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Hello everyone! I'm EmperorTigerstar! I don't normally do videos like this, but the situation
in the Ukraine has inspired me to do so. While many of you know what's going on right now,
some of you don't and others don't know why. Certain news websites and shows cover little
while others cover a lot. But odds are, there are some of you who don't know the whole story.
This video will make a simple summary on what is happening in the Ukraine and why. As this
event is still happening, more may happen and I might make a second video to correspond
with that. This is a basic timeline of what's in the video. Some of these sections I may
only spend 30 seconds on, but it's important for you to watch the whole thing. If you're
in a hurry, you can go to the summary at the end.
So first, let's talk about the history of Ukraine. I won't cover everything, but the
basics and important parts will be talked about. So here's a map of Europe including
the disputed Kosovo. Ukraine is in the color red. Just so you can get a sense of location,
here are other major countries in Europe. The map of the Ukrainian area will be shown
in the top right corner for references to what I'm talking about. So, the capital of
Ukraine is the city of Kiev. Well, the Russians and the Ukrainians both trace their heritage
to the state of Kievan Rus'. Kiev, as you can tell by its name, was the capital. While
many consider this a Russian dynasty, Kievan Rus was a confederation of several Slavic
peoples, which both Russia and the Ukrainians are. Either way, this nation expanded. Notice
that the Crimea, the large peninsula in the south, is not under their control. In the
1200s, the Mongols came along and conquered Kievan Rus'. The Mongol Empire split into
four groups. The group that controlled Russia and Ukraine was called the Golden Horde. Under
the Mongol dynasties, some Tatars migrated into the Crimean region. These became known
as the Crimean Tatars. Remember them, because they are important for later. For a while,
the Crimean Tatars had their own country, called the Khanate of the Crimea. But as fate
would have it, the Russians also broke free of the Golden Horde and took control of the
Moscow area and eventually formed the Russian Empire, taking over a lot of the Ukraine.
The Tatars and other parts of Ukraine were under control of the Ottomans shown in red.
The rest of Ukraine was under control of a Polish-Lithuanian nation. Russia quickly expanded
their empire taking more of Ukraine and the Crimea, solidifying their control. By 1914,
they had expanded even into Poland and Bessarabia. Thanks to unrest due to conditions brought
about by World War I, the Russians had a revolution that ended their empire. After much confusion,
Ukraine broke away as a civil war ensued. But after much more confusion, the Bolsheviks
won the Russian Civil War and retook most of Ukraine, the rest in the possession of
Poland and Romania. Under the rule of dictator Josef Stalin, many suffered and died due to
his collectivization policies and purges. The Ukraine had a lot of grain, and collectivization
resulted in several famines. One large one in particular, Holodomor, meaning death by
hunger, occurred between 1932 and 1933 and killed as many as seven million Ukrainians.
When World War II came around, the Soviet Union had an agreement with Germany to not
attack each other for ten years and Stalin would also be allowed to expand into Poland
and Romania, taking lots of land. Hitler would break his end of the agreement two years later
in 1941 and would invade Russia. Some Ukrainians saw the Germans as liberators, but Nazi rule
quickly proved them wrong. Most of the Ukraine was taken by the Germans and much fighting
occurred in the region. After the war, the Soviets were back, now as a superpower. After
the war, another famine occurred until 1946, being the last major famine within the Soviet
Union. Most Ukrainians as you imagine were tired of being under Russian rule. In 1991,
the Soviet Union broke apart and the Ukrainians regained their independence. But Russia, while
no longer a superpower, were still a major force in the region. Russia under Vladimir
Putin tried to expand its influence several times. The southern and eastern regions are
predominately Russian, including the Crimea. This made it easy for Russia to keep its influence.
But the people did not like Russian influence. In 2004, elections were held. Two important
people ran for president, Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych. The first round of
voting occurred and no one had majority. A second round occurred and Yanukovych was declared
the winner. But fraud and deception was used and the people were not happy. The people
protested in Kiev and abroad in a massive event known as the Orange Revolution. Yanukovych
was no longer president when it ended in 2005. Yushchenko was declared president. But in
2010, Yanukovych won the election and was president again. Yanukovych was pro-Russian,
as he won votes from nearly all predominately Russian areas. The Ukrainian city of Sevastopol
was allowed to house the Russian Black Sea Fleet and is allowed to do so until the 2040s.
Now for what's currently happening: The map is now showing which areas are predominately
Ukrainian or predominately Russian. Deals were being made in which the Ukraine would
be closer to the European Union. Many Ukrainians were happy as it would move the country away
from Russian influence. Yanukovych promised to strive towards eventual integration with
the E.U. But suddenly, those deals were scrapped and a deal which brought Russia closer to
the Ukraine was agreed upon between Yanukovych and Putin. The people were very upset. They
revolted in the capital for several days, losing several people in the process. The
people won and Yanukovych fled. An interim president was put in place until new elections
would occur later. But the pro-Russians weren't happy. The Russians in the country protested
and pro-Russian gunmen have seized the local parliament and declared referendums in May
to determine the Crimea's status without Kiev's approval. The Crimean Tatars, the second largest
group in the region, wish to stay Ukrainian. Both sides have clashed. On February 28, 2014,
presumably Russian forces seized airports in the cities of Sevastopol and Simferapol.
Actual Russian troops were conducting excercizes near the border and some were moved into Sevastopol
to the Russian base. The Ukraine has denounced this as an invasion. Britain, Germany, and
the US have warned Russia not to intervene. Putin claims that the airports were not seized
by Russia, but if he intervenes, he won't escalate violence. More might happen in the
next coming weeks, but this is what has happened so far at the time of this videos' creation.
Now let's talk about why this is important. As an event, this is huge. Regardless of how
much Russia has intervened, the Ukraine could split in half. Even if Russia doesn't directly
invade, the pro-Russian areas are very likely to break away. This would cause the Ukraine
to lose all of its coast. Regardless of whether a new nation would be independent, a Russian
puppet, or eventually annexed into Russia, Russia's influence will without a doubt grow
as they will basically have control of huge amounts of the black sea like they have in
the past. If Russia does directly invade, this will be the largest aggression conducted
by a nation into another in several years. Now, what would anyone gain or lose? Like
stated, many ports could switch hands. In addition, the Ukraine has lots of grain and
resources that could help Russia in many ways. So to summarize everything, the Ukrainians
have been under the rule of others, especially Russia, for a long time. While many Russians
live in the Ukraine, the Ukrainians themselves want to stay out of Russian influence, but
deals were broken and replaced to make sure that Russia would keep its influence. The
people rose up and won, but now there's a potential for the nation of the Ukraine to
be split in half. Pro-Russian forces are threatening to break away and have seized strategic locations.
Russia itself may intervene despite denouncement from other countries. What will happen in
the next few days, weeks, or even months will change history. I hope you all pay attention.
To the Ukrainians, I wish you the best of luck. Thank you everyone for watching. Please
share this video so others can know what's going on.