Ukrainian Dualism
Journal: Palgrave Macmillan US eBooks
Year: 2011

Ukraine has long been contested by neighboring states that promoted and rewarded those who chose to abandon their Ukrainian identity. Political, military, and cultural pressures from Russia encouraged Ukrainians to become Orthodox Russophiles. Political, military, and cultural pressures from Poland or Austria encouraged Ukrainians to become Catholics and look west rather than east. The main geographic characteristics of Ukraine are fertile plains bordered by the Black Sea to the south and the Ca