The Austrian General Staff or Lenin: who does the russian government think created Ukraine? Find out more about the origins of the myths spread by the kremlin and why they cannot decide who "invented" Ukraine

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The russian authorities are actively spreading various theories about the creation of Ukraine as an artificial state. And it does so despite a huge amount of historical and scientific evidence proving that Ukraine is actually a much older state, thanks to which muscovy emerged. But neither the leadership of the russian federation nor the russians themselves are able to come to terms with reality. 

So, let's find out what myths russia is propagating and what is the basis for these theories.

Was Ukraine invented by the Austrian General Staff?

The essence of this myth is that Ukrainians appeared only in the twentieth century, and before that time, the so-called "Little russians" lived on the territory of the southeastern russian empire. And the emergence of Ukrainians is only the result of a successful special operation by the Austrian General Staff, which personally financed Mykhailo Hrushevsky and the popularization of the artificially invented Ukrainian language.

How did the myth that Ukraine was created by the Austrian General Staff come about?

This theory appeared in 1914, as a result of the chauvinistic views of the russian authorities on Ukrainians as a nation and their place in history. Moreover, the russian empire did not take into account the nationality and origin of any peoples until the nineteenth century, because the main criterion by which they distinguished "their own" from "others" was religion.

Consequently, when European trends in defining nationality by language and folklore reached russia, a problem arose. Because half of the Ukrainians who were part of the russian empire began to organize uprisings and prove their identity, which was not at all in the plans of the russian authorities. 

At the same time, the other part of Ukraine, which was subordinate to Austria-Hungary, was actively developing its national identity.

So, when the russian empire realized that it could no longer control this process, the authorities imposed restrictions that banned any publications in the Ukrainian language and made it impossible for political, educational, cultural, religious, and cooperative organizations to operate. Later, the idea that Ukrainians were an artificial nation trying to split the russian empire and that Austria-Hungary was responsible for its creation was propagated among the masses.

This myth was entrenched because during the First World War, Ukrainians were divided by empires, and therefore any attempts to reunite and revive the nationality in the territories that were liberated from russia were interpreted by the russian authorities as an Austro-Hungarian conspiracy and confirmation of the propagandized theory.

However, in 1917, the establishment of the Ukrainian Central Rada in Kyiv was proclaimed. This was preceded by the abdication of Nicholas II, the russian tsar at the time, and the irreversible process of the collapse of the russian empire. 

So all these narratives came to naught and were forgotten for many decades. However, in 2005, against the backdrop of the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, pro-russian propagandists decided to bring up the Austro-Hungarian conspiracy theory and the "special operation to create Ukrainians."

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Could Ukraine have been created by Lenin?

Despite the fact that one theory negates the existence of the other, the russian government does not see this as a problem and actively promotes both narratives. So, putting aside the absurdity of this situation, we will explain where the second myth came from.

For the first time, putin publicly stated that Ukraine appeared only thanks to Lenin, after declaring the "independence" of some of the territories occupied by russian troops. Thus, the russian dictator's schizophrenic theory is based on the idea that all the lands that belong to Ukraine today were a generous gift from the soviet government.

According to putin, Lenin "went along with" some national associations on the outskirts of the great empire, which was a terrible mistake, because it was impossible to grant autonomy to people who had endless national ambitions. And with this rash decision of the soviet government, putin justifies the current invasion of Ukraine.

Obviously, Lenin had nothing to do with the creation of Ukraine. Moreover, in 1918, he started a war against the Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR), and then, in 1922, he proclaimed the full integration of Ukraine's territories into the soviet union, depriving it of its independence. That is why putin's imperial ambitions are only laughable to thinking people. Unfortunately, however, we are dealing with 140 million citizens who believe in all the fairy tales that the authorities impose on them and actively spread the absurd theories of the kremlin.

We remind you! Due to the active propaganda of the russian federation, dozens of false myths related to the culture and history of Ukraine are spreading around the world. Read about how russia distorts the facts and tries to rewrite the past of the Ukrainian people in our previous article.

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