Little Russia

Little Russia, sometimes Little Rus’ (Russian: Малая Русь or Малороссия; Ukrainian: Мала Русь or Rus' Minor from Greek: Μικρὰ Ῥωσία), is a geographical and historical term of Russian origin for a territory of the Cossack Hetmanate after its annexation by Tsardom of Muscovy and transformation of the Cossack Hetmanate into the Little Russia Governorate in 1764. At the same time Kyrylo Rozumovsky was forced to resign as the Hetman of Zaporizhian Host.

The Little Russia Governorate was administered by the Collegium of Little Russia headed by Pyotr Rumyantsev. The purpose of the Collegium of Little Russia was to liquidate any remnants of autonomy in Ukraine.

With time it developed into a political and geographical term in the Russian language referring to most of the territory of modern-day Ukraine before the twentieth century. Accordingly, derivatives such as "Little Russian" (Russian: малоросский) were commonly applied to the people, language, and culture of the area. Prior to the revolutionary events of 1917 a large part the region's elite population were followers of Little Russian identity which competed with the local Ukrainian identity. After the collapse of the Russian Empire, and with the amalgamation of Ukrainian territories into one administrative unit the word was phased out of circulation and when used took on a derogatory connotation denoting those Ukrainians with little or no national consciousness. The term retains currency among Russian monarchists and nationalists who deny that Ukraine and Ukrainians are distinct from Russia and Russians. Because Ukraine and its people have undergone the process of nation-building over the last seven hundred years, Little Russia, even in the historic context, can only loosely be considered an equivalent for the word Ukraine. By the late 1980s, the term had become an archaic one, and its anachronistic usage was considered strongly offensive by Ukrainians.

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