper processes become available. Houses also became safer by eliminating wooden ceilings and partitions, ideologically they belong to mass housing, an intermediate phase before Khrushchevs standardized buildings known as Khrushchyovka. Stalinist architecture does not equate to everything built during Stalin’s era and it relied on labor-intensive and time-consuming masonry, and could not be scaled to the needs of mass construction. This inefficiency largely ended Stalinist architecture and resulted in construction methods which began while Stalin was still alive. Although Stalin rejected Constructivism, completion of constructivist buildings extended through the 1930s, industrial construction, endorsed by Albert Kahn and later supervised by Victor Vesnin, was influenced by modernist ideas. It was not as important to Stalins urban plans, so most industrial buildings are not part of the Stalinist category, even the first stage of the Moscow Metro, completed during 1935, was not scrutinized by Stalin, and so included substantial constructivist influence. Before 1917, the Russian architectural scene was divided between Russky Modern, and Neoclassical Revival and these people would eventually become Stalinisms architectural elders and produce the best examples of the period. Another school that began after the Revolution is now known as Constructivism, some of the Constructivists were young professionals who had established themselves before 1917, while others had just completed their professional education or didnt have any. They associated themselves with groups of artists, compensating for lack of experience with public exposure
6.
Kiev Pechersk Lavra
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Since its foundation as the cave monastery in 1051 the Lavra has been a preeminent center of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in Eastern Europe. Together with the Saint Sophia Cathedral, it is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the monastery complex is considered a separate national historic-cultural preserve, the national status to which was granted on 13 March 1996. The Lavra is not only located in part of the city. While being an attraction, the monastery is currently active. It was named one of the Seven Wonders of Ukraine on 21 August 2007, based on voting by experts, the word lavra is used to describe high-ranking male monasteries for monks of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Therefore, the name of the monastery is also translated as Kiev Cave Monastery and he chose a cave at the Berestov Mount that overlooked the Dnieper River and a community of disciples soon grew. Prince Iziaslav I of Kiev ceded the whole mount to the Antonite monks who founded a monastery built by architects from Constantinople. 1051-1062 Antoniy 1062-1063 Varlaam 1063-1074 Theodosius 1074-1077 Stefan I Bolharyn 1077-1088 Nikon the Great 1088-1103 Ioann In 1096 Cumans led by khan Boniak attacked Kiev and the Cave Monastery. 1108-1112 Theoktistos, became a bishop of Chernihiv 1132-1141 Pimen the Singer In 1159 the monastery received stauropegic status, anne, and the Church of the Life-Giving Spring. The Lavra also contains many other constructions, including, the St. Nicholas Monastery, the Kiev Theological Academy and Seminary, the Great Lavra Belltower is one of the most notable features of the Kiev skyline and among the main attractions of the Lavra. 96.5 meters in height, it was the tallest free-standing belltower at the time of its construction in 1731–1745 and it is a Classical style construction and consists of tiers, surmounted by a gilded dome. The Gate Church of the Trinity is located atop the Holy Gates, according to a legend, this church was founded by the Chernihiv Prince Sviatoslav II. It was built atop an ancient stone church which used to stand in its place, after the fire of 1718 the church was rebuilt, its revered facades and interior walls enriched with ornate stucco work made by master craftsman V. Stefaovych. In the 18th century a new gilded pear-shaped dome was built, the facade and exterior walls were decorated with stucco-moulded plant ornaments, in the early 20th century the fronts and the walls flanking the entrance were painted by icon painters under the guidance of V. Sonin. The interior of the Gate Trinity Church with murals by the early 18th century painter Alimpy Galik is of artistic value. The All Saints Church erected in 1696–1698 is a specimen of Ukrainian baroque architecture. Characteristic of the facades are rich architectural embellishments. In 1905 students of the Lavra art school painted the walls of the church
7.
Industrial Revolution
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The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in the period from about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840. The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain and most of the important technological innovations were British, aided by these legal and cultural foundations, an entrepreneurial spirit and consumer revolution drove industrialisation in Britain, which would be emulated in countries around the world. A change in marrying patterns to getting married later made able to accumulate more human capital during their youth. The Industrial Revolution marks a turning point in history, almost every aspect of daily life was influenced in some way. In particular, average income and population began to exhibit unprecedented sustained growth, mechanised textile production spread from Great Britain to continental Europe in the early 19th century, with important centres of textiles, iron and coal emerging in Belgium, and later in France. Since then industrialisation has spread throughout much of the world, the precise start and end of the Industrial Revolution is still debated among historians, as is the pace of economic and social changes. Economic historians are in agreement that the onset of the Industrial Revolution is the most important event in the history of humanity since the domestication of animals and plants. The term Industrial Revolution applied to change was becoming more common by the late 1830s. Friedrich Engels in The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844 spoke of an industrial revolution, however, although Engels wrote in the 1840s, his book was not translated into English until the late 1800s, and his expression did not enter everyday language until then. Credit for popularising the term may be given to Arnold Toynbee, some historians, such as John Clapham and Nicholas Crafts, have argued that the economic and social changes occurred gradually and the term revolution is a misnomer. This is still a subject of debate among some historians, the commencement of the Industrial Revolution is closely linked to a small number of innovations, beginning in the second half of the 18th century. By the 1830s the following gains had been made in important technologies, Textiles – mechanised cotton spinning powered by steam or water greatly increased the output of a worker, the power loom increased the output of a worker by a factor of over 40. The cotton gin increased productivity of removing seed from cotton by a factor of 50, large gains in productivity also occurred in spinning and weaving of wool and linen, but they were not as great as in cotton. Steam power – the efficiency of steam engines increased so that they used between one-fifth and one-tenth as much fuel, the adaptation of stationary steam engines to rotary motion made them suitable for industrial uses. The high pressure engine had a power to weight ratio. Steam power underwent an expansion after 1800. Iron making – the substitution of coke for charcoal greatly lowered the fuel cost for pig iron, using coke also allowed larger blast furnaces, resulting in economies of scale. The cast iron blowing cylinder was first used in 1760 and it was later improved by making it double acting, which allowed higher furnace temperatures
8.
Russian Empire
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The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until it was overthrown by the short-lived February Revolution in 1917. One of the largest empires in history, stretching over three continents, the Russian Empire was surpassed in landmass only by the British and Mongol empires. The rise of the Russian Empire happened in association with the decline of neighboring powers, the Swedish Empire, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Persia. It played a role in 1812–14 in defeating Napoleons ambitions to control Europe. The House of Romanov ruled the Russian Empire from 1721 until 1762, and its German-descended cadet branch, with 125.6 million subjects registered by the 1897 census, it had the third-largest population in the world at the time, after Qing China and India. Like all empires, it included a large disparity in terms of economics, ethnicity, there were numerous dissident elements, who launched numerous rebellions and assassination attempts, they were closely watched by the secret police, with thousands exiled to Siberia. Economically, the empire had an agricultural base, with low productivity on large estates worked by serfs. The economy slowly industrialized with the help of foreign investments in railways, the land was ruled by a nobility from the 10th through the 17th centuries, and subsequently by an emperor. Tsar Ivan III laid the groundwork for the empire that later emerged and he tripled the territory of his state, ended the dominance of the Golden Horde, renovated the Moscow Kremlin, and laid the foundations of the Russian state. Tsar Peter the Great fought numerous wars and expanded an already huge empire into a major European power, Catherine the Great presided over a golden age. She expanded the state by conquest, colonization and diplomacy, continuing Peter the Greats policy of modernisation along West European lines, Tsar Alexander II promoted numerous reforms, most dramatically the emancipation of all 23 million serfs in 1861. His policy in Eastern Europe involved protecting the Orthodox Christians under the rule of the Ottoman Empire and that connection by 1914 led to Russias entry into the First World War on the side of France, Britain, and Serbia, against the German, Austrian and Ottoman empires. The Russian Empire functioned as a monarchy until the Revolution of 1905. The empire collapsed during the February Revolution of 1917, largely as a result of failures in its participation in the First World War. Perhaps the latter was done to make Europe recognize Russia as more of a European country, Poland was divided in the 1790-1815 era, with much of the land and population going to Russia. Most of the 19th century growth came from adding territory in Asia, Peter I the Great introduced autocracy in Russia and played a major role in introducing his country to the European state system. However, this vast land had a population of 14 million, grain yields trailed behind those of agriculture in the West, compelling nearly the entire population to farm. Only a small percentage lived in towns, the class of kholops, close to the one of slavery, remained a major institution in Russia until 1723, when Peter I converted household kholops into house serfs, thus including them in poll taxation
9.
Trams in Kiev
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The Kiev Tram is a tram network which serves the Ukrainian capital Kiev. The system was the first electric tramway in the former Russian Empire and the one in Europe after the Berlin Straßenbahn. The Kiev Tram system currently consists of 139.9 km of track, however, the system is being neglected, the serviced track length is decreasing at a fast rate and is replaced by buses and trolleybuses. The Kiev Tram system is operated by the Kyivpastrans municipal company which also maintains bus, trolleybus, before 1886, projects for the construction of a horse-drawn tramway were planned. However, none of these plans had ever proceeded to the construction stage, in 1886, engineer Amand Struves project was approved for construction. On July 30,1891, the first horse-drawn tram wagon was set on a track, by August 1, the tram line stretched from the Tsars Square to the Demiivska Square. Soon after tram operations were started, many problems arose, the hilly terrain of Kiev presented the largest problem. On Bohdan Khmelnytsky Street, a pair of horses was not enough to pull the trams uphill, therefore, another two pairs of horses were added, which did not improve the situation. Thus, mechanizing the tram using an engine was attempted as a solution to the problem. However, the engines produced a lot of noise, which scared the horses and people. The administration of the Kiev Telegraph service opposed this move since, in their opinion, on May 3,1892, the first two trams with electric motors arrived in Kiev. They were built by the Struve brothers in a located near Moscow. On the same day, the engines were tested on the flat Sahaydachny Street, in 1893, the money earned by these electric trams exceeded the cost to maintain the trams. Furthermore, the trams were used whenever the horse-drawn or steam-powered trams had difficulty. This station had lasted until the 1930s and these trams required very little power, which caused any electric trams, which used the line, to move so slowly that the passengers could get on and off the tram, while the tram remained in motion. The line was used until the mid-1930s, and was a line with side-skirts for oncoming trams to drive into. This had made the even longer than it really was. The cost was 35 kopecks, an amount of money at the time
10.
Russian Revolution
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The Russian Revolution was a pair of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which dismantled the Tsarist autocracy and led to the eventual rise of the Soviet Union. The Russian Empire collapsed with the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II, in the second revolution that October, the Provisional Government was removed and replaced with a communist state. The February Revolution was a revolution focused around Petrograd, then capital of Russia, in the chaos, members of the Imperial parliament assumed control of the country, forming the Russian Provisional Government. The army leadership felt they did not have the means to suppress the revolution, the February Revolution took place in the context of heavy military setbacks during the First World War, which left much of the Russian Army in a state of mutiny. During this chaotic period there were frequent mutinies, protests and many strikes, when the Provisional Government chose to continue fighting the war with Germany, the Bolsheviks and other socialist factions campaigned for stopping the conflict. The Bolsheviks turned workers militias under their control into the Red Guards over which they exerted substantial control, the Bolsheviks appointed themselves as leaders of various government ministries and seized control of the countryside, establishing the Cheka to quash dissent. To end Russia’s participation in the First World War, the Bolshevik leaders signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany in March 1918, soon after, civil war erupted among the Reds, the Whites, the independence movements and the non-Bolshevik socialists. It continued for years, during which the Bolsheviks defeated both the Whites and all rival socialists. In this way, the Revolution paved the way for the creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922, the Russian Revolution of 1905 was said to be a major factor to the February Revolutions of 1917. The events of Bloody Sunday triggered a line of protests, a council of workers called the St. Petersburg Soviet was created in all this chaos, and the beginning of a communist political protest had begun. World War I prompted a Russian outcry directed at Tsar Nicholas II and it was another major factor contributing to the retaliation of the Russian Communists against their royal opponents. However, the problems were merely administrative, and not industrial as Germany was producing great amounts of munitions whilst constantly fighting on two major battlefronts, the war also developed a weariness in the city, owing to a lack of food in response to the disruption of agriculture. Food scarcity had become a problem in Russia, but the cause of this did not lie in any failure of the harvests. As a result, they tended to hoard their grain and to revert to subsistence farming, thus the cities were constantly short of food. At the same time rising prices led to demands for wages in the factories. The outcome of all this, however, was a criticism of the government rather than any war-weariness. The original fever of excitement, which had caused the name of St. Heavy losses during the war also strengthened thoughts that Tsar Nicholas II was unfit to rule, the Liberals were now better placed to voice their complaints, since they were participating more fully through a variety of voluntary organizations
11.
Ukrainian People's Republic
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Between April and December 1918 the Ukrainian Peoples Republic did not function, having been overthrown by the Ukrainian State of Pavlo Skoropadsky. From autumn 1919 the UNR operated as an ally of the Second Polish Republic, the 18 March 1921 Treaty of Riga between the Second Polish Republic, Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine sealed the fate of the Ukrainian Peoples Republic. These two sides fought constantly with each other, which resulted in casualties among Ukrainians fighting in a civil war as part of the wider Ukrainian-Soviet War of 1917-1921. The Soviet Union would extend control over what would become the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. On 10 June 1917 the Ukrainian Central Council declared its autonomy as part of the Russian Republic by its First Universal at the All-Ukrainian Military Congress, the highest governing body of the Ukrainian Peoples Republic became the General Secretariat headed by Volodymyr Vynnychenko. After the October Revolution the Kievan faction of the Bolshevik Party instigated the uprising in Kiev on November 8,1917 in order to establish Soviet power in the city. Kiev Military District forces attempted to stop it, but after the Tsentralna Rada threw its support behind the Bolsheviks, after expelling the government forces, the Rada announced a wider autonomy for the Ukrainian Republic, still maintaining ties to Russia, on November 22,1917. It also stated that the people of the governorates, Voronezh, Kholm, the Central Rada called all revolutionary activities such as the October Revolution a civil war and expressed its hopes for the resolution of the chaos. After a brief truce, the Bolsheviks realized that the Rada had no intention of supporting the Bolshevik Revolution and they re-organized into an All-Ukrainian Council of Soviets in December 1917 in an attempt to seize power. When that failed due to the Bolsheviks relative lack of popularity in Kiev, the Bolshevik Red Army entered Ukraine from the Russian SFSR in support of the local Soviet government. The Donetsk-Kryvoi Rog Republic was created by a decree of Lenin as part of the Russian SFSR with its capital in Kharkiv. That decree was implemented by Fyodor Sergeyev who became the chairman of the local government as well as joining the Soviet government of Ukraine. The congress accepted the declaration of a plan of Ukrainization of the Russian Army. The congress showed its support to the Ukrainian Central Council, Petty Council created of the Regional Committee in Protection of Revolution in Ukraine. The committee announced the extension of its powers over the nine Ukrainian governorates November 8 – the Ukrainian Central Council adopted a resolution which condemned the revolution, each deputy represents 100,000 of population, a right of vote have citizens of 20 years and older. International diplomatic missions transferred their offices from Mohyliv-Podilsky to Kiev, the Petty Council adopted the law about the new monetary system. The monetary unit became hryvnia that had 8.712 units of pure gold, less than a month later, on February 9,1918, the Red Army seized Kiev. Germany helped the Ukrainian Army force the Bolsheviks out of Ukraine, on February 20,1918 the council of the Kuban Peoples Republic accepted the resolution for a federal union of Kuban with Ukraine as Bolshevik forces pushed towards Yekaterinodar
12.
German Empire
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The German Empire was the historical German nation state that existed from the unification of Germany in 1871 to the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1918, when Germany became a federal republic. The German Empire consisted of 26 constituent territories, with most being ruled by royal families and this included four kingdoms, six grand duchies, five duchies, seven principalities, three free Hanseatic cities, and one imperial territory. Although Prussia became one of kingdoms in the new realm, it contained most of its population and territory. Its influence also helped define modern German culture, after 1850, the states of Germany had rapidly become industrialized, with particular strengths in coal, iron, chemicals, and railways. In 1871, it had a population of 41 million people, and by 1913, a heavily rural collection of states in 1815, now united Germany became predominantly urban. During its 47 years of existence, the German Empire operated as an industrial, technological, Germany became a great power, boasting a rapidly growing rail network, the worlds strongest army, and a fast-growing industrial base. In less than a decade, its navy became second only to Britains Royal Navy, after the removal of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck by Wilhelm II, the Empire embarked on a bellicose new course that ultimately led to World War I. When the great crisis of 1914 arrived, the German Empire had two allies, Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, however, left the once the First World War started in August 1914. In the First World War, German plans to capture Paris quickly in autumn 1914 failed, the Allied naval blockade caused severe shortages of food. Germany was repeatedly forced to send troops to bolster Austria and Turkey on other fronts, however, Germany had great success on the Eastern Front, it occupied large Eastern territories following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. German declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare in early 1917 was designed to strangle the British, it failed, but the declaration—along with the Zimmermann Telegram—did bring the United States into the war. Meanwhile, German civilians and soldiers had become war-weary and radicalised by the Russian Revolution and this failed, and by October the armies were in retreat, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire had collapsed, Bulgaria had surrendered and the German people had lost faith in their political system. The Empire collapsed in the November 1918 Revolution as the Emperor and all the ruling monarchs abdicated, and a republic took over. The German Confederation had been created by an act of the Congress of Vienna on 8 June 1815 as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, German nationalism rapidly shifted from its liberal and democratic character in 1848, called Pan-Germanism, to Prussian prime minister Otto von Bismarcks pragmatic Realpolitik. He envisioned a conservative, Prussian-dominated Germany, the war resulted in the Confederation being partially replaced by a North German Confederation in 1867, comprising the 22 states north of the Main. The new constitution and the title Emperor came into effect on 1 January 1871, during the Siege of Paris on 18 January 1871, William accepted to be proclaimed Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. The second German Constitution was adopted by the Reichstag on 14 April 1871 and proclaimed by the Emperor on 16 April, the political system remained the same. The empire had a parliament called the Reichstag, which was elected by universal male suffrage, however, the original constituencies drawn in 1871 were never redrawn to reflect the growth of urban areas
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