Ukraine - Country history and economic development

700s A.D. The Kievan Rus state is created by Norse traders seeking commercial routes to the Middle East.

988. Prince Volodymyr accepts Christianity and begins the process of converting the Kievan state to his religion.

1237-1241. Conquest of Kiev by the Tatars.

1300s. Foundation of the Galician-Volynian principality. which included much of the territory of the former Kievan Rus. Lithuania, Poland, and Turkey begin to occupy regions of Kievan Rus.

1569. Treaty of Lublin between Lithuania and Poland allows further Polish expansion into what is now Ukraine.

1667. Ukraine is partitioned between Poland and Russia.

1793. Ukraine is reunited as part of the Russian Empire.

1917-18. During the Russian Revolution, Communists seize power in Ukraine. Three separate Ukrainian republics declare their independence.

1921. Poland absorbs the western Ukrainian republic, while the Soviet Union absorbs the remainder of Ukraine, making it a Soviet Republic.

1929. In an effort to suppress Ukrainian nationalism, the Soviets undertake a broad campaign which results in the arrests and murder of thousands of intellectuals, and political and church leaders.

1932-1933. In an effort to abolish private farms and force industrialization, the Soviets collectivize farms and force millions to leave their farms and settle on government-owned farms. A famine results and causes the death of an estimated 8 million rural Ukrainians.

1941-1944. Ukraine is occupied by German forces during World War II (1939-45), but returns to Soviet control after the war.

1950s. Forced industrialization reaches its peak as the Soviets try to transform the economy from an agrarian one to one based on manufacturing.

1954. The Crimea region is transferred to Ukraine by Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev.

1972. New rounds of Soviet suppression result in the arrests of hundreds of Ukrainian nationalists.

1986. Chernobyl nuclear accident kills 30 and results in an estimated 1,800 cases of cancer caused by radiation exposure.

1990. The Ukrainian government declares national sovereignty.

1991. On August 24, Ukraine declares independence and becomes a founding member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

1994. Ukraine joins NATO's Partnership-for-Peace Program.

1996. The United States and Ukraine agree to a joint investment treaty designed to protect U.S. investors in Ukraine.

1997. Russia and Ukraine agree to a treaty which divides the Black Sea fleet and its bases between the 2 nations. Romania and Ukraine sign a treaty on oil exploration in the Black Sea.