Battle of Nations: Poland, Ukraine and Russia | A Bloody Legacy Ep. 01

Since World War 1 Polish, Russian, Ukrainian and other Eeastern European people are fighting for self-determination and nationalism. But why? Having been dominated by the defeated empires of Russia, Germany and Austro-Hungary, the peoples of Eastern Europe had hoped for self-determination at the end of WWI. But it soon unfolded that armed conflict didn’t end at all – on the contrary. Poland fought against Russia and chaos prevailed in the Baltic States as well. Today’s Ukraine was split up between Poland and Russia. This gave rise to an underground nationalists movement led by Stepan Bandera, a man who is still revered as a national hero in West Ukraine. When Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union, Bandera saw an opportunity for his independence and national movement. His troops take up arms to fight alongside the Wehrmacht. As German soldiers occupied today’s Lviv in West Ukraine, pogroms were carried out against the Jews – allegedly with the participation of Bandera’s Ukraine nationalists.