Editing Euromaidan color revolution (section)

== Background ==

=== Origins of Ukrainian nationalism ===

==== German involvement ====
[[File:OUN-r Flag 1941.svg.png|thumb|Flag of the [[Ukrainian Insurgent Army]]]]
Dating all the way back to the [[First World War]], [[Ukrainian nationalism]] has existed as an [[astroturfed movement]]. Ukrainian nationalism was originally astroturfed by the [[German Empire]] in 1917 to justify the breakup of the ex-[[Russian Empire]]'s territories in Eastern Europe.<ref>[https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1918/russian-revolution/ch03.htm The Nationalities Question]</ref> The original Ukrainian nationalist movement slowly died out towards the end of the [[Russian Civil War]] in 1923, however it was revitalized again by [[Nazi Germany]] during the [[Second World War]] to weaken the [[Soviet Union]] (USSR). During the [[Great Patriotic War]], the [[National Socialist German Workers' Party|Nazis]] astroturfed Ukrainian nationalist movements to serve as collaborators under their ''[[Reichskommissariat Ukraine]]''.<ref>[https://www.rt.com/russia/571662-ukranian-nationalists-in-ussr/ Nazi collaborators, dissidents and Soviet functionaries: The untold story of how Ukraine achieved independence]</ref> Examples of this included Ukrainian nationalist collaboration included the [[Ukrainian Insurgent Army]] (UPA) and the [[Ukrainian Auxiliary Police]] (UDP). [[Stepan Bandera]], who later became an icon for the modern Ukrainian nationalist movement, served as the leader of the UPA and a UDP officer.<ref>[https://www.rt.com/russia/567200-vinnitsa-tolstoy-bandera-street/ Ukrainian city names street after Nazi collaborator]</ref><ref>[https://www.rt.com/russia/569309-ukrainian-parliament-celebrate-nazi-collaborator/ Ukrainian parliament slammed for celebrating Nazi collaborator]</ref> Bandera helped Nazi Germany extend the [[Holocaust]] into Ukraine, murdering [[Poland|Poles]], [[Czechia|Czechs]], Russians, [[Judaism|Jews]], and [[Communism|Communists]] regardless of ethnicity. 

==== American involvement ====
[[File:62f0776c-7275-4a55-8eeb-d818f309500f 865x155.png|thumb|[[Central Intelligence Agency]] list of [[CAPELIN]] agents given shelter in [[United States]]-occupied [[Germany]] after the [[Second World War]] ([[Stepan Bandera]]'s name is highlighted)]]
After the end of the Second World War and the start of the [[Cold War]], the [[United States]] (US) became increasingly interested in rehabiliting the [[Fascism|fascist]] forces they had fought against during the way and turning them into a bulwark against Communism. This path was taken in both [[Germany]] and [[Japan]], with ex-Nazis and ex-[[Empire of Japan|Imperial officials]] being reinstated to positions of power.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPTnb2Z6ZJg Shinzo Abe's Assassination - Who Was He? - The US Japan Imperialist Alliance Post WWII]</ref> The CIA began to take a similar approach with Ukraine, hoping to take advantage of the remnants of the Banderite Ukrainian nationalist movement as a weapon against the USSR.<ref name=":0" /> In 1946, the US launched [[Operation Belladonna]] to aid the [[Ukrainian Supreme Liberation Council]] (UHVR), a Ukrainian nationalist organization that worked with Bandera.<ref>[https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/AERODYNAMIC%20%20%20VOL.%209%20%20(DEVELOPMENT%20AND%20PLANS)_0001.pdf AERODYNAMIC VOL. 9 (DEVELOPMENT AND PLANS)_0001.pdf]</ref> In 1949, the CIA launched [[Project AERODYNAMIC]] to expand influence in Ukraine and astroturf Ukrainian nationalism.<ref>[https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/AERODYNAMIC%20%20%20VOL.%201_0130.pdf AERODYNAMIC VOL. 1_0130.pdf]</ref><ref>[https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/AERODYNAMIC%20%20%20VOL.%2035%20%20%28OPERATIONS%29_0039.pdf AERODYNAMIC VOL. 35 (OPERATIONS)_0039.pdf]</ref> With CIA funding, Ukrainian nationalists founded a research institute in New York and published multiple anti-Soviet publications until 1991.<ref name=":3">https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/STUDIES%20IN%20INTELLIGENCE%20NAZI%20-%20RELATED%20ARTICLES_0015.pdf</ref> The project ended in 1970, but it was renewed as [[PDDYNAMIC]] in 1974. PDDYNAMIC lasted until 1991.<ref>[https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/QRPLUMB%20%20%20VOL.%202%20%20%28DEVELOPMENT%20AND%20PLANS%2C%201970-78%29_0025.pdf QRPLUMB VOL. 2 (DEVELOPMENT AND PLANS, 1970-78)_0025.pdf]</ref> The [[CAPELIN]] project by the CIA was launched around the same time as Operation Belladonna, which gave Bandera and his allies shelter in US-occupied Germany after the end of the Second World War.

==== British Involvement ====
British intelligence made contact with Ukrainian nationalists in 1946, alongside American and French intelligence.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20080411143934/http://history.org.ua/oun_upa/upa/23.pdf</ref> In 1950, British intelligence collaborated with the CIA to infiltrate the Soviet Union and, particularly, to support the agency's infiltration operations in Ukraine. While American intelligence was in favor of the UHVR, a coalition of multiple anti-Soviet and nationalist partisan groups (including the UPA and Banderite OUN), British intelligence itself was far more supportive of the OUN in particular.<ref name=":3" /> CIA documents implicate MI6 (SIS) in Operations Belladonna and AERODYNAMIC.<ref>https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/AERODYNAMIC%20%20%20VOL.%209%20%20(DEVELOPMENT%20AND%20PLANS)_0039.pdf</ref>