Eastern question and the Ukrainian crisis

Abstract

This paper looks into little-known former history of separatist tendencies of the population of the Crimea and eastern Ukraine, but also gives a scientific explanation of what the so-called Eastern Question has meant in the diplomatic history and the history of international relations, as it is still reflected in the present geopolitical situation of a large number of Eastern European and Balkan countries. It refers to the maxim that the history is 'a teacher of life' and leads to a conclusion that it could certainly be argued that the history of diplomacy is a 'teacher' of contemporary international political relations. In other words, based on historical facts, one comes to a conclusion that today almost nothing happens unless in the past it had its origins in a complex diplomatic game of the most powerful European dynasties, as well as the royal and military elites, international organizations and high religious circles of the Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Islamic provenance, from the late 16th to the late 20th century. These were the times of a dangerous 'diplomatic game' played for geopolitical supremacy in the Mediterranean, through the resolution of the status of the Crimea, and also the status of 'the cradle of Christianity' in Kiev, Eastern Europe. The aforementioned conflicting interests culminated in the divisions and diplomatic and military conflicts that 'renamed' then Malorussia in Ukraine, and in the 21st century led to a bloody civil, political and religious divisions and the armed conflict in Ukraine.

Keywords

• geopolitics
• history of diplomacy
• eastern question
• ukrainian crisis