Hetalia History - Blog Posts
THE CHILDREN YEARN FOR THE FANART OF UKRAINE
pov: You’re Poland; its 1620s and those "free armed folk" to the East, some of whom occasionally take part in wars on your side, have been more and more rebellious lately. You ride up to check what’s the deal — and as you pass one of the Cossacks, as they call themselves, the guy looks suspiciously similar to Ukraine herself…
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1569. Lithuania had never been fond of Unia Lubelska that would unite the lands of the Grand Duchy with the Polish Republic. Yet Poland suddenly annexed Ruthenian – Ukrainian parts of the Duchy, using this move to pressure Lithuania back to negotiation tables.
Thus the era of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth began.
For mainly Orthodox Christian Ruthenians, it only meant more tension with Catholics and szlachta nobles who realised they now acquired more serfs up for grabs.
There is no wonder then, that Ruthenians quite rapidly "cossack’ed" (покозачились) in such conditions. Many joined either free warrior communities or the rejestrowe wojsko zaporoskie under the polish crown’s service, but still able to do a fair deal of whatever the hell they wanted. Including uprisings against Poland, 1591-3 and 1594-6; allying with the Poles to almost(😭) burn Moscow to the ground in 1618; and occasionally raid Turks and Crimean Tatars.
But more importantly, paving the way for a powerful warrior state, autonomous from the Polish Republic by 1649, – Cossack Hetmanate (aka Hetman’schyna, Ruthenia, or simply Ukraine – all those + more names used at the time) – which famously takes its origins in Ukraine being pissed off.
The initial headcanon was that Ukraine ran away from the Commonwealth sometime after Lublin and pretended to be a guy to live amongst Cossacks and lead her raids and battles. Now, having read up some info on female Cossack leaders, I am thinking that whilst that might have been the case initially, by 1648 everyone knows she’s a woman and just chills about it ig
8 April 1866 • A secret Italo-Prussian Treaty was signed
…according to which, Romano agreed he’d help kick Austria’s ass, and Prussia guaranteed he’d not back off from the war until Veneciano’s reunited with the rest of Italy.
Now, why Romano, you may ask, if the Risorgimento was initiated more so by the North? Well, in my interpritation, it all started with Sardinia/Piedmont-Sardinia/Savoy, (a separate OC because she deserves it), whilst Romano joined her in 1861, – who had been the Kingdom of Two Sicilies under the Bourbon rule prior, his people voting 98,5% to join. Thus, the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in 1861; with Venice still living under Austria’s rule up until 1866.
And it was mailnly upon Romano to be the Kingdom of Italy in the next 5 years. Not that he had ever wanted it.
[As you may have noticed, I got into PruMano and Risorgimento simultaneously, god forbid. And I’m trying not to trail off, but I’ve got a detailed version of the events’ interpretation in my head – what happened to Sardinia? why is it Romano and Veneciano, out of all, specifically, that came to be modern Italy? What about the Papal States? — but more on all that to come🫢]
The last thing I’ll add, is that though I tried to make their uniforms nerdy af accurate, basing Romano’s off Sicilian Regiments’ Chivalry and Prussia’s off high-ranking Prussian commandment on general, this is still a silly anime bois fanart first and foremost lol. Take nothing seriously