This lesson of the Ukrainian Lessons Podcast is dedicated to the very intense times in Ukrainian history – the liberation movement of 1917-1922. Listen to the new chapter, get more explanations from your teacher, and try to do a quiz!

In this Ukrainian Lesson, you will:

  • listen to my introduction about мій шалений тиждень;
  • listen to the 5th part of the Ukrainian History Course;
  • relisten by smaller parts with my explanations and comprehension questions
  • try to solve a short quiz;
  • discover Бій під Крутами – an important heroic battle in the history of Ukraine.

Study these important terms before listening to the episode:

  • Перша світова війна – World War I was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918.
  • Антанта – The Triple Entente refers to the understanding linking the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. During World War I, all Entente members entered it as Allied Powers against The Triple Alliance.
  • Троїстий союз – The Triple Alliance or Triplice was a secret agreement between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy before World War I.
  • Більшовики – members of the majority faction of the Russian Social Democratic Party, which was renamed the Communist Party after the October Revolution of 1917.
  • Українська Народна Республіка (УНР) – The Ukrainian People’s Republic was a predecessor of modern Ukraine declared on 10 June 1917.
  • Михайло Грушевський was a Ukrainian academician, politician, historian, and statesman, one of the most important figures of the Ukrainian national revival of the early 20th century. He was the country’s greatest modern historian, foremost organizer of scholarship, leader of the pre-revolution Ukrainian national movement, and head of the Центральна Рада (Ukraine’s 1917–1918 revolutionary parliament).
  • Павло Скоропадський was a Ukrainian aristocrat, military and state leader, decorated Imperial Russian Army and Ukrainian Army general of Cossack heritage. Skoropadsky became a conservative leader in Ukraine following the Russian Revolution of 1917, a founder of the Hetman dynasty of Ukraine.
  • Директорія Української Народної Республіки was a provisional collegiate revolutionary state committee of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, initially formed on November 13–14, 1918 in rebellion against Skoropadsky’s regime.
  • Західноукраїнська Народна Республіка (ЗУНР) – The West Ukrainian People’s Republic was a short-lived republic that existed in late 1918 and early 1919 in eastern Galicia. It included the cities of Lviv, Przemyśl, Kolomyia, and Stanislaviv and claimed parts of Bukovina and Carpathian Ruthenia.
  • Акт злуки – was an agreement signed on January 22, 1919, by the Ukrainian People’s Republic and the West Ukrainian People’s Republic on St. Sophia Square in Kyiv.
  • Польськоукраїнська війна (1918-1919) was a conflict between the Second Polish Republic and Ukrainian forces (both West Ukrainian People’s Republic and Ukrainian People’s Republic). The war started in Галичина after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and spilled over into Волинь region of the collapsing Russian Empire.
  • Антон Денікін was a Russian Lieutenant General in the Imperial Russian Army and, afterward, a leading general of the White movement in the Russian Civil War.
  • Нестор Махно was a Ukrainian anarchist revolutionary and the commander of an independent anarchist army in Ukraine in 1917–22.
  • Володимир Винниченко was a Ukrainian statesman, political activist, writer, playwright, and artist who served as 1st Prime Minister of Ukraine.
  • Симон Петлюра was a Ukrainian politician and journalist. He was the Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian Army and the President of the Ukrainian National Republic during Ukraine’s short-lived sovereignty in 1918–1921, who led Ukraine’s struggle for independence following the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917.
  • Ризька мирна угода – The Peace of Riga, also known as the Treaty of Riga, was signed in Riga on 18 March 1921, between Poland, Soviet Russia (also acting on behalf of Soviet Belarus), and Soviet Ukraine. The treaty ended the Polish-Soviet War.

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Transcript, Vocabulary List, and Flashcards!

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  • Full transcript & translation of all the introduction and the lecture in history;
  • Encyclopedia: important historical terms explained;
  • Exercises: fill-in the blanks, true or false, new vocabulary practice;
  • Vocabulary List: new words from the episode in a chart with English translation.

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