Why was Ukraine called Ukraine? The name of such a country was first heard in the last quarter of the twelfth century. The first time this was remembered in the historical opus “Tales of Bygone Years”, where the author tells of the death of Prince Pereyaslavsky Vladimir Glebovich in 1187. It says: "All Pereyaslavlites cried after him ... After him Ukraine was also very distressed." This work reveals the concept of "Ukraine", the history of the name and development of the country. And two years later, in 118th, it was said about Prince Rostislav, who had visited "Galitskaya Ukraine."
Question about Ukraine
Why was Ukraine called Ukraine? This question has long interested scientists, but there is no definite answer to it today. Some researchers explained the origin with the word “krai” - a piece of territory very remote from the center, a outskirts, and border territory at the krai. In other words - the land, krajina in the designation of the native land, a congenial country, dear land. The origin of the name Ukraine has different roots.
Here's another look - Ukraine, it seems, comes from the word "steal" (cut off). In other words, the meaning of the word Ukraine as the name of a state is a piece of land stolen (cut off) from the whole, which soon became whole (free country).
There are different versions. The origin of the name Ukraine is associated with sayings: region, kraina (country). Although there is no visible connection. When did the name Ukraine appear? There are different thoughts. How scientists have studied the origin of the name is unknown, but the very process of the concept of "Ukraine" was long in time and had several stages.
Edge, not outskirts
The word "land" by the meaning of "piece, piece of land" has been known since the days of the Old Slavic language. And today this word exists in many Slavic languages, because Slavic tribes always had lands that were separated by natural borders - a river, a forest, a swamp. Therefore, this word also had a meaning - the extreme part of the territory, the beginning or end of the land of the tribe.
Where did the name Ukraine come from is very interesting. In the Old Slavic period, the word kraina (country) was born in the meaning - the territory that belongs to the tribe. Next to the word "land" in the Old Slavonic language there was the word "steal", which meant - a piece from a piece, a distant piece of land, the extreme boundary of a remote part of the tribe's territory.
Kraina
And yet, why was Ukraine called Ukraine? The question is very interesting. Later, among the Eastern Slavs from the dictum “steal”, the word Ukraine appeared through the suffix –in, which had the meaning - a remote piece of land, a remote territory of the tribe. In the VI-VIII century, during the time of the Rus Empire, the filling of the words "kraina" and Ukraine changed. And yet, why was Ukraine called Ukraine? The word "kraina" in meaning - the land of the tribe, it soon began to mean - the land of the feudal principality, and then - the land of Russia. Therefore, the designation of the word Ukraine itself has also changed: the initial place is the remote part of the tribe’s land, the meaning came to be the adjacent part of the land of the feudal princedom, and only then part of the land of Russia.
Principalities
In the days of feudal Kievan Rus, when the principalities began to disconnect from it, the word "Ukraine" began to mean "principality." Let’s take a look at where the name Ukraine came from. Scientists perceived the word Ukraine in different ways: as the territory of the Pereyaslav land bordering Kiev land, nicknamed Ukraine because it bordered on Polovtsian land; as Russia in the style of separately existing principalities; as a whole Kievan Rus. But, most likely, the chronicler called Ukraine only Pereyaslav land. Not only because it stood on the border with the Polovtsian steppe, but because it was a separate principality, a separate country (krajina).
Ukraine is a country
The name of the country Ukraine, namely the country, appeared in due time. And then, in addition to Pereyaslavl Ukraine, there were different Ukraine according to the existing principalities and other independent Ukraine. Ukraine here in the meaning of the country - Pereyaslavl country, Kiev country and so on.
This is known from the chronicles, where it is said that "Prince Rostislav visited the Galician Ukraine and from there went to Galich." The fact that the word "Ukraine" meant a separate country, a separate principality is very clearly seen from the then descriptions.
The history of Ukraine says that along with the word "Ukraine" the word "outskirts" also lived - the frontier part of the tribe’s land. These words did not mean the same thing, but differed in meaning: “Ukraine” (the name of the state) is a small part of the tribe’s land, “outskirts” are the border land of the tribe, and then the feudal princedom.
Lithuania and Poland
Starting from the middle of the XIV century, many principalities of Kievan Rus, from which the Ukrainian people later formed, fell under the domain of Lithuania and Poland. Since then, the name Ukraine has also been applied to territories that fall under this power. Near Lithuania were Chernigov, Kiev, Pereyaslav and most of the Volyn principality, and everything was called Lithuanian Ukraine, and under Poland came Galitsky, part of Volyn and the lands were called Polish Ukraine.
With the advent of the Cossacks, the Dnieper lands began to be called Cossack Ukraine. The history of Ukraine recalls this in songs - "oh in the mountains, in the valleys, in the Cossack Ukraine ..."
Khmelnitsky
During the military operations of Ukrainians against the Poles under the leadership of Bogdan Khmelnytsky (1648-1654), not only Zaporizhzhya lands were called Ukraine, but also all the Dnieper lands. Most likely, starting from this moment, the whole country began to be called Ukraine. Then this name spread to the Eastern Slavic lands, as well as to Slobozhanshchina, which for a short time was called Sloboda Ukraine. And the western lands were called Russia for a long time, but soon the name Ukraine became native to the inhabitants of the entire ethnic state of Ukrainians.
Word history
Ukraine - where does the name come from? Over time, the initial geographical concept of Ukraine became a national idea, which united such lands as Polesye, Sivershchina, Slobozhanshchina, Donbass, the Black Sea region, Volhynia, Podolia, Bukovina, Carpathian and Transcarpathia.
Therefore, for Ukrainians it was very important that the word "Ukraine" meant the name of the country created by Bogdan Khmelnitsky. Undoubtedly, there was no discussion of any outskirts of the Russian Empire. If the outskirts, then, rather, the outskirts of the Slavic tribes. After all, the Eastern Slavs occupied just the extreme lands of the Slavs. So, if you consider the outskirts of Ukraine, then the outskirts of the Slavic nation.
History
History ... We can hear this word every day, but we don’t think at all about its meaningfulness. As a result of the fact that Ukraine gained independence, Ukrainians began to be interested in the history of their people. Indeed, only knowledge of the past will make it possible to understand the present and build a bright future. An important role in understanding your story is played by saved memos. Museums are called upon to preserve the historical memory of the people for future generations and study it.
The history of Ukraine and the people that inhabit this territory are rooted in ancient times. The sites of the very first man were seen on the territory of independent Ukraine many hundreds of thousands of years ago, in the era of the early Paleolithic. Man conquered these territories and the natural wealth of the subsoil from nature. From the primitive forms of gathering, hunting and fishing, he moved on to farming and cattle breeding. Representatives of Trypillian culture left a very important mark in the difficult history of Ukraine in the 4th-3rd centuries BC. Tripoli were the most civilized representatives of the human race in the Neolithic era. They mainly engaged in agriculture, pottery, and construction. As a result of the expansion of the nomads and the cooling of the climate, this culture gradually disappeared. After that, the Sarmatians, the Kemmerians, and the Scythians lived in the Ukrainian territories. Greek peoples had a very big influence on the peoples who inhabited the vast expanses of Ukraine.
East Slavs
The roots of the Eastern Slavs are not well understood today. The pre-Slavic period is associated with the emergence on the right-bank forest-steppe Dnieper of the Zarubinets culture, which is a joint for all Slavs. For the first time, the Slavs are recalled in the works of Tacitus, Ptolemy under the name "Wends". They lived in the Baltic Sea region. Then, in the middle of the 1st millennium AD, two groups of Slavs — the Antes and the Slavians — stood out from the Wends. Ants settled the territory from the Danube to the Sea of Azov and made up the eastern branch of the Slavs. They were mainly engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding. Traded with the city-powers of the Northern Black Sea Region and the Arab countries. The political structure of the country was democratic. The country was led by a prince and foremen. But the issues that were very important for the country were decided by the veche - national assembly.
Starting from the VII century, there are already memories of the Slavs. The early Slavs settled mainly along the banks of rivers and lakes. Their huts were wooden and clay. The political mode was tribal. The land was owned mainly by large families - patriarchal associations along the bloodline. The public spirit of the early Slavs is characterized by a transition from the primitive to the military tribal. Then power is transferred by right of inheritance. The life and work of the Eastern Slavs has always been closely connected with nature and family. This laid the foundation for the culture of the Slavs.
Culture
Folk culture in the traditions of the Ukrainian people played a role. In ancient times, when the feudal peak of society adopted Catholicism and European culture, and the peak of Cossack foreman became Russified, the Ukrainian community developed without a national cultural elite. And only the broad masses remained to carry the culture, which at that time was popular. The main place in the culture was taken by folklore, namely folk traditions and color. All this was very clearly visible in folk songs, thoughts. Thanks to the people, it became possible to raise Ukrainian culture in the 16th-17th centuries and revive in the 19th century.
Many talented Ukrainians have contributed to the Polish, Russian, world culture as a whole. This became possible thanks to the original education system, thanks to which the population was mostly literate. And the role of Ukraine-Rus as a center of Christianity among the Eastern Slavs became huge. The higher education system was especially developed. Ukrainian culture was open to the world, it lacked xenophobia and humanism was present. A huge contribution to the world heritage was made by such philosophers, poets and famous personalities as Skovoroda, Prokopovich, Kulish, Shevchenko and many others.
In other European countries, they wanted to overcome the problems of poverty, disease, illiteracy with the help of technological progress, with the help of the contribution of the monarchs. And in Ukraine, they called for self-knowledge, freedom, for the sake of which one can part with well-being, the spirituality of life came to the fore. Today, such paths are of great importance for all mankind. So, although when the name Ukraine appeared, no one can say for sure, but that it was an important moment for the whole vast nation can be asserted with confidence.