History /
Poles should apologise to Ukrainians first [478]
In the 14th century Poland Colluding with the Ruthenian ruler, Jarosław, the Pollsh king annexed western Rus territories including Lviv as their capital. The territory remained Polish till 1772, the first partition of Poland.
So,I already mentioned that Poles were slowly colonising Rus lands. How? In two ways - either through Polish settlers who moved eastward. or through local Rus aristocrats and gentry who adopted Polish language, culture and catholicism and became fully polonised.
It worked fine during the 16th century.
In the 17th century, common Ruthenians rebelled. They were led by Cossacks, a new force which emerged in southern regions of today`s Ukraine. They grew in strength so much that they demanded new special priviliges from the Polish king. Polish elites said one big :NO. So cossacks started a rising which devastated not only Ukraine but also part of Poland proper. The conflict was very brutal - both sides had no mercy on each other.
In the meantime, Cossacks asked Russians for help. And they got it. Another Polish Muscovy war started over the control of Eastern territories.
After peace talks, Ukraine was eventually divided between Muscovy and Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth. Russians took the Eastern part while Poles kept the Western. Check the map:
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