Turtledove
Advertisement
Ukraine
Ukrainemap
Flag of Ukraine
Country
Continent: Europe
Capital: Kyiv
National Language: Ukranian
Government: Unitary semi-presidential constitutional republic
Status in OTL: Active
UkraineSSR

The flag of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.

Ukraine is a republic in southeastern Europe. Although once the center of a powerful empire from the 9th century into the 12th century, for much of modern history, Ukraine has been absorbed or partitioned by its neighbors, most importantly Russia. After World War I led to the Russian Revolution, Ukraine was a founding republic of the Soviet Union. Although it retained nominal self-governance, it was under the direct control of Moscow. During the 1930s, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin had many Ukrainians killed in reprisal for an uprising, and ten years later the Nazis killed many more Ukrainians in World War II. Ukraine regained its independence with the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991.

On 24 February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" to support the Russian-controlled breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, whose military forces had fought Ukraine before. He said the goal was to "demilitarise" and "denazify" Ukraine. Putin espoused irredentist views, challenged Ukraine's right to statehood, and falsely claimed that Ukraine was governed by neo-Nazis who persecuted the ethnic Russian minority. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides, and instigated Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. About 8 million Ukrainians were displaced within their country by June, and more than 8.1 million had fled the country by March 2023.

Ukraine in "The Breaking of Nations"[]

Ukraine remained an independent country in 2031, despite the loss of much territory to Russia.[1] Nicole Yoshida, the first President of Pacifica, briefly considered calling the Ukrainian President to compare notes, but decided against it.[2]

Ukraine in The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump[]

Ukraine was one of the most powerful nations in Europe. By the 20th century, Ukraine had had several border clashes with Muslim countries. The Confederated Provinces' Central Intelligence had determined that Ukraine, Persia, India, and Aztecia were the four most dangerous nations in the world as far as the Confederation was concerned.

Ukraine in Crosstime Traffic[]

Ukraine in Curious Notions[]

In the alternate designated as 3477 by Crosstime Traffic, the German victory in 1914 led to Ukraine becoming a puppet kingdom, carved out of the vanquished Russian Empire.

Ukraine in The Disunited States of America[]

Ukraine was one of the world's great powers.

Ukraine in "Drang von Osten"[]

In 2041, a German-led a coalition of various European countries passed through Ukraine to meet China's invasion of Russia. While the coalition was initially successful in meeting the invasion in European Russia, by 2043, the German lines were collapsing, and Chinese troops were making their way into Ukraine.[3]

Ukraine in The Hot War[]

The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic suffered some during the early months of World War III. In January 1951, the Kiev Military District was mobilized as tensions mounted between the Soviet Union and the United States.[4] Once the ground war erupted in February, Ukrainians were conscripted into the Red Army.[5] On 4 March, the U.S. destroyed the capital Kiev with an atomic bomb.[6] As the war in Europe continued to spend lives, the Soviets grew less picky about the Ukrainians they conscripted, taking older and/or infirm men as soldier.[7]

While the war ended in July, 1952, several Soviet satellites began rising against Soviet rule. By September, 1952, the Ukraine joined them in rebellion, though the official Soviet line was that the Ukraine remained as loyal as ever.[8]

Ukraine in In the Presence of Mine Enemies[]

Ukraine was part of the Greater German Reich. During World War II, the Reich committed genocide against the Slavic Ukrainians. The remaining handful of Ukrainians were enslaved by the Reich while the Ukraine was made part of the Ostlands and was settled by German farmers.[9][10] By 2010, the Reich had constructed numerous forts there, replicas of which were sometimes constructed as school projects by German children.[11]

Ukraine in "The Phantom Tolbukhin"[]

Ukraine had been completely occupied by Germany by 1947. Soviet General Fedor Tolbukhin led a guerrilla resistance against the Germans, earning himself the nickname "The Phantom".

Ukraine in "Ready for the Fatherland"[]

It was at Zaporozhye in the Ukraine in 1943 that German Field Marshall Erich von Manstein lost his cool and impulsively killed Führer Adolf Hitler during a war council. Manstein took over the German government and signed a peace treaty with the Soviet Union.[12] In the process, the Ukraine was partitioned between the two powers, an arrangement which still persisted in 1979.[13]

Ukraine in Southern Victory[]

Germany took the Ukraine from the Russian Empire at the end of the Great War.[14] Germany subjected the Ukraine to a brutal occupation during the confusion of the Russian Civil War.[15] In the 1940s, the Russian Empire, now more stable, began demanding that Germany return the Ukraine.[16] In response, Ukrainians began rioting.[17]

With the outbreak of the Second Great War, the Ukraine collapsed in the initial Russian invasion,[18] with Germany and Austria-Hungary fighting to hold the Ukraine throughout 1941 and into 1942.[19] Guerrillas supporting both sides were active in 1943.[20]

By the middle of October 1943, it was clear that Germany had successfully held Kiev, and that the Russians would advance no further.[21] Russia withdrew the following year.

Ukraine in Supervolcano[]

Some six years after the eruption of the Yellowstone Supervolcano, Russia, suffering from harsh winters and a complete failure of agriculture, invaded both Ukraine and Kazakhstan, which were somewhat better off. The Russians used the fact that both countries had historically been under Russian rule as a thin casus belli.[22] Both countries reached out to NATO, but the response was limited at best. The U.S. Secretary of State expressed disapproval of the invasion. Russia effectively told the USA that the invasion was none of its business.[23]

The invasion did not go as hoped. In addition to the cost on the ground, Kazakh special forces were able to infiltrate Russia and blow-up two nuclear power plants. While the explosions did not cause a meltdown on the level of Chernobyl, they did raise the background radiation.[24]

Within time, the war became completely bogged down.[25]

Ukraine in The War That Came Early[]

With the Soviet Union embroiled in the Second World War, emboldened Ukrainian nationalists launched guerrilla attacks across the countryside.[26]

Fighting continued even after the war in Europe ended.

Ukraine in War World[]

After barely a decade of independence, Ukraine was newly absorbed by the renascent Soviet Union.

Ukraine in Worldwar[]

The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was one of the republics making up the Soviet Union. During World War II, German forces had stirred up a Ukrainian separatist movement, and over 20 years after the Race Invasion of Tosev 3, the movement was still active, committing acts of violence against Soviet officials and agencies. The rebels were still supported by Germany, which smuggled weapons to them via Romania, as well as by the Race, which smuggled weapons across the Polish border. Nikita Khrushchev was General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Ukrainian SSR and its chief political executive official.

One of the first human victories during the original 1942 invasion occurred in Chernobyl, where the German railway gun Dora destroyed two Race starships and, unknowingly, half of the Conquest Fleet's nuclear stockpile.

See also[]

References[]

  1. And the Last Trump Shall Sound, pg. 36, loc. 516.
  2. Ibid. pg. 60, loc. 889.
  3. See, e.g., We Install and Other Stories, loc. 417-820.
  4. Bombs Away, pgs. 48-49, ebook.
  5. Ibid., pg. 118.
  6. Ibid., pg. 161.
  7. Ibid., pgs. 419-423.
  8. Armistice, pgs. 319-322.
  9. In the Presence of Mine Enemies, pg. 5, HC.
  10. Ibid., pg. 385.
  11. Ibid., pg. 324.
  12. See, e.g., Counting Up, Counting Down, pgs. 86-88, TPB.
  13. Ibid., pg. 91.
  14. The Center Cannot Hold, pg. 187, tpb.
  15. Ibid.
  16. The Victorious Opposition, pg. 399, mmp.
  17. Ibid. pg. 404.
  18. Return Engagement, pg. 173, TPB.
  19. Ibid. pg. 196.
  20. Drive to the East, pg. 436, HC.
  21. The Grapple, pg. 566, tpb.
  22. Things Fall Apart, pg. 160.
  23. Ibid., pg. 163.
  24. Ibid., pg. 176.
  25. Ibid., pg. 345.
  26. Two Fronts, p. 235-237.
Advertisement