Ukrainians are a nation of aristocrats: a historian presents evidence of our noble heritage.

How often do you hear Ukrainians referred to as a perpetually suffering nation? Meanwhile, the elite in Ukraine has always had a military background. These were warriors whose power was based on natural rights.

The term "aristocracy" comes from Greek, meaning "the rule of the best." Historically, it refers to the noble lineage or elite that governed the state. Alexander Alferov, a candidate of historical sciences and an officer of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, suggests viewing our history from a different perspective. In the video he presents, the historian claims that the blood of aristocrats runs in every Ukrainian.

Military Elite: From Prince's Retinues to Cossacks

The military elite formed the backbone of Ukrainian society. Princes and their retinues, boyars—these were the individuals who established the core of the state. Over time, they transformed into armored boyars, the nobility, and the Cossacks. The armored boyars of Kyiv in the 14th-16th centuries comprised a significant portion of the population—up to a third.

Interestingly, during the Cossack period (17th century), 10-15% of the Cossacks were descendants of noble families. This indicates the continuity of the elite process. The Cossacks, as the Zaporozhian Host, were the social backbone of the Hetmanate. The Cossacks positioned themselves as knights, aligning with the European understanding of elite military status. When commissions from Petersburg inquired whether there were nobles among the Cossacks, they overwhelmingly responded in the affirmative, citing royal charters that referred to them as "people of the chivalric estate."

The Mathematics of Aristocracy

In the 10th century, we had 16,777,216 direct ancestors. Even considering that the population of Kyivan Rus was less than this figure, the blood of many interconnected families still flows in our veins.

Ukraine – The Shield of Europe

Ukraine's geographical position on the border with the steppe and other civilizations necessitated constant protection of its land. This shaped a militarized society where warriors were the elite.

Ukrainian Nobility in the Russian Empire

Following the partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Ukrainian lands fell under the control of different empires. In the Russian Empire, a significant number of individuals had the right to nobility. In Right-Bank Ukraine, over 340,000 nobles were stripped of this status. In the Hetmanate in 1787, there were 428,442 Cossacks, who, by European standards, belonged to the chivalric estate.

Betrayal or Preservation of Identity

Was serving in the Russian nobility a betrayal? The Ukrainian nobility did not accept the rules of Great Russian nobility but sought to preserve their identity. The Little Russian nobility fostered culture, producing outstanding figures such as Lesya Ukrainka, Mykhailo Drahomanov, Ivan Kotliarevskyi, and Hryhorii Kvitka-Osnovianenko.

The military estate was elite in Ukrainian history, and it was this estate that determined the development of our state. Therefore, it is quite possible that the blood of aristocrats flows in your veins.

Previously, "Telegraph" reported, that Ukraine is not a "suburb" of Russia, but an ancient state. Another popular myth has been debunked.