The Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, - the historical home of Ukrainian nationalism and which is currently besieged by the Russian army - has witnessed a century of turmoil since the collapse of the Russian Empire, due to the victory of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917.

From hand to hand between 1917 and 1920

Prior to the Russian Revolution in February 1917, Ukrainians had already sought liberation from the Russian Empire in the east and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the west.

On November 20, 1917, nationalists declared the autonomy of the Ukrainian National Republic with Kyiv as its capital, and its independence was declared on January 22, 1918. For their part, the Bolsheviks, who became the leaders of Moscow and Petrograd, declared the Ukrainian Soviet Republic from Kharkiv.

In early February 1918, the Red Army captured Kyiv.

The Bolsheviks were defeated in World War I and lost Ukraine under the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (3rd of March 1918), so the Germans occupied Ukraine and expelled the Bolsheviks from Kyiv and supported a military coup led by a former general of the Imperial Russian Army, but when the defeated Germans withdrew from Ukraine, the Nationalists regained Kyiv in December 1918.

Throughout 1919, Kyiv, like the rest of Ukraine, was shifting from one hand to the other, riven by the fighting between the Ukrainian National Army, the Tsarist "White" Army, and the Soviet Army.

In May 1920, when the Red Army invaded almost all of Ukraine, the Nationalists demanded the support of the Poles, who recaptured the city;

to evacuate it after a month in favor of the Bolsheviks.


Soviet era

After the Soviet government initially encouraged Ukrainian privacy, it moved the capital to Kharkiv, a large industrial city in the east of the country, and Kyiv regained its position as the first city in 1934.

Kyiv was not spared from the scourge of World War II.

In June 1941, the city was surrounded and bombed by the Axis forces (Germans, Hungarians and Romanians), and penetrated into the Soviet Union, at which time the retreating Soviets destroyed a large part of the historical center.

After 80 days of fierce fighting, the Nazis entered Kyiv on September 19, 1941.

Over 30,000 Jews and prisoners of war were executed at the site known as Babi Yar on September 29-30, 1941. During the two years of occupation, tens of thousands were killed there.

Almost the entire Jewish community in Kyiv was placed in labor camps and concentration camps.

In November 1943, the Soviets retook Kyiv, and the city lost 40% of its buildings.

In 1965, Kyiv was named the "Heroic City of the Soviet Union".

Its reconstruction had begun with the end of the war, and worked to strengthen its industry, but it remained in the shadow of Moscow until the collapse of the Soviet Union.

In 1991, Kyiv again became the capital of an independent state, following a referendum on Ukraine's independence, by an overwhelming majority.


Two pro-European revolutions

In the 21st century, Maidan - the large Independence Square in Kiev - became the stronghold of two uprisings against Russian tutelage;

The Orange Revolution in 2004, and the Maidan Revolution from late 2013 to early 2014.

On November 22, 2004, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians in orange demonstrated for 3 weeks in Maidan Square to protest the fraudulent elections of the new pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych.

The courts eventually annulled the elections, ordering a "third round" that was won by the pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko.

Nearly 10 years later, in November 2013, pro-European demonstrators filled Maidan, because they felt betrayed by the circumvention of the elected President of Ukraine in 2010, Viktor Yanukovych, who abandoned the signing of an association agreement with the European Union.

Hundreds of thousands of Kyiv residents took to the streets, despite police violence, and tens of thousands of protesters filled the Square Day and Night Square, for 3 months.

And every attempt by the authorities to disperse them strengthened their resolve.

They quickly demanded the president's impeachment, a demand they obtained after a bloodbath in Maidan Square between February 18-20, 2014, followed by the flight of Viktor Yanukovych to Russia.