Modern States of Eastern Europe: Map & History

The Northeast Caucasus historically comprised numerous states. Caucasian Albania, centered in southern Dagestan, existed as a vassal state under the Parthian and later Sasanian Empires for much of its history. In the Early Middle Ages, the Turkic Khazars conquered the region. Following the Muslim conquest of Persia in the 7th century, the region's majority adopted Islam, mirroring their Persian overlords. Arab travelers played a pivotal role in spreading the religion, and their eventual withdrawal led to the emergence of Islamic polities such as Lezghia (centered in Derbent, a hub of Islamic scholarship) and Lakia (based in Kumukh, a rival scholarly center), alongside smaller neighboring entities. In ethnically diverse southern and southeastern Dagestan, where intercommunal tensions were common, Islam served as a unifying force, with clerics often mediating disputes.

From Wikipedia: Caucasian Imamate · Background (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Imam Ghazi Muhammad (1828–1832), the founding leader, established the Imamate's governance structure.

From Wikipedia: Caucasian Imamate · Politics (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Caucasian Imamate initially achieved significant victories against the Russian Empire, though early Russian military efforts were limited. Following its triumph over Napoleon in 1812, Russia initially dismissed the North Caucasian resistance as a minor "Asiatic" conflict. However, escalating Imamate successes prompted a full-scale Russian counteroffensive. In 1832, Imam Shamil and Ghazi Muhammad launched an unsuccessful attack on Vladikavkaz, a Russian fort whose name derived from Russian: влад-, romanized: vlad-, lit. 'rule' + Russian: Кавказ, romanized: Kavkaz, lit. 'Caucasus', lit. 'to rule the Caucasus'.

From Wikipedia: Caucasian Imamate · The war and the surrender of the Imamate (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Poland has inherited the considerable Polish People's Army designed to fight on the Soviet Union's side in a potential massive full-scale conflict with NATO. The military posture was completely directed westwards with the Pomeranian Military District (Pomorski Okręg Wojskowy) and the Silesian Military District (Śląski Okręg Wojskowy) taking a front line role and the Warsaw Military District (Warszawski Okręg Wojskowy) organised behind them and taking more of a support and reinforcement role. A strong Soviet component of the Northern Group of Forces was also stationed on the territory of the Polish People's Republic. The collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the Socialist block in general has caused a geo-politic uncertainty, so the Polish military has started a gradual reduction of its forces and also reform of its defensive structure.

From Wikipedia: Polish Land Forces · Organization: Formations (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Block passage for White sympathisers, who frequently travelled through Ukraine to join the White Don forces.

From Wikipedia: Ukrainian State · History: Background (CC BY-SA 4.0)

After several days of negotiations, on 3 May 1918 a new government was appointed under the leadership of Interior Minister Fedir Lyzohub. Most of the Hetmanate's ministerial staff was inherited from the period of Ukrainian People's Republic, but ministers and their deputies were replaced. With the exception of foreign minister Dmytro Doroshenko, none of the new government's members represented Ukrainian political parties, and some belonged to the Russian Constitutional-Democratic Party and even to monarchists. Positions of starost was introduced on governorate and povit level to provide control over local administration. Local officials appointed by the new government generally represented the old pre-revolutionary regime and were hostile to democratic ideas and the Ukrainian national movement.

From Wikipedia: Ukrainian State · Politics: Government and administration (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In 1918 the Hetmanate's government approved the first state budget in Ukrainian history. Sporting a deficit of over 2 billion karbovanets, its needs were to be covered by the issue of banknotes and credit notes produced by the State Bank of Ukraine and the State Treasury. Along with hryvnia, other curencies, such as locally issued karbovanets, rubles, golden and silver coins of the Russian Empire, German marks and Austro-Hungarian kronen were used in the Ukrainian State. In order to control the allocation of funds and fight against corruption, Skoropadsky's government reestablished the activities of state control. According to bilateral agreements, Ukrainian State provided Germany and Austria-Hungary with two separate loans amounting to 200 million karbovanets each, with interest rates from those sums going to the Ukrainian budget.

From Wikipedia: Ukrainian State · Economy and finance: Financial policies (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Reluctant to support the emergence of a self-sufficient Ukrainian force, German military authorities dissolved several Ukrainian units, including the Blue Coat Division formed form former prisoners of war, as well as the Sich Riflemen. Among units inherited from the previous period, only the Separate Zaporizhian Division and several smaller units stationed on the borders were preserved. The reestablishment of Sich Riflemen was allowed by Germans only in September after negotiations with the hetman. On 24 July 1918 the Law on General Conscription was adopted, establishing the ground for creation of officers' corps. In October 1918 recruitment to the so-called Officers' Corps was started, with most of its members representing Russian officers. Similar units composed of Russian volunteers were also established in many cities.

From Wikipedia: Ukrainian State · Military: Army (CC BY-SA 4.0)

According to the "Laws on the Provisional State System of Ukraine", the leading position in the country was occupied by the Christian Orthodox faith. At the same time, citizens of Ukraine who belonged to other denominations had the right to profess their religion and rites.

From Wikipedia: Ukrainian State · Culture and religion (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Almost the entire commanding staff of the Ukrainian State armed forces consisted of officers of the former Imperial Russian Army. Most officers were not supportive of the Ukrainian cause and viewed it as a way to make it through tough times. At the same time, wide masses of the population did not have a developed sense of nationalism and mainly chose to follow socialist and communist principles.

From Wikipedia: Ukrainian State · History: Dissolution (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Starting in the late 1980s, under the rule of Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet government undertook a program of political reforms (glasnost and perestroika) intended to liberalise and revitalise the Union. These measures, however, had a number of unintended political and social effects. Political liberalisation allowed the governments of the union republics to openly express sentiments related to nationalism. In addition, the loosening of political restrictions led to fractures within the Communist Party which resulted in a reduced ability to govern the Union effectively. The rise of nationalist and right-wing movements, notably led by Boris Yeltsin in Russia, in the previously homogeneous political system undermined the Union's foundations.

From Wikipedia: Republics of the Soviet Union · Dissolution of the Soviet Union (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Freedom House ranked Moldova as a "partly free" country with a score of 62/100 in 2023. They summarised their finds as follows: "Moldova has a competitive electoral environment, and freedoms of assembly, speech, and religion are mostly protected. Nonetheless, pervasive corruption, links between major political figures and powerful economic interests, and critical deficiencies in the justice sector and the rule of law all continue to hamper democratic governance." According to Transparency International, Moldova's Corruption Perceptions Index improved to 39 points in 2022 from 34 in 2020. Reporters Without Borders improved Moldova's Press Freedom Index ranking from 89th in 2020 to 40th in 2022, while cautioning that "Moldova's media are diverse but extremely polarised, like the country itself, which is marked by political instability and excessive influence by oligarchs."

From Wikipedia: Moldova · Government and politics: Human rights (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The economy of Moldova is an emerging upper-middle income economy, with a high Human Development Index. Since the country gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1992, it has steadily transitioned to a market economy. According to the World Bank, despite a strong economic performance over the past two decades, Moldova remains among the poorest nations in Europe. Growth has remained relatively high since the 1990s, with low levels of unemployment and falling levels of poverty, but a combination of demographic factors, especially an ageing population and significant levels of emigration, and recent regional events, especially Russia's invasion of Ukraine, have posed serious economic challenges to the Moldovan economy, particularly due to inflation and rising energy prices.

From Wikipedia: Moldova · Economy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The right to freedom of speech and right to information are guaranteed by the Moldovan constitution. Reporters Without Borders improved Moldova's Press Freedom Index ranking to 28th in 2023 from 89th in 2020, partly due to government legal reforms which made it easier for journalists to access official information. However, they cautioned that "Moldova's media are diverse but extremely polarised, like the country itself, which is marked by political instability and excessive influence by oligarchs." Moldova's media are divided into pro-Russian and pro-Western camps and on party political lines. Oligarchs and political leaders strongly influence their editorial stances.

From Wikipedia: Moldova · Culture: Media (CC BY-SA 4.0)