A TIMELINE OF EVENTS
REFERENCED IN SPECIAL MILITARY OPERATION
by Barbara Kallir (Dramaturg)
For the past thousand years, people have fought over the land of Ukraine. Occasionally the local citizens controlled their destiny, but more frequently the land was partitioned and ruled by any combination of Poland, Russia, Prussia and Austro-Hungary. The end of WWI re-wrote the map of the world, including Ukraine.
1914-1918
World War I
1917-1921
Ukrainian War of Independence.
1922
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic is created, and becomes part of the founding alliance of the USSR.
1922
Stalin is elected General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party and the de-facto leader of the USSR. He keeps this office till his death in 1953.
1939-1945
World War II. Stalin initially signs a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany, but after Hitler reneges, USSR joins on the side of the allies.
1945
United Nations (UN) founded by the allied powers and 43 other countries.
1945
Germany is partitioned into zones that are occupied by the allied powers (UK, USA, France & USSR). Berlin, the former capital, is also partitioned into 4 zones.
1947
Cold War begins when Truman institutes a foreign policy based on the “containment” of Soviet expansion.
1949
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is established.
1949
West Germany (FRG) and East Germany (GDR) are created based on the lines of allied occupation. Berlin is also divided along similar lines.
1953
Nikita Khrushchev, succeeds Stalin as USSR General Secretary
1954
Khrushchev, a native Ukrainian, transfers control of Crimea to Ukraine.
1955
Warsaw Pact formed by the USSR and the eastern bloc countries in response to West Germany joining NATO.
1985
Mikhail Gorbachev becomes leader of USSR. In response to a stagnating Russian economy and the Chernobyl disaster, he institutes a series of economic and political reforms (“Perestroika” & “Glasnost”) intended to modernize the USSR. These policies contribute to the fall of the Berlin wall and the reunification of Germany in 1990.
1989
Fall of the Berlin Wall.
1991
Surrounded by Independence protesters, the Ukrainian Parliament declares Independence. Ukrainians vote overwhelmingly to support independence
1991
Ukraine, Belarus & Russia sign a treaty dissolving the USSR; Gorbachev resigns; the USSR is dissolved. Boris Yeltsin succeeds him. Viewed by many as the end of the cold war.
1992-99
Yeltsin institutes further economic reforms which plunge the country into a deep depression. Positive relations with the west degenerate towards the end of the 90s, after the US intervenes in Yugoslavia, and Russia intervenes in Chechnya.
1999
Yeltsin resigns, naming a little-known politician as his interim replacement — Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer. Putin views NATO’s expansion into the former Eastern bloc as a direct threat, and criticizes US dominance in world affairs.
2003-4
Orange Revolution: Protests erupt throughout Ukraine in response to the fraudulent election of pro-Russian, Viktor Yanukovych. After a new election, the opposition leader, Viktor Yushchenko wins. However, Yanukovych succeeds him 2010.
2007
At the Munich Security Conference, Vladimir Putin denounces American dominance in world affairs.
2008
Former Soviet States, Georgia and Ukraine apply for NATO membership. After strong opposition from Putin, NATO declines “Fast Track” status, but allows that these countries may join “eventually.” Russia invades parts of Georgia in support of two separatist regions. An uneasy ceasefire is brokered with Russian troops occupying parts of Georgia to this day.
2014
Maidan Revolution: Yanukovych moves closer to Russia, sparking months of protests that lead to violent clashes with police. Ukrainian parliament removes Yanukovych from office, and Russia annexes Crimea and invades Eastern Ukraine (the Donbas) in retaliation.
2014
Petro Poroshenko, a Ukrainian oligarch, is elected president. He pursues a nationalist, pro-European, pro-NATO agenda and attempts to reduce the influence of oligarchs.
2019
Running as an anti-corruption outsider, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a Russian speaking, Jewish Ukrainian is elected president.
2022
Full scale Russian Invasion of Ukraine.