Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1854
France and England have watched Russia's moves south with unease and decide to put a stop to
it. The Crimea War sees Sevastopol come under 349 days' siege.
1861
Tsar Aleksander II abolishes serfdom across the Russian Empire. That same year the first rail-
way on Ukrainian soil is opened between Lviv and Przemysl (in today's Poland).
1876
With a new Ukrainian nationalist movement bubbling up since the 1840s, Tsar Aleksander II is-
sues a decree banning the use of the Ukrainian language in public.
1918
In the chaotic aftermath of WWI, Ukrainians try to form an independent republic but are ham-
strung by internecine fighting. Fourteen different factions control Kyiv in 18 months.
1917-34
The capital of the Ukrainian SSR is moved to Kharkiv by the Soviets. The city is still often re-
ferred to as Ukraine's 'first capital'.
1928
Stalin's first Five Year Plan sees rapid and brutal industrialisation and massive immigration from
the countryside into cities across Ukraine. Industrial output subsequently increases fourfold.
1932-33
Millions of Ukrainians die in a famine caused by Stalin's farm collectivisation. Some historians
believe that other grain-grabbing, border-closing measures deliberately targeted its people.
1941
During WWII Ukraine becomes a blood-soaked battleground for opposing Nazi, Soviet and na-
tionalist forces and some six million locals perish. The death toll includes almost all of Ukraine's
Jews.
1943
The Red Army liberates Kyiv from the Nazis on 6 November. Earlier, retreating Soviets had dy-
namited buildings along the main street of Khreshchatyk; these were replaced postwar with
Stalinist structures.
