The
Romanov
dynasty was toppled in 1917 by the Bolshevik Revolution. This revolution’s ideas stemmed from Karl
Marx. This ideology consists of radical
revolutionism, common ownership, and state intervention[1]
amongst others. Although some parts of
Marxism can be found in modern democratic socialist states, this ideology
became associated with totalitarian communistic autocracy. Marxism was radicalized in places such as
Vietnam, North Korea and China. The Bolshevik
Revolution took power in the USSR under Vladimir
Lenin. Lenin lived till about 50 years
of age and when he died Joseph Stalin took power and consolidated power. Stalin introduced the heavy use of the secret
police and army to control the population.
This force created a way by which Stalin built “up the USSR as an industrial
communist nation and [it also maintained] his power[2]”.
Ukraine was resistive to communism causing Stalin to be upset. Stalin eventually enforced starvation in the
state via boycotts these are collectively referred to as “the Holodomor[3]”. This was their punishment for resisting
communism. Lenin’s power was communist,
authoritarian and autocratic. He would
arrest tortured and jail the opposing side.
Clearly, under communism, there was a lot of suffering in the
state.
During
WWII Russia was an ally of the USA and the west. This was a result of Nazi Germany being a
threat to both nations. 20 million Soviet
lives were lost during WWII[4]. After WWII Stalin, took control of many east
European states. The eastern European
states such as East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania,
Bulgaria, and Albania became under Soviet domination and hegemony. Eastern Europe became communist and the west
was capitalist. The Cold War was a war
between the USA and the USSR. It was an
ideological war. This war was also a
proxy war[5]. A proxy war is a war that is fought on the
soil of another. In this case the war
being fought was in Europe between the US and USSR. Both sides had nuclear weapons at this
time. This war was exacerbated by NATO 1947
and the Warsaw Pact. Countries sided
with either country to ascertain protection from the opposing side. Specifically, Ukraine was part of the Soviet
Union and as mentioned Stalin imposed starvation upon its people to punish them
for their refusal of communism. This was
a very dramatic tense time where these powers competed for markets and
resources. In 1989 when the USSR
collapsed the Cold War ended. However,
while the Warsaw Pact was dissolved NATO remained. With this treaty it means that if a member is
attacked, there will be effective recourse to combat such attack by NATO
members. Following the USSR’s collapse Ukraine,
Georgia Uzbekistan, broke away from USSR and Russia was formed. As a result of the ideological conflicts
between the USSR and Ukraine, it is clear why Ukraine has been trying to get
into NATO since 1994. It is likely due
to the fact that since the Russian culture has such a big influence in the
state, it would prevent Russian invasion of Crimea.
Gorbachev was the last communist leader and reformer. He attempted to reform the USSR but evidently was unsuccessful as the country was too far into collapse. In 1989, communism collapsed and a democratic leader was put into power, Boris Yelsin in Russia. He basically prepared the foundation for a democratic society in Russia. Putin was then next in line to power. He was his prodigy. He is also a former KGB chief. When he assumed power, he ruled with corruption, elitism, privilege and the police state. Specifically looking at the case study of Ukraine with relation to Crimea, it becomes evident that there have been tensions which have been internalized and not rectified thus causing contention. Putin knew this and on 2014, Russia sent soldiers into Crimea. These men were called, “the little green men.” Little did the citizens know, this was a plan to annex Crimea by Russia. Based on historical events explained herein, it can be theorized that the annexation of Crimea was a ploy for Russia to justify the reunification ethnic cultural Russian ties. Crimea has a large population of Russian ethnics. Russia claimed that the people in Crimea wanted to be a part of Russia. Russia then acted unilaterally to take Crimea. Foreign powers didn’t act because acting would result in a military encounter. There were sanctions imposed on Russia resulting from the invasion of Crimea as it was a violation of sovereignty and international law. Russia has little concern for these, clearly. From a foreign policy point of view, the objective here was the reunification of ethnic Russians in Crimea. The second policy to note here is that Crimea is strategically a port when placed on a map it can serve as access for NATO to proliferate the region. The Treaty of Paris was signed in 1856[6] wherein the USSR agreed to dismantle the naval base in the port of Sevastopol. This was demanded by the opposing force Britain and France amongst others. They demanded this so that USSR would not have access or would not be a military threat in the Black Sea. It becomes evident that the history of USSR and Ukraine played a role in Russia’s decision to annex Crimea. Ukraine refused communism, broke away from the USSR and sought NATO membership to prevent this from occurring however, USSR responded with famine and Russia subsequently the annexation of Crimea. The history between Ukraine and the USSR present day Russia provides very telling clues as to Russia’s foreign policy objectives then and now. It provides clarity to the context by which Crimea was annexed. By Russia annexing Crimea, it caused a war which, “displaced nearly 2 million people and destroyed the country’s infrastructure[7]”. It was rationalized by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s who “[asserted] that Crimea is mostly comprised of ethnic Russians[8].
[1] Heywood, A.
“Political Ideologies: An
Introduction.” (2007) Palgrave Macmillan.
Page 134
[2] Crime Museum.
“Stalin's Security Force.”
(2021). Retrieved from: https://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/international-crimes/stalins-security-force/
[3] Kiger, P. “How
Joseph Stalin Starved Millions in the Ukrainian Famine.” (2019) History. Retrieved from: https://www.history.com/news/ukrainian-famine-stalin
[4]Keller, B. “Major
Soviet Paper Says 20 Million Died As Victims of Stalin.” (1989) New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/04/world/major-soviet-paper-says-20-million-died-as-victims-of-stalin.html
[5] Ross Pink, Foreign Policy- Major Powers. POLI3147.
(2020) KPU.
[6] Popovici, A. “Why Russia Wants
Crimea.” (2018) History. Retrieved from: https://www.history.com/news/crimea-russia-ukraine-annexation
[7] Popovici, A. “Why Russia Wants Crimea.” (2018) History. Retrieved from: https://www.history.com/news/crimea-russia-ukraine-annexation
[8] Popovici, A. “Why Russia Wants Crimea.” (2018) History. Retrieved from: https://www.history.com/news/crimea-russia-ukraine-annexation
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