Loren Deerwester

Darth Lenin

HST 122-03 11/ 19/ 2015

Ukraine, yes the same Ukraine that had the nuclear meltdown in Chernobyl, had recently
passed a law that required the removal of all symbols and remnants of Ukraines communist past.
Can you blame them for wanting to erase the memories of their past? No, not really. However,
because of the enactment of the new law Ukraine has given the something awesome, something
hilarious, something hilariously awesome. For years the statue of Vladimir Lenin had stood in
Odessa, but after the passing of the law a local artist called Alexander Milov proposed rather
than tear down the statue to instead replace the statue of Vladimir Lenin with a statue of the Sith
Lord Darth Vader from the movie Star Wars, made of a titanium alloy it was attached on to the
statue of Lenin in a way acting as a protective layer. Inside the statues helmet is a built in Wi-Fi
hub giving anyone near it free access to the internet, something that is in itself a stroke of genius.
It is hoped that this new statue will become a tourist attraction. As awesome as that is it is
interesting that Ukraine would try to get rid of something from their past. Perhaps, just maybe if
we look into their past we can get a bit better understanding of why they decided to pass this new
law.
While the First World War raged during 1914 dealing with Germany and the frontlines in
their fight with the Russian Empire, Ukraine was stuck in the middle of it. In the start of 1917
many groups in the Russian Empire had wanted greater autonomy, keep in mind that this was
during the time that World War I was nearing its end. A few months in the year Ukraine declared
itself the Ukrainian Peoples Republic, being autonomous from the Russian Government and the
Republic still maintained close ties with Russia. It was a weak and ineffective government and
its support of the still ongoing war was not looked upon by many Ukrainian people kindly. Many
Ukrainian soldiers that where in the Russian army was disillusion with the war and fighting,
deserting the army wasnt uncommon for them. Eventually a group in Kiev took power of

Loren Deerwester

Darth Lenin

HST 122-03 11/ 19/ 2015

Ukrainian capital, they were known as the Central Rada and not only did the Rada declare
Ukraines independence, they also broke ties with Russia rather than have close ties with them.
However, this wasnt to last as the Bolsheviks began to take power as they forced the Central
Rada to evacuate to Zhytomyr. By 1919 the Ukrainian Peoples Republic which had been
separated into two parts signed an Act of Union. Unlucky for the Western Ukrainian Peoples
Republic they were defeated and then annexed by Poland. In the end of this Ukrainian War of
Independence in 1921 Ukraine had been absorbed into the Soviet Union and did have for a short
while enjoyed a nations positions (if at least in name only). It is notable that during the Soviet
Famine in 1932 through 1933 a majority of the 8 million people who died where living in
Ukraine.
The events of World War I and those that fallowed shortly after it ended looked pretty
bad, not only did Ukraine fail to stay independent, but now they were subsumed into the
founding portions of the Soviet Union. Well by the time World War II rolled by in 1939 the large
majority of Ukrainians were very unhappy with the Soviet Union especially after the famine,
which hit Ukraine like getting a building dropped on you. It was during this time that the Soviet
Union invaded Poland thanks to an agreement with Nazi Germany. It was from this that Soviet
Union regained the portions of Ukraine lost to Poland previously. When Hitler stared his
Invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, they occupied Ukraine. Despite what you might think, a
large number of Ukrainians decided to cooperate and support the Nazi, all because of their
treatment under Stalins rule from the Soviet Union. Fortunately, under the Nazis mistreatment of
Ukrainians they started to change their attitude towards the Nazi. But not before they tried to
proclaim a new Ukrainian state by the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists or OUN for short.
Despite OUN thinking that they found a powerful ally in Nazi Germany within two years after

Loren Deerwester

Darth Lenin

HST 122-03 11/ 19/ 2015

the declaration, most of OUNs leadership was either imprisoned or killed. By 1945, the Soviet
Union had managed to push the Nazi back to Germany, Ukraine was once again brought back
into the fold and the Second World War was over.
For Over the next forty five years Ukraine was a part of the Soviet Union, granted after
the death of Stalin Ukraine had some amendments to their constitution. These changes allowed
Ukraine to be both separate and remain a part of the Soviet Union at same time. As confusion as
that sounds it is what allowed them to be one of the founding members of the United Nations.
Soviet Russia also transferred control of Crimean Oblast to Ukraine in 1954, now wasnt that
nice of them. Lets fast forward a good thirty six years to 1990, where well over 300,000
Ukrainians form a human chain to protest for Ukraines independence. This over one year later
was a catalyst for Ukraines parliament saying that they would no longer fallow the laws of the
Soviet Union, thus declaring itself an independent state. Cue four months later when the
presidents of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia met in Belovezh Pushcha, this meeting was to
formally dissolve the Soviet Union. Yes, that right, Ukraine and the other Soviet Nations
dissolved the union on their own, mostly thanks to the economy and partly because people no
longer wanted anything to do with communism (which the communist party actually got banned
in RussiaIN.RUSSIA!! I feel like that is irony.) Funny isnt it how the Soviet Union ended,
it wasnt by the United States or by some outside force, but by the people themselves.
Recently and by recently I mean last year, one of the biggest events to happen to Ukraine
since their official independence in 1991 happened. In February 2014 Russian Soldiers without
insignias took control of specific positions in Crimea, which not long after that it was said that
Crimea voted to secede from Ukraine. A most unusual event to be sure, however it gets stranger
in that Russia provided a referendum that pretty much stated that a majority voted in favor of

Loren Deerwester

Darth Lenin

HST 122-03 11/ 19/ 2015

seceding from Ukraine and most of the nations in the international community refuse to believe
that its legitimate. That is a very strong reaction to these events and what followed was probable
an even stronger reaction, when Russia announced that they were going to annexed Crimea.
Talking about flipping the bird to the international community, this all gets fallowed up by
several conflicts inside Ukraine and apparently Russia military vehicles are inside Ukraines
boarders. It all smells pretty fishy to say the list and this has just been one big mess of events,
honestly it is easy to feel sorry for everything Ukraine goes through. I think these more recent
event might be the main reason for the new law to remove communist symbols, I mean it might
not seem to make much sense but the times does kind of match.
Well, poor Ukraine has been through a lot over the years. Especially in the last one
hundred years alone, it is no surprise that they would feel so strongly about communism
considering how much they suffered during Stalins reign shortly after the First World War. Then
they put their faith in the wrong side during the next World War and did I mentioned just how
much everyone hated the Soviet Union for the Famine that happened, hell, people are still
arguing to this day wither it was a deliberate attempt to harm Ukraine considering how many
Ukrainians died during it. To put everything to rest, I can honestly see why Ukraine would want
to get rid of all those communist symbols. They are like really bad memories, it does however
make me wonder though why now, and why did it take them so long to do so? It is possible
that the more current even might be what caused them to do so, but thats probable not the case.
One thing I will never get is why change to statue to Darth Vader, out of every movie character to
choose from why him. He is not only a villainous character, but he latterly worked for a dictator
prior to his heel-face turn. Maybe, its because that he manage to turn away from that in the end,
maybe thats the reason they choose him. But whatever, it is still a brilliant idea and a good use

Loren Deerwester

Darth Lenin

HST 122-03 11/ 19/ 2015

of a former monument. That is what I think about it. And Im Loren Deerwester and I
remember it so you dont have too.

Loren Deerwester

Darth Lenin

HST 122-03 11/ 19/ 2015

Resources
Ukraine Declares Its Independence. History.com Staff. History.com. 2009.
Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine. Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies. 2001.
Putin Announces Annexation of Crimea. Infoplease.com. 2000-2015 Sandbox Networks, Inc.
Out of Many, eighth edition. John Fargher, Mari Buhle, Daniel Czitrom, and Susan Armitage.
2016, 2012, 2009 Pearson Education, Inc.