What is the contradiction between eastern Ukraine and western Ukraine?

Recently, the problems in eastern Ukraine have frequently appeared in reports, and Ukraine has attracted people's attention. Many people are asking why things in Ukraine are contradictory. Then I think the contradiction between eastern Ukraine and western Ukraine has a long history. The very complicated relationship between them and many external factors have led to the increasingly intensified contradictions between eastern and western Ukraine.

So, what is the contradiction between the east and the west of Ukraine? The following is my opinion.

Different languages

The Russian population in eastern Ukraine has a large proportion and is emotionally close to Russia. Western Ukraine is pro-Western, and like Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and other Central and Eastern European countries, it is always vigilant against Russia. This difference between East and West makes Ukraine more like a torn country.

Since Ukraine's independence, there have been many disputes between the East and the West over the status of Russian as a national language. According to statistics, the total population of Ukraine in 1989 was 517.07 million, of which Ukrainians accounted for 72.7% and Russians accounted for 22. 1%. By 200 1, the total population of Ukraine had dropped to 48.458 million, among which Ukrainians had increased from 374 1.9 million to 37.542 million, accounting for 72.7% to 77.8% of the total population. However, the number of Russians decreased from 1654338+0366000 to 8334000, and the proportion of Russians in the total population of Ukraine decreased from 22. 1% to 17.3%. Russians are mainly concentrated in dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Lugansk, nikolayev, Odessa, Kharkov, Kiev and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in the east and south of Ukraine, among which the proportion of Russians in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is as high as 58.3%.

There is no unified religious identity.

The cultural differences between eastern and western Ukraine are obvious. Eastern Ukraine is mainly similar to Russia, with Orthodox culture as the main culture. Western Ukraine is close to neighboring Eastern European countries, and the cultural circle should be mainly attributed to Eastern Catholicism. There are obvious differences in cultural identity between the two sides, which further affects national identity.

The Orthodox Church in Ukraine is actually divided into three parts: "two small organizations separated from Moscow and a large group independent from Moscow." The Catholic Church in Ukraine has launched fierce competition with these Orthodox organizations, mainly for the property of the church, for the symbolic status as the representative of eastern or western Ukraine, and for claiming that they represent the true spirit of Ukrainian nationalism. As a result of this competition, the new Ukrainian leaders cannot determine a single spiritual heritage as the basis of their national identity. The fact is that religion still affects Ukraine's behavior in various ways, especially when it comes to relations with neighboring Russia, and Ukraine's religious feelings are quite complicated.

The long history of leaning towards Catholicism in western Ukraine makes its political and economic elites wary of the influence exerted by Russians through the Orthodox Church. Especially in recent years, Ukraine has greatly accelerated the pace of falling to the western world. Generally speaking, Ukrainians have not yet formed a unified and monopolistic religious identity. The above is one of the main reasons for the continuous conflict between the western part of Ukraine and the eastern part of Ukraine, which is deeply influenced by the West, and the deterioration of relations with Russia.

economic problem

Ukraine's unique geographical position makes it have to face the dual pressures of the West and Russia at the same time after its independence. But this kind of pressure is not only manifested in the opposite side of politics, but also has economic reasons. The economic difference between eastern and western Ukraine is very obvious. The eastern region is an industrial base, close to Russia and with good economic conditions. On the contrary, western Ukraine is dominated by agriculture, with few resources and very backward economy.