Ukrainian History Glossary for NMT 2025

A complete glossary of historical terms for the Ukrainian National Multi-Test (NMT) 2025, covering themes from the 14th century to modern independent Ukraine.

Shlyakhtych

The leading privileged social estate and a form of aristocracy in Poland, Lithuania, and Rus-Ukraine during the 14th to 18th centuries.

Cossack

A free warrior, an Eastern European mercenary, and a representative of the military estate from the 15th to 20th centuries.

Magdeburg Law

A system of city law originating in 13th-century Germany that exempted cities from the administration, judicial, and administrative power of local feudal lords, establishing urban self-government.

Magistrate

A generalized name for the bodies of estate-based burgher self-government and courts in certain European states under Magdeburg Law from the 13th to 19th centuries.

Guild (Tsekh)

A closed corporate union consisting of members belonging to one or several related craft professions, common in Western European cities starting from the 11th-12th centuries.

Wild Fields (Dyke Pole)

The historical name for the unbordered and sparsely populated Black Sea steppes between the Dniester, Don, Southern Bug, and the Black and Azov Seas.

Voivodeship

An administrative-territorial unit of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland from the 15th to 18th centuries.

Lower Cossacks (Nyzovery)

Non-registered Cossacks of Zaporizhia from the second half of the 16th to the end of the 18th century, stationed beyond the Dnieper rapids under the command of a Koshovyi Otaman.

Registered Cossacks

A portion of Ukrainian Cossacks taken into the service of the Polish King and recorded in a special list known as the register.

Town Cossacks (Horodove)

Cossacks who resided in towns or parishes rather than at the Zaporizhian Sich.

Zaporizhian Sich

The military-political organization of the Cossacks.

Starshyna

The military and administrative leadership composition of the Zaporizhian Sich and Registered Cossacks.

Koshovyi Otaman

An elected official at the Zaporizhian Sich who concentrated the highest military, administrative, and judicial power in their hands.

Hetman

The commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Zaporizhian Host.

Kleynody

Precious military insignia and attributes of power belonging to the Ukrainian Cossacks.

Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC)

The largest Catholic church in Ukraine, in communion with the Pope and the Catholic Church while maintaining the Byzantine liturgical tradition; created in 1596 following the Union of Berest.

Brotherhood (Bratstvo)

National-religious public associations of burghers formed at Orthodox churches.

Polemical literature

Literary works featuring disputes regarding the idea of religious union between churches.

Filvarok

A multi-sector farm based on the labor of dependent peasants, with products oriented toward the market.

Corvée (Panshchyna)

A form of labor rent and economic duty where peasants performed unpaid work with their own tools on the landlord's land.

Serf (Kripak)

A person dependent on their feudal lord, effectively becoming the master's property under such relations.

Golden Peace

The period from 1638 to 1648 during which no major Cossack or other uprisings occurred.

National Liberation War

A large-scale struggle of the Ukrainian people against Rzeczpospolita led by Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky between 1648 and 1657.

Zaporizhian Host (Hetmanate)

The name of the state created as a result of Cossack victories in the war against Rzeczpospolita in 1649.

Pokozachennia

The social process of other social groups acquiring Cossack rights and status to escape serfdom and work freely on their own land.

Serfdom (Kripatstvo)

A system of relations during feudalism where a landlord had rights over the person, labor, and property of subordinate peasants.

Ruin (Ruina)

A period in the history of the Hetmanate (1650s-1680s) characterized by state division, civil war, and foreign intervention.

Great Drive (Velykyi zhin)

The forced relocation of residents from Right-bank Ukraine to the Left-bank under Hetman Ivan Samoylovych in 1678-1679.

Chyhyryn campaigns

Turkish-Tatar military campaigns against the Hetmanate capital, Chyhyryn, during 1677-1678 in the course of the Russo-Turkish War.

Constitution

The fundamental state document defining the state system, the functioning of government branches, the electoral system, and the rights and duties of the state and citizens.

Malorosiya

A term used in the Russian Empire to refer to Ukrainian lands.

Little Russian Board (Malorosijska kolehiya)

The organization that governed Ukrainian lands instead of a Hetman during 1722-1727 and 1764-1786.

Russification (Zrosiyushchennia)

A form of cultural assimilation where non-Russians adopt Russian culture and language, often through the forced imposition of everything Russian.

Cossack Baroque

An artistic style prevalent in the lands of the Zaporizhian Host in the 17th-18th centuries, characterized by lush ornamentation and ceremonial solemnity.

Cossack Chronicle

Historical-literary works from the second half of the 17th to mid-18th centuries dedicated to the events of the Cossack era.

Opryshky

Participants in a peasant rebel movement from the 16th to the first half of the 19th century in Western Ukrainian lands.

New (Pidpilnenska) Sich

The final Zaporizhian Sich in Ukraine, which existed from 1734 to 1775.

Nation

A community united by a specific name, symbols, geographic/ethnosocial origin, historical memory, and shared identity.

National Revival

A socio-political movement within the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires advocating for the cultural rebirth and establishment of the Ukrainian nation.

National Idea

Public thought based on progressive national programs, political goals, and values.

Palanka

The administrative-territorial unit of the Pidpilnenska Sich.

Zymivnyk

A residence for Zaporizhian Cossacks during periods of no active military operations.

Danubian Sich (Zadunayska Sich)

A Cossack military formation on the territory of the Ottoman Empire existing from 1775 to 1828.

Haydamaks

The self-name of folk rebels in Right-bank Ukraine under Polish rule until the end of the 18th century.

Koliivshchyna

The name of the Haydamak uprising of 1768 in Right-bank Ukraine.

Freemasons (Masony)

Members of spiritual-ethical organizations of "free stonemasons" advocating for moral self-improvement.

Industrial Revolution

The process of transitioning from manual manufactory to large-scale machine production.

Awakeners (Budyteli)

The name for participants in the Ukrainian national revival in Western Ukrainian lands who "awakened" national consciousness.

Revolution

A radical transition or fundamental change in a sphere such as social structure, political systems, or the economy.

Spring of Nations

The collective name for the revolutions and protests across many European countries in 1848-1849.

Classicism

A direction in European art based on rationalism, clarity of forms, and the imitation of ancient models.

Romanticism

An ideological and artistic direction (late 18th - first half 19th c.) focusing on spiritual life, creative freedom, folklore, and the idealization of the past.

Kyiv Cossackdom

A mass peasant movement in the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions in 1855 against Russian imperial policy.

Hromada movement

19th-century associations in Dnieper Ukraine based on shared political views and national identity to improve social conditions.

Zemstvos

Elected bodies of local self-government in the Russian Empire.

Narodovtsi (Ukrainophiles)

Representatives of a movement in Western Ukrainian lands who argued for the independence of the Ukrainian people and language.

Radicals

Supporters of decisive and fundamental changes in socio-political life.

Labor emigration

The movement of able-bodied persons for the purpose of employment for a certain period.

Cooperation

Voluntary association to achieve common goals in economic activities.

Muscophilism (Moskofily)

A term signifying love or affinity for Russians.

Party

A political association of people expressing the interests of a part of society and realizing goals through political struggle.

New Era

An 1890s agreement between Ukrainian and Polish factions in the Galician Sejm facilitated by Austrian authorities.

Philanthropist (Metsenat)

A benefactor who donates resources to support a specific field of activity.

Realism

A literary direction characterized by the truthful and comprehensive reflection of reality.

Modernism

A cultural movement of the industrial era searching for new forms, techniques, and the creation of a new reality.

Professional Theater

An institution and form of stage art featuring professional actors performing for an audience.

Monopoly

The association of enterprises of one industry in the hands of a single person or organization.

Khutir

A type of rural settlement where land for economic use is located outside the village.

Vidrub

Private land within the village boundaries.

Universal Suffrage

The principle of the right to vote and be elected regardless of nationality, language, race, property, or religion.

Black Hundreds (Chornosotentsi)

Participants in nationalist organizations (1905-1914) in the Russian Empire who supported autocracy.

Strike (Strayk)

A form of protest involving an organized mass cessation of work to fulfill specific demands.

World War

A global confrontation of state coalitions involving armed violence across a large part of the world.

Galician-Bukovinian General Government

A temporary Russian administrative unit (1914) in conquered lands of Galicia, Bukovyna, and Posiannia centered in Chernivtsi.

Autonomization

The process of obtaining autonomy or the right to self-governance in specific spheres.

Mobilization

Measures to transition state infrastructure and military forces to a wartime state.

Evacuation

The removal of population and vital resources from areas of potential threat.

Self-determinists (Samostiynyky)

Proponents of immediate Ukrainian independence during the 1917 revolutionary events.

Ukrainian Central Rada (UCR)

A socio-political organization (1917-1918) that became the highest legislative body of the UNR.

Universals of the UCR

State-political acts issued by the Central Rada defining stages of Ukrainian statehood from autonomy to independence.

General Secretariat

The executive organ of the UCR acting from June 1917 to January 1918.

Directory

The highest state authority of the Ukrainian People's Republic from 1918 to 1920.

Kurultai

A national assembly or congress used by Turkic peoples to solve major national problems.

Bolshevism

A revolutionary Marxist ideology aiming to create a centralized state to overthrow capitalism and establish the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Free Cossacks

Voluntary national military-militia formations (1917-1921) for self-defense and protection of the Ukrainian state.

Constituent Assembly (Ustanovchi zbory)

Elected representatives called to draft a constitution and legally form a new state and social order.

Sobornist

The unity and indivisibility of all lands within a single state.

Otamanism

A period in the Ukrainian Revolution characterized by the presence of local armed groups led by independent otamans amidst decentralized power.

War Communism

A 1919-1921 Soviet policy involving food requisitions (prodrozkladka), nationalization, and the Red Terror.

Red Terror

Soviet repressions against those who disagreed with the Bolshevik regime.

Intervention

Forced interference by one or more states in the internal affairs of another state.

Chortkiv Offensive

The name of the UGA counter-offensive in June 1919 during the Polish-Ukrainian War.

Totalitarian Regime

A political regime involving absolute state control over all aspects of public and private life.

Kyiv Catastrophe

The withdrawal of the UNR and UGA armies from Kyiv in August 1919, a term first used by Symon Petlyura.

Autocephalous Church

An independent, self-governing local church within the Ecumenical Orthodox Church.

Korenizatsiia

A Bolshevik policy in culture and language aimed at temporary indigenization/Ukrainianization to consolidate power.

Industrialization

The accelerated development of heavy industry and machine production in all economic sectors.

NEP (New Economic Policy)

A set of measures replacing War Communism, introducing taxes (prodpodatok), market relations, and cooperation.

Ukrainianization

A specific Bolshevik policy in Ukraine during the 1920s and early 30s.

Five-Year Plan (Pyatyrichka)

A method of planned economic development over a 5-year period.