Post by Prussia1231 on May 26, 2014 15:18:42 GMT -5
The great irony about the Russian claim to Ukrainian territory is that it is based solely on the colonization that took place after the man-made famine of 1932-33. Prior to that, depending on the census, there were between 900,000 and 3,500,000 more Ukrainians in Russia than Russians in Ukraine. As of 1897 you get the following:
1897:
Russian Ukraine:*
17,005,688 Ukrainians
2,767,952 Russians
1,908,440 Jews
491,809 Germans
388,582 Poles***
227,691 Tatars
220,820 Belorussians
186,044 Romanians
233,381 Others
23,430,407 Total
Russian Proper:**
50,986,472 Russians
4,155,436 Ukrainians
1,989,822 Tatars
590,957 Germans
168,211 Belorussians
152,100 Jews
149,136 Poles
8,299 Romanians
7,541,258 Others
65,741,691 Total
As is plainly visible, in 1897 there were 1,387,484 more Ukrainians in Russia than there were Russians in Ukraine. Even if one takes the most pro-Russian view possible--that the entire Russian population of Bessarabia, 155,774 lived within the borders of modern Ukraine, and assumes that there are no Ukrainians who labeled themselves Russians to balance out the 335,487 Poles who listed themselves as Ukrainians, that still leaves 906,828 more Ukrainians in Russia than Russians in Ukraine. However more realistically, going by the 1926 census when Russification wasn't as severe as in 1897, the number of Ukrainians outside of modern Ukraine would be closer to 3,500,000.
A large chunk of those surplus Ukrainians in Russia are in the neighborhood of Belgorod, Rossosh and Ostrogozhsk, or in the southern half of the Kursk Governorate and the southwest quarter of the Voronezh Governate, the part southwest of the Don River. It should be noted that the Kursk governate had a Ukrainian population of 527,778 in 1897 out of a total of 2,371,012, while the Voronezh Governate had a Ukraining population of 915,883 out of a total of 2,531,253.
*--The Governates of Chernigov, Ekaterinoslav, Kharkov, Kherson, Kiev, Podolia, Poltava, Taurida (Crimea) and Volhynia.
**--Russian Empire minus Central Asia, the Baltics, Belarus, Bessarabia, Finland, the South Caucasus and Congress Poland
***--By counting all Russian, Ukrainian and Belorussian Roman Catholics in the nine Ukrainian Governates as Poles, the total number of Poles in Russian Ukraine, minus Bessarabia, is increased to 735,856, at the expense of 335,487 Ukrainians, 10,605 Russians and 1,421 Belorussians.
The surplus of Russians was solely as a result of mass colonization which made the Prussian Settlement Commission seem like it did nothing to alter the demographics of Pomerelia and Posen, or that the Magyarization of 1880-1918 did nothing to alter the ethnic structure of Hungary. One can track the effects of the Russian colonization and Russification through history:
Russians in Ukraine:
1897: 2,767,952 (2,363,489 in Ukraine proper, 404,463 in Crimea and it's hinterland)
1926: 2,978,564 (2,677,166 in Ukraine proper, 301,398 in Crimea)
1939: 4,733,780 (4,175,299 in Ukraine proper, 558,481 in Crimea)
1959: 7,090,813
1970: 9,126,331
1979: 10,471,602
1989: 11,355,582
2001: 8,334,141
Ukrainians in Russia:
1897: 4,155,436 (excluding 611,121 in the Crimea and it's hinterland)
1926: 6,870,976 (excluding 77,405 in the Crimea)****
1939: 3,205,061 (excluding 154,123 in the Crimea)
1959: 3,359,083
1970: 3,345,885
1979: 3,657,647
1989: 4,362,872
2002: 2,942,961
2010: 1,927,988
****--860,822 Ukrainians in the Kazakh ASSR and 64,128 in the Kyrgz ASSR excluded from Russia.
As is plainly visible, the Russian population of Ukraine increased from 2,767,952 to 11,355,582 or by 310.25% between 1897 and 1989, while that of the Russian Empire and later USSR only increased from 55,667,469 to 145,155,489 or by 160.75%. That means that the Russian population in Ukraine increased at a rate 57.33% faster than the Russian population as a whole. Had the Russian population of Ukraine increased at the same rate as the Russian population as a whole, it would have numbered 7,217,562 in 1989, around 5/8 of the actual figure.
The Ukrainian population as a whole was devastated by the man-made famine of 1932-33. Outside of Ukraine, the most devastated areas were the Kuban and Belogorod areas where Ukrainian concentrations in Russia were the strongest. However, the Ukrainian population as a whole still increased from 28,111,007 in 1939 to 44,186,006 in 1989 or by 57.18%. However with regard to the Ukrainians in Russia, their rate of increase significantly lower than that of the Ukrainian population as a whole, only increasing 36.12% between 1939 and 1989.
All in all, the Russian claims are based solely on the result of mass colonization and repression genocide as opposed to legitimate historical claims to the regions in question. Indeed due to it's pre-genocidal ethnic makeup, the Belogorod region of Russia should be a part of Ukraine, while smaller adjoining territories in the east and southeast of Ukraine, combined being roughly the same size as Crimea proper. On the other hand, the Lwow Oblast along with 2/5 of the Wolyn Oblast should be part of Poland, the Cernauți region of Northern Bukovina and southern Bessarabia part of Romania and the southwest portion of Transcarpathia being part of Hungary. If there was no genocide or ethnic cleansing of those ethno-linguistic groups, one would expect that in 1989 there would be 4,500,000 Poles in Ukraine (Counting Eastern Galicia) along with around 750,000 Romanians and 200,000 Hungarians, significantly different than the 220,000 Poles, 460,000 Romanians and 165,000 Hungarians listed in the 1989 census.
1897:
Russian Ukraine:*
17,005,688 Ukrainians
2,767,952 Russians
1,908,440 Jews
491,809 Germans
388,582 Poles***
227,691 Tatars
220,820 Belorussians
186,044 Romanians
233,381 Others
23,430,407 Total
Russian Proper:**
50,986,472 Russians
4,155,436 Ukrainians
1,989,822 Tatars
590,957 Germans
168,211 Belorussians
152,100 Jews
149,136 Poles
8,299 Romanians
7,541,258 Others
65,741,691 Total
As is plainly visible, in 1897 there were 1,387,484 more Ukrainians in Russia than there were Russians in Ukraine. Even if one takes the most pro-Russian view possible--that the entire Russian population of Bessarabia, 155,774 lived within the borders of modern Ukraine, and assumes that there are no Ukrainians who labeled themselves Russians to balance out the 335,487 Poles who listed themselves as Ukrainians, that still leaves 906,828 more Ukrainians in Russia than Russians in Ukraine. However more realistically, going by the 1926 census when Russification wasn't as severe as in 1897, the number of Ukrainians outside of modern Ukraine would be closer to 3,500,000.
A large chunk of those surplus Ukrainians in Russia are in the neighborhood of Belgorod, Rossosh and Ostrogozhsk, or in the southern half of the Kursk Governorate and the southwest quarter of the Voronezh Governate, the part southwest of the Don River. It should be noted that the Kursk governate had a Ukrainian population of 527,778 in 1897 out of a total of 2,371,012, while the Voronezh Governate had a Ukraining population of 915,883 out of a total of 2,531,253.
*--The Governates of Chernigov, Ekaterinoslav, Kharkov, Kherson, Kiev, Podolia, Poltava, Taurida (Crimea) and Volhynia.
**--Russian Empire minus Central Asia, the Baltics, Belarus, Bessarabia, Finland, the South Caucasus and Congress Poland
***--By counting all Russian, Ukrainian and Belorussian Roman Catholics in the nine Ukrainian Governates as Poles, the total number of Poles in Russian Ukraine, minus Bessarabia, is increased to 735,856, at the expense of 335,487 Ukrainians, 10,605 Russians and 1,421 Belorussians.
The surplus of Russians was solely as a result of mass colonization which made the Prussian Settlement Commission seem like it did nothing to alter the demographics of Pomerelia and Posen, or that the Magyarization of 1880-1918 did nothing to alter the ethnic structure of Hungary. One can track the effects of the Russian colonization and Russification through history:
Russians in Ukraine:
1897: 2,767,952 (2,363,489 in Ukraine proper, 404,463 in Crimea and it's hinterland)
1926: 2,978,564 (2,677,166 in Ukraine proper, 301,398 in Crimea)
1939: 4,733,780 (4,175,299 in Ukraine proper, 558,481 in Crimea)
1959: 7,090,813
1970: 9,126,331
1979: 10,471,602
1989: 11,355,582
2001: 8,334,141
Ukrainians in Russia:
1897: 4,155,436 (excluding 611,121 in the Crimea and it's hinterland)
1926: 6,870,976 (excluding 77,405 in the Crimea)****
1939: 3,205,061 (excluding 154,123 in the Crimea)
1959: 3,359,083
1970: 3,345,885
1979: 3,657,647
1989: 4,362,872
2002: 2,942,961
2010: 1,927,988
****--860,822 Ukrainians in the Kazakh ASSR and 64,128 in the Kyrgz ASSR excluded from Russia.
As is plainly visible, the Russian population of Ukraine increased from 2,767,952 to 11,355,582 or by 310.25% between 1897 and 1989, while that of the Russian Empire and later USSR only increased from 55,667,469 to 145,155,489 or by 160.75%. That means that the Russian population in Ukraine increased at a rate 57.33% faster than the Russian population as a whole. Had the Russian population of Ukraine increased at the same rate as the Russian population as a whole, it would have numbered 7,217,562 in 1989, around 5/8 of the actual figure.
The Ukrainian population as a whole was devastated by the man-made famine of 1932-33. Outside of Ukraine, the most devastated areas were the Kuban and Belogorod areas where Ukrainian concentrations in Russia were the strongest. However, the Ukrainian population as a whole still increased from 28,111,007 in 1939 to 44,186,006 in 1989 or by 57.18%. However with regard to the Ukrainians in Russia, their rate of increase significantly lower than that of the Ukrainian population as a whole, only increasing 36.12% between 1939 and 1989.
All in all, the Russian claims are based solely on the result of mass colonization and repression genocide as opposed to legitimate historical claims to the regions in question. Indeed due to it's pre-genocidal ethnic makeup, the Belogorod region of Russia should be a part of Ukraine, while smaller adjoining territories in the east and southeast of Ukraine, combined being roughly the same size as Crimea proper. On the other hand, the Lwow Oblast along with 2/5 of the Wolyn Oblast should be part of Poland, the Cernauți region of Northern Bukovina and southern Bessarabia part of Romania and the southwest portion of Transcarpathia being part of Hungary. If there was no genocide or ethnic cleansing of those ethno-linguistic groups, one would expect that in 1989 there would be 4,500,000 Poles in Ukraine (Counting Eastern Galicia) along with around 750,000 Romanians and 200,000 Hungarians, significantly different than the 220,000 Poles, 460,000 Romanians and 165,000 Hungarians listed in the 1989 census.