The history of Ukrainian nationality can be traced back to the kingdom of Kievan Rus' of the 9th to 12th centuries. It was the predecessor state to what would eventually become the Eastern Slavic nations of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. During this time, Eastern Orthodoxy, a defining feature of Ukrainian nationalism, was incorporated into everyday life.
Prehistory
Nomads During the Iron Age, numerous tribes settled on the modern-day territory of Ukraine. In the 1st millennium BC, a tribe of people who called themselves Cimmerians made their way from Thrace and occupied the land around the Dnieper. On the Black Sea coast, the Greeks founded numerous colonies, such as Yalta. Around 700 BC, another group of people settled on the Ukrainian steppes: the Scythians, a semi-nomadic Iranic people from the Eurasian region known as Scythia. At the turn of the 4th century BC, a series of Nomadic tribes succeeded each other as the dominant force on the steppes, many of whom were Iranic in origin. First were the Sarmatians, expert warriors and herders who were known to fight on horseback. They were succeeded by the Alans. The next barbarian migration came in the 3rd century AD that was dominated by the Goths, a Germanic people who settled between the Carpathians and Black Sea. They would eventually go on to attack the Roman Empire, expelling the legions from Dacia, the Roman province on the lower Danube. The Goths were forced from their settlements around AD 370 by the Huns, who pushed them beyond the Danube. The next two nomadic hordes to traverse Ukraine were the Bulgars, who were of Turkic origin, and the Avars living in the Carpathian Basin. The Bulgarians went on to settle north of the Byzantine Empire, in present-day Bulgaria, while the Avars would settle in present-day Hungary, along with the Huns.
Slavs
Slavs are believed to have originated in the region(s) of modern-day Poland, Slovakia, or western Ukraine. During the 5th and 6th centuries, the Hunnic and Gothic kingdoms had fallen, and Slavs began to migrate in all directions, settling as far south as the Balkans, the Oder River, and the Arctic. Numerous tribes settled on either side of the Dnieper, the river that has been a symbol of Ukraine. Originally, the early Slavs divided themselves by tribe – large communal families that practiced a sort of "primitive communism".Vowles, Ukraine and its People, 36 The application of technological advances to agriculture "increased productivity and rendered the collective labour of large groups no longer necessary. The clans split into smaller families; and, on the more fertile soil at least, it became possible for the small family to meet the needs of its members by restricting operations to a limited holding of land. Such land became in course of time private property."Vowles, Ukraine and its People, 37.
Before the rise of Rus, the first East Slavic state, a Turkic people who adopted Judaism established an empire on the Caspian Sea that included the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, southern Russia, and eastern Ukraine. The Khazars provided a buffer for the developing Slavic tribes to develop themselves internally and migrate from their marsh birthplace.Doroshenko 27 Trade between the Khazars and Swedes increased during this time, requiring the Varangians, or as they styled themselves, Rus, to follow the River Dnieper south across Eastern Europe. This is similar to what other Scandinavians did in Western Europe, specifically Normandy and England: they conquered the people and established their dynasties, becoming culturally part of the conquered population. This is the beginning of contact between future rulers and subjects. As the Khazar Empire began to crumble, two Mongolian tribes, the Pechenegs and Polovtsi pushed the Eastern Slavic tribes from the Don and lower Dnieper.Doroshenko 30
Meanwhile, the Varangians had been exploring along the many rivers of Eastern Europe, trading with the various Slavic tribes that settled there. Their tribal name was, Russ, was given to the state that Oleg of Novgorod would establish when he conquered Kiev and deposed Askold and Dir.Doroshenko 29 This new political entity, called Kievan Rus', was ruled by the Varangian dynasty founded by its first prince, Rurik. This dynasty would rule Kievan Rus' and its numerous principalities years after its downfall and was only replaced in Muscovy by the Romanovs in the 17th century.
The area of early Slavdom, which roughly coincides with the territory of Ukraine, was at an important crossroad, namely, barbarian migrations from the north, south, and west. Due to a lack of natural barriers and its position at an important geographic migratory route, a multitude of tribes, peoples, and cultures contributed to the development of Ukrainian identity that is unique: neither wholly Western nor Eastern, neither wholly Asian or European.
Rus' (9th century—13th century)
Kievan
Circa AD 862, the Varangians Askold and Dir organised an army and travelled down the Dnieper to Kiev in order to save the city's inhabitants from a besieging tribe. In doing so, they paved the way for the ascension of the Rurik dynasty over not just Kiev and Novgorod, but all the tribes that make up the East Slavs. The Varangians brought these Slavic tribes political cohesion by building one of the most powerful medieval kingdoms, and undoubtedly a sense of cultural cohesion with the conversion of Rus to Christianity in AD 988.
As Rus was one of the largest medieval empires, it is only natural that it would cover a variety of geographic zones. The northern reaches of Rus covered a heavily forested area called zalizya (land behind the forest) that was sparsely settled. There was not much industry or agriculture, with trade being the main economic activity. Vladimir, a city in this region, did not significantly increase its power until well into the decline of Kievan Rus'. The south of Rus was the centre of government, culture, and trade. It was much more heavily populated and prosperous, with trade and agriculture being well established and many links to western empires, such as the Byzantine Empire.
The unity of Rus was evident in the characteristics of this Medieval Slavic state. The name Rus, which is derived from the name Varangians had for themselves, is the “common name for previously separate and individually named East Slavic tribes.”Wilson The people of Rus fought common external enemies, making a distinction between “us” and “them.” There was a lack of natural internal borders that facilitated easy travel of people, goods, and communication: the Dnieper united Eastern Europe through trade. Christianity was an "ideology that helped to underpin princely authority. After the adoption of Byzantine Christianity, architecture throughout Rus became more uniform, especially when it came to churches. The adoption of local saints, such as Volodymyr the Great, strengthened local unity. There was also the fact that the elites and boyars were united by common language: Church Slavonic, which is demonstrated by the lack of translators in the courts of various princes from all parts of Kievan Rus'. Books were widely distributed as well. Lastly, the introduction of a codified set of laws, the first of its kind in Eastern Europe, by Yaroslav the Wise, called the Russka Pravda. It must have been widely used because of the many copies found.
In spite of its many unifying factors, there was a divergence between the northern and southern principalities. In 1169, Prince Andrei Bogoliubskii of Vladimir sacked Kiev, which exemplifies the princely rivalry that undermined central dynastic authority. The modern Russian language also began to form in the 11th century, due to the late consolidation of the northern Slavic tribes under Rus. More so, the conquerors and local peoples mixed their languages, mixing Finno-Ugric with Old East Slavic.
While the internal linguistic divisions of Rus were geographically defined as a north–south split within the confederation of East Slavic tribes, there was a widening gulf between the Rus elites and commoners. As previously mentioned, after the death of Grand Prince Igor, the Rus language began to develop dialectal forms, corresponding with the conquering of the northern Slavic towns such as Suzdal and Vladimir and the future nation-states of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. The landed elites of Rus, the boyars, spoke Church Slavonic after the conversion of the land to Christianity in AD 988 by Volodymyr the Great, negating the need for interpreters among the various princely courts of Kievan Rus'. The Rurikid dynasty was ethnically Varangian, not Slavic. Though this did not lead to drastic estrangement between the monarch and commoners, it provided friction between the boyars and the centralised authority, much like the conflicts being played out in the Kingdoms of France and England at the same time. The tension between these two classes contributed to the fall of Kievan Rus' in the face of the invasion of the Golden Horde, and eventually Rus' western-successor, Halych-Volhynia. Thus, the cultural legacy and common identity of Rus was immortalised in the language, religion, and oral traditions of the Rus peasant.
This new state was formulated on the basis of the ancient clan constitution with a new organisation for royal power overlaid. "All the power of government rested originally in the hands of the general assembly of all freemen, whose decrees were executed by elected officials, consisting in part of the war-chieftains," who became subservient to the princes of the Rurik dynasty.Rudnitsky, Ukraine, 178 There was also the boyar nobility, or all of those who owned property. They served as a foil to centralised royal power and would contribute to Kievan Rus' dissolution and fragmentation before the Mongol onslaught. The royalty of Kiev rested their power on military control and over time developed a tradition of central government: the boyars in this respect had the advantage, since their institution of “noble democracy” was well established, even during the tribal era. These limitations on monarchic power led to the ruin of Kievan Rus'.Rudnitsky, Ukraine, 179
The adoption of Orthodox Christianity by Volodymyr the Great further strengthened the cultural links between the East Slavic tribes. This was needed to redefine the relations between the autocrat and the up-and-coming landowners, or boyars. By adopting a nation-wide religion, he would be able to give the nobility a license for its special behaviours and legitimize his rule and servitude of those below him. "He realised that if all the lands under his rule had a common religion, this in itself would be a powerful factor making for State consolidation and stability."Vowles Ukraine and its People, 44
From its inception, Rus was a fragile entity as it represented a conglomeration of Slavic tribes that were united by trade, religion, rivers, and similar tongues. Yet the most divisive line in Rusyn society was that between the peasants and the Rurik dynasty. The descendants of Rurik spoke Church Slavonic, whose use was limited to this class. On the other hand, the peasants and commoners were speaking Old East Slavic. This language would begin to splinter into dialects and eventually separate languages as the kingdom of Rus fell apart.
Kingdom of Ruthenia