Sloboda Ukraine (literally: Borderland of free frontier guards; uk, Слобідська Україна, Slobidska Ukraina), or Slobozhanshchyna ( uk, Слобожанщина, Slobozhanshchyna, ), is a historical region, now located in Northeastern Ukraine and Southwestern Russia. It developed and flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries on the southwestern frontier of the

Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I ...

. In 1765, it was converted into the

Sloboda Ukraine Governorate The Kharkov Governorate ( pre-reform Russian: , tr. ''Khárkovskaya gubérniya'', IPA: �xarʲkəfskəjə ɡʊˈbʲernʲɪjə ) was a governorate of the Russian Empire founded in 1835. It embraced the historical region of Sloboda Ukraine. From ...

Etymology

The name derives from the term ''

sloboda A sloboda ( rus, слобода́, p=sləbɐˈda) was a kind of settlement in the history of the Old Russian regions Povolzhye, Central Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. The name is derived from the early Slavic word for " freedom" and may be loose ...

'' for a colonial settlement free of tax obligations, and the word ''

ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

'' in its original sense of "borderland". The etymology of the word Ukraine is seen this way among Russian, Ukrainian and Western historians such as

Orest Subtelny Orest Subtelny ( uk, О́рест Субте́льний, 17 May 1941 – 24 July 2016) was a Ukrainian-Canadian historian. Born in Kraków, Poland, he received his doctorate from Harvard University in 1973. From 1982 to 2015, he was a Professor ...

, Paul Magocsi,

Omeljan Pritsak Omeljan Yosypovych Pritsak ( uk, Омелян Йосипович Пріцак; 7 April 1919, Luka, Sambir County, West Ukrainian People's Republic – 29 May 2006, Boston) was the first Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of Ukrainian History at Har ...

Mykhailo Hrushevskyi Mykhailo Serhiiovych Hrushevsky ( uk, Михайло Сергійович Грушевський, Chełm, – Kislovodsk, 24 November 1934) was a Ukrainian academician, politician, historian and statesman who was one of the most important figur ...

Ivan Ohiyenko Metropolitan Ilarion ( secular name Ivan Ivanovitch Ohienko; uk, Іван Іванович Огієнко; 2 January (14 January), 1882 in Brusilov, Kiev Governorate – 29 March 1972 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) was a Ukrainian Orthodox ...

Petro Tolochko Petro Petrovych Tolochko (; 21 February 1938) is a Soviet and Ukrainian historian, archaeologist, and political activist. He is one of the leading specialists in history of the Kievan Rus (Old Rus) and one of leading researchers of the NASU Instit ...

Толочко П. П. «От Руси к Украине» («Від Русі до України»). 1997 and others. It is supported by the

Encyclopedia of Ukraine The ''Encyclopedia of Ukraine'' ( uk, Енциклопедія українознавства, translit=Entsyklopediia ukrainoznavstva), published from 1984 to 2001, is a fundamental work of Ukrainian Studies. Development The work was crea ...

and the Etymological dictionary of the Ukrainian language.

Geographical extent

The territory of historic Sloboda Ukraine corresponds to the territory of the present-day

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * Som ...

oblast An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdom ...

(province) of

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Sumy Sumy ( uk, Суми ) is a city of regional significance in Ukraine, and the capital of Sumy Oblast. The city is situated on the banks of the Psel River in northeastern Ukraine with a population of according to the 2021 census, making it the 2 ...

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: cities' alternative names), is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine loc ...

, and

Luhansk Oblast Luhansk Oblast ( uk, Луга́нська о́бласть, translit=Luhanska oblast; russian: Луганская область, translit=Luganskaya oblast; also referred to as Luhanshchyna, uk, Луга́нщина) is the easternmost Adminis ...

s, as well as parts of the

Belgorod Belgorod ( rus, Белгород, p=ˈbʲeɫɡərət) is a city and the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River north of the border with Ukraine. Population: Demographics The population of B ...

Kursk Kursk ( rus, Курск, p=ˈkursk) is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym rivers. The area around Kursk was the site of a turning point in the Soviet–German str ...

, and

Voronezh Oblast Voronezh Oblast (russian: Воронежская область, Voronezhskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Voronezh. Its population was 2,308,792 as of the 2021 Census. Geography ...

s of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

.What Makes Kharkiv Ukrainian

The Ukrainian Week ''The Ukrainian Week'' ( uk, Український Тиждень, translit=Ukrainskyi Tyzhden) is an illustrated weekly magazine covering politics, economics and the arts and aimed at the socially engaged Ukrainian-language reader. It provides ...

(23 November 2014)

History

Until 16th century the land, like all lands between Don and Vistula rivers, belonged to Lithuanian ethnic groups and were a Lithuanian homeland , and in at least 14-16th centuries this territory and lands up until Don river were a part of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Lit ...

. Russia gained control over the territory as the result of conquests against the

during the

Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars The Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars (also known as Russo-Lithuanian Wars, or just either Muscovite Wars or Lithuanian Wars)The conflicts are referred to as 'Muscovite wars' ( pl, wojny moskiewskie) in Polish historiography and as 'Lithuanian wars' in ...

in the 16th century. According to Russian and Ukrainian sources of the 16th-17th centuries, the region was initially part of the Russian state, which encouraged the settlement of this territory for defensive purposes. It was first colonised by the Russians in the first half of the 16th century and became part of a defense line used against

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

raiding.Brian Davies. Empire and Military Revolution in Eastern Europe: Russia's Turkish Wars in the Eighteenth Century. Bloomsbury Publishing. 2011. P. 44 A second wave of colonisation came in the 1620–1630s, largely in the form of Ukrainian

Cossack The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

regiments, who were allowed to settle there in order to help protect the territory against the Tatars.Brian Davies. Empire and Military Revolution in Eastern Europe: Russia's Turkish Wars in the Eighteenth Century. Bloomsbury Publishing. 2011. P. 45 The Cossacks who arrived in Sloboda Ukraine were under the sovereignty of Russian tsars and their military chancellery and were registered in Russian military service. A great number of Ukrainian refugees arrived from Poland-Lithuania after the rebellion of 1637-1638 and received generous resettlement subsidies from the Russian government. For decades, Ukrainian cossacks were crossing the border into southern Russia to gather livestock, but many of them were also entering for banditry, so that Russia had to build a new garrison town on the Boguchar River in an attempt to defend the land from Ukrainian bands and resettled many of the Ukrainian refugees at Valuyki,

Korocha Korocha (russian: Короча) is a town and the administrative center of Korochansky District in Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Korocha River (Seversky Donets' tributary), northeast of Belgorod, the administrative cent ...

Voronezh Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on ...

and as far as Kozlov. Prelesne 0009

Crimean Tatars , flag = Flag of the Crimean Tatar people.svg , flag_caption = Flag of Crimean Tatars , image = Love, Peace, Traditions.jpg , caption = Crimean Tatars in traditional clothing in front of the Khan's Palace ...

and Nogai Tatars traditionally used the sparsely inhabited area of the

Wild Fields The Wild Fields ( uk, Дике Поле, translit=Dyke Pole, russian: Дикое Поле, translit=Dikoye Polye, pl, Dzikie pola, lt, Dykra, la, Loca deserta or , also translated as "the wilderness") is a historical term used in the Polish ...

on the south border of Russia immediately south of

Severia Severia or Siveria ( orv, Сѣверія, russian: Северщина, translit=Severshchina, uk, Сіверія or , translit. ''Siveria'' or ''Sivershchyna'') is a historical region in present-day southwest Russia, northern Ukraine, eastern B ...

to launch annual raids into the Russian territories along the

Muravsky Trail Muravsky Trail or Murava Route (russian: Муравский шлях, uk, Муравський шлях) was an important trade route and an invasion route of the Crimean Nogays during the Russo-Crimean Wars of the 16th and early 17th centuries ...

and

Izyum Trail Izyum Trail or Izyum Warpath ( uk, Ізюмський шлях, Russian: Изюмский шлях) is a historic route used by the Crimean Nogays in the 16th and 17th centuries to penetrate into Sloboda Ukraine and then invade Muscovite Russia. T ...

. In 1591, a Tatar raid reached the Moscow region, forcing the Russian government to build new forts of

and Oskol in 1593,

Yelets Yelets, or Elets (russian: Еле́ц), is a city in Lipetsk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Bystraya Sosna River, which is a tributary of the Don. Population: History Yelets is the oldest center of the Central Black Earth Region. It was m ...

in 1592,

Kromy Kromy (russian: Кромы) is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities *Kromy, Oryol Oblast, an urban-type settlement in Kromskoy District of Oryol Oblast ;Rural localities * Kromy, Ivanovo Oblast, a '' selo'' in ...

in 1595,

in 1597, Tsarev-Borisov and

Valuyki Valuyki (russian: Валуйки) is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. Urban localities *Valuyki, Belgorod Oblast, a town in Belgorod Oblast Rural localities * Valuyki, Moscow Oblast, a village in Teryayevskoye Rural Settlement ...

in 1600. Tsarev-Borisov, named after Tsar

Boris I Boris I, also known as Boris-Mihail (Michael) and ''Bogoris'' ( cu, Борисъ А҃ / Борисъ-Михаилъ bg, Борис I / Борис-Михаил; died 2 May 907), was the ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire in 852–889. A ...

, was the oldest settlement in Sloboda Ukraine.Ісаєв Т. О. Цареборисів: від заснування до утворення Ізюмського слобідського полку // Вісник Харківського національного університету імені В. Н. Каразіна, 2010, No 906, С. 91 During those raids regions near

Ryazan Ryazan ( rus, Рязань, p=rʲɪˈzanʲ, a=ru-Ryazan.ogg) is the largest city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Cens ...

and along

Oka River The Oka (russian: Ока́, ) is a river in central Russia, the largest right tributary of the Volga. It flows through the regions of Oryol, Tula, Kaluga, Moscow, Ryazan, Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod and is navigable over a large part of ...

suffered the most. With the Russian territorial expansion south and east into the lands of modern Sloboda Ukraine and mid-Volga River the conflict intensified. Sometime between 1580s and 1640s the ''Belgorod Defense Line'' with number of fortifications, moats, and forts was constructed in Sloboda Ukraine, providing security to the region. After a number of

Russo-Crimean Wars The Russo-Crimean Wars were fought between the forces of the Tsardom of Russia and the Crimean Khanate during the 16th century over the region around the Volga River. In the 16th century, the Wild Steppes in Russia were exposed to the Khanat ...

, the Russian monarchs started to encourage the settlement of the region by Cossacks who acted as a sort of frontier guard force against the raids of the Tatars. Apart from the Cossacks, the settlers included

peasants A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...

and townspeople from

Right Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical th ...

and

Left-bank Ukraine Left-bank Ukraine ( uk, Лівобережна Україна, translit=Livoberezhna Ukrayina; russian: Левобережная Украина, translit=Levoberezhnaya Ukraina; pl, Lewobrzeżna Ukraina) is a historic name of the part of Ukrain ...

, divided by the

Treaty of Andrusovo The Truce of Andrusovo ( pl, Rozejm w Andruszowie, russian: Андрусовское перемирие, ''Andrusovskoye Pieriemiriye'', also sometimes known as Treaty of Andrusovo) established a thirteen-and-a-half year truce, signed in 1667 bet ...

in 1667. The name ''Sloboda Ukraine'' derives from the word ''

'', a

Slavic Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to: Peoples * Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia ** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples ** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples ** West Slavi ...

term meaning "freedom" (or "

liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

)", and also the name of a type of settlement. The Tsar would free the settlers of a ''sloboda'' from the obligation of paying taxes and fees for a certain period of time, which proved very enticing for settlers. By the end of the 18th century, settlers occupied 523 slobodas (''slobody'') in Sloboda Ukraine. From 1650 to 1765, the territory referred to as Sloboda Ukraine became increasingly organized according to Cossack military custom, similar to that of the

Zaporozhian Host Zaporozhian Host (or Zaporizhian Sich) is a term for a military force inhabiting or originating from Zaporizhzhia, the territory beyond the rapids of the Dnieper River in what is Central Ukraine today, from the 15th to the 18th centuries. These in ...

and Don Host. The relocated cossacks became known as Sloboda Cossacks. There were five

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

al districts (''polky'') of Sloboda Cossacks, named after the towns of their sustained deployment, and subdivided into company districts (''sotni''). Regional centers included

Ostrogozhsk Ostrogozhsk (russian: Острого́жск) is a town and the administrative center of Ostrogozhsky District in Voronezh Oblast, Russia, located on the Tikhaya Sosna River (a tributary of the Don), south of Voronezh, the administrative cente ...

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Okhtyrka Okhtyrka ( uk, Охти́рка, ) is a city located in the Sumy Oblast (province) of Ukraine. It is administratively incorporated as a city of oblast significance. The city has also served as the administrative center of the smaller Okhtyrka R ...

Sumy Sumy ( uk, Суми ) is a city of regional significance in Ukraine, and the capital of Sumy Oblast. The city is situated on the banks of the Psel River in northeastern Ukraine with a population of according to the 2021 census, making it the 2 ...

, and

Izyum Izium or Izyum ( uk, Ізюм, ; russian: Изюм) is a city on the Donets River in Kharkiv Oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Izium Raion (district). Izium hosts the administration of Izium urban ...

, while the Sloboda Ukraine Cossack capital was located in

until 1743. Map of Kharkov Namestnichestvo 1792 (small atlas)

The administration of Catherine the Great disbanded the regiments of Slobozhanshchina and abolished Cossack privileges by the decree of July 28, 1765. The semiautonomous region became a province called

(''Slobodsko-Ukrainskaya guberniya''). St. Petersburg, 1901, First publication: 1865 Saint Petersburg replaced the regimental administrations with Russian hussar regiments, and granted Cossack higher ranks (''

starshina ( rus, старшина, p=stərʂɨˈna, a=Ru-старшина.ogg or in Ukrainian transliteration) is a senior non-commissioned rank or designation in the military forces of some Slavic states, and a historical military designation. In army ...

s'') officership and nobility (''

dvoryanstvo The Russian nobility (russian: дворянство ''dvoryanstvo'') originated in the 14th century. In 1914 it consisted of approximately 1,900,000 members (about 1.1% of the population) in the Russian Empire. Up until the February Revolutio ...

''). In 1780, the governorate was transformed into the

Kharkov Viceroyalty Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

(''namestnichestvo'') which existed until the end of 1796, when it was again renamed into Sloboda Ukrainian Governorate. Each administrative reform involved territorial changes. In 1835, the province of Sloboda Ukraine was abolished, ceding most of its territory to the new

Kharkov Governorate The Kharkov Governorate ( pre-reform Russian: , tr. ''Khárkovskaya gubérniya'', IPA: �xarʲkəfskəjə ɡʊˈbʲernʲɪjə ) was a governorate of the Russian Empire founded in 1835. It embraced the historical region of Sloboda Ukraine. From ...

, and some to

and

, which came under the

Little Russia Little Russia (russian: Малороссия/Малая Россия, Malaya Rossiya/Malorossiya; uk, Малоросія/Мала Росія, Malorosiia/Mala Rosiia), also known in English as Malorussia, Little Rus' (russian: Малая Ру� ...

General Governorship Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

. After the establishment of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Sloboda Ukraine was divided between the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

and the

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

. The early 1930s forced end to

Ukrainization Ukrainization (also spelled Ukrainisation), sometimes referred to as Ukrainianization (or Ukrainianisation) is a policy or practice of increasing the usage and facilitating the development of the Ukrainian language and promoting other elements of ...

in the parts of Sloboda Ukraine located in the Russian SFSR led to a massive decline of reported Ukrainians in these regions in the 1937 Soviet Census compared to the 1926

First All-Union Census of the Soviet Union The 1926 Soviet Census took place in December 1926. It was an important tool in the state-building of the USSR, provided the government with important ethnographic information, and helped in the transformation from Imperial Russian society to Sov ...

.Unknown Eastern Ukraine

(14 March 2012) The Ukrainian SSR reorganized their part of the region several times before establishing the borders of present-day

Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast ( uk, Харківська́ о́бласть, translit=Kharkivska oblast), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna ( uk, Ха́рківщина), is an oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. The oblast borders Russia to the north, Luhan ...

in 1932.

References

External links

Sloboda
in th
Encyclopedia of Ukraine

The autonomous hetman state and Sloboda Ukraine
in th
Encyclopædia Britannica

Etymology

Geographical extent

History

References

External links

Further reading