The Hutsul Republic () was a short-lived state formed in the aftermath of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Inhabited by

Hutsuls The Hutsuls (Hutsul/; ; ) are an East Slavic ethnic group spanning parts of western Ukraine and northern Romania (i.e. parts of Bukovina and Maramureș). In Ukraine, they have often been officially and administratively designated a subgro ...

, the republic was declared on 8 January 1919, when original plans to unite this area with the

West Ukrainian People's Republic The West Ukrainian People's Republic (; West Ukrainian People's Republic#Name, see other names) was a short-lived state that controlled most of Eastern Galicia from November 1918 to July 1919. It included major cities of Lviv, Ternopil, Kolom ...

failed and the territory was occupied by Hungarian police. First Czechoslovak Republic

The

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

of the Hutsul Republic was the "Ukrainian People's Council" with 42 members, and its

executive power The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law. Function The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...

(government) was the "Council" with 12 members.

Creation

On 20–22 December 1918 Hungarian troops returned to the territory of the Hutsul Republic. A state of emergency was proclaimed, the Hutsul militia units disarmed, the Ukrainian People's Council was liquidated, the

Hungarian language Hungarian, or Magyar (, ), is an Ugric language of the Uralic language family spoken in Hungary and parts of several neighboring countries. It is the official language of Hungary and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union. Out ...

was restored in school and in government communication, and former Hungarian officials were appointed to all posts of the local government. On the night of 7–8 January 1919 the local population of Rahó ( Rakhiv) rose against the Hungarian gendarme battalion, taking into custody some 500 Hungarian policemen. General Stepan Klochurak was elected prime minister of the republic. He was also active in organizing the armed forces of the republic, which consisted of nearly 1,000 soldiers. On 17 January 1919 the army waged a brief confrontation against the occupying Romanian troops in Máramarossziget (

Sighetu Marmației Sighetu Marmației (, also spelled ''Sighetul Marmației''; or ''Siget''; , ; ; ), until 1960 Sighet, is a city in Maramureș County near the Iza River, in northwestern Romania. Geography Sighetu Marmației is situated along the Tisa river o ...

), in the adjacent lands of Máramaros County. This unequal battle resulted in the Hutsul Republic suffering, according to various data, 18 to 41 people killed, 39 to 150 people wounded, and 400 people taken prisoner including 20 officers. The day after the " Unification Act" was signed on 23 January 1919 by the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...

and the

Stepan Klochurak and Julian Braschaiko joined the "Labor Congress" of this new entity as representatives of the Hutsul Republic. By the end of April 1919, the eastern part of Transcarpathia was occupied by Romanian troops, the central part was under the control of the Hungarians, while Czechoslovak troops occupied its western part. In April 1919 most of

Carpathian Ruthenia Transcarpathia (, ) is a historical region on the border between Central and Eastern Europe, mostly located in western Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast. From the Hungarian Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin, conquest of the Carpathian Basin ...

joined

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

granted as an autonomous territory, while its easternmost territory (Hutsul Republic) was ''de facto'' a breakaway state. The state finally fell when its claimed territory was occupied by Romanian troops on 11 June 1919. The territory claimed by this state accepted the admission into the

First Czechoslovak Republic The First Czechoslovak Republic, often colloquially referred to as the First Republic, was the first Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak state that existed from 1918 to 1938, a union of ethnic Czechs and Slovaks. The country was commonly called Czechosl ...

in September 1919, where it remained during the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

. On 15 March 1939, just for a day, after its proclamation the Ukrainian state named Carpatho-Ukraine claimed its independence but was soon occupied by Hungarian troops and was annexed by

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war, the region became the Carpathian Oblast of the

Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

, as part of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

References

{{Coord, 48, 5, N, 24, 15, E, display=title States and territories disestablished in 1919 States and territories established in 1919 Political history of Ukraine West Ukrainian People's Republic Hutsuls Zakarpattia Oblast History of Maramureș 1919-01-08 Ukrainian nationalist rebellions Uprisings of the Russian Civil War