Novorossiya, or New Russia

If any of you have been paying attention to Russian/Ukrainian politics in the last few years, there has been a series of unrest in this region, due to a variety of factors. One of these reasons is Novorossiya (Новороссия).

A region in southeastern Ukraine, Novorossiya historically was a military frontier region of the Russian Empire, whether during the Russo-Turkish wars in the late 1700's, or or the anti-Bolshevik White Party movements from 1918-20. After the Soviet Union was officially formed, this region was assimilated into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.

A map of the various regions of Ukraine; Novorossiya is clearly marked.

Novorossiya happily remained part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic until the collapse of the Soviet Union, when unrest was fostered. In 1992, before the movement for Ukrainian independence took shape, an attempt was made to give Novorossiya the status of a republic in its own accord, especially in the Odessan, Nikolayev, Crimean, and Kherson oblasts. However, this failed to ever gain any real support, and the movement fell to pieces.

However, the Novorossiya movement was revived in 2014, following an interview with President Putin in April where he referred to several oblasts as part of Novorossiya. Novorossiya itself is considered to be the combination of two separate people's republics--Donetsk and Luhansk--both of which have been classified terrorist groups by the Ukrainian national government. Novorossiya was never officially recognized by any government in the world as a governing body, and by spring of 2015, the leaders announced the freezing of the confederation project, until more support could be gained.

The Novorossiyan flag in the city of Donetsk.

Novorossiya is significant in the current Russo-Ukrainian struggle because the majority of the unrest in the region is coming from pro-Russian supporters, and support for an independent republic still survives despite the dissolution of the confederation project.

Royal Origins: The Hermitage Museum

Without a doubt, the Hermitage Museum is one of the most famous museums in the world. Housed in the Winter Palace, the museum contains a nearly unrivaled collection of art; in fact, the museum has become so large, they have launched many "dependent museums" across Russia and other parts of Europe, with several more due to open late next year. However, the Hermitage was not always as prominent as it is today.

The Hermitage is currently housed in the Winter Palace Complex, Saint Petersburg.

The Hermitage began as Екатерина Алексеевна's (Catherine II, Empress and Autocrat of all the Russias) private collection. It was assembled originally for Frederick II of Prussia by Johann Gotzkowsky, but after Frederick refused to purchase the collection, Catherine, a patroness of the arts, jumped to purchase the collection in 1764. In fact, many of the original pieces from Catherine's collection are still in residence at the Hermitage today, such as Rembrandt's Danae and Portrait of A Young Man Holding A Glove by Franz Hals. Over the next ten years, Catherine commissioned architects Yury Felten and Jean-Baptist Vallin de la Mothe to build the Small Hermitage, later called the Hermitage Complex, as an extension of the Winter Palace.

The collection soon outgrew the building complex it was housed in, leading to its placement in another building, now called the Old Hermitage, in 1787. Following the October Revolution by the Bolshevik Party in 1917, the Imperial Hermitage and the Winter Palace were merged, leading to the placement of the vast collection in the Winter Palace. In the last century the museum has continued to grow, as is evidenced by the launching of dependencies and the many traveling Hermitage exhibits across the world.

An interior view of a portion of the Hermitage today.