Location of the Carpathian Ukraine and Czechoslovakia during their assignment in 1948 2

In 1944 and 1945, the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

pushed out the

Royal Hungarian Army The Royal Hungarian Army (, ) was the name given to the land forces of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946), Kingdom of Hungary in the period from 1922 to 1945. Its name was inherited from the Royal Hungarian Honvéd which went under the same Hu ...

and took control 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 ...

, also called Transcarpathia. In 1945 and 1946, the region was annexed by 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 ...

from the (Third) Czechoslovak Republic, which the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

considered to be the legal owner of the territory beforehand.

Previous history

At the beginning of the 20th century, the population of the mountainous, economically underdeveloped region known as

consisted mainly of

Ruthenians A ''Ruthenian'' and ''Ruthene'' are exonyms of Latin language, Latin origin, formerly used in Eastern and Central Europe as common Ethnonym, ethnonyms for East Slavs, particularly during the late medieval and early modern periods. The Latin term ...

and

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...

. The region of

Transcarpathia 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 ...

was part of

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 ...

since the

Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin The Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin, also known as the Hungarian conquest or the Hungarian land-taking (), was a series of historical events ending with the settlement of the Hungarians in Central Europe in the late 9th and early 10t ...

in the end of the 9th century to 1918. Historically it was one of the

Lands of the Hungarian Crown The Lands of the Hungarian CrownLaszlo PéterHungary's Long Nineteenth Century: Constitutional and Democratic Traditions in a European Perspective BRILL, 2012, pp. 51–56 () was the titular expression of Hungarian pretensions to the various terri ...

before it was detached from the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

and attached to the newly created

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 ...

in 1918, following the disintegration of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

as a result 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 ...

. This was then confirmed by the

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (; ; ; ), often referred to in Hungary as the Peace Dictate of Trianon or Dictate of Trianon, was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace Conference. It was signed on the one side by Hungary ...

in 1920. However, the autonomy of Carpathian Ruthenia, which was also formally agreed upon in the

Treaty of Saint-Germain A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, conventi ...

, was not fully recognized by the Czechoslovak government. When Czechoslovakia came under pressure from

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

during the

Sudeten crisis The Munich Agreement was reached in Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom, the French Republic, and the Kingdom of Italy. The agreement provided for the German annexation of part of Czechoslovakia called the Sudeten ...

, nationalists of all stripes seized the opportunity and, beginning in the spring of 1938, attempted to impose full autonomy for

Carpatho-Ukraine Carpatho-Ukraine or Carpathian Ukraine (, ) was an autonomous region, within the Second Czechoslovak Republic, created in December 1938 and renamed from Subcarpathian Rus', whose full administrative and political autonomy had been confirmed by ...

within the Czechoslovak Republic. About a month after the Munich Agreement of September 1938, an autonomous government was formed under

Avgustyn Voloshyn The Rt Rev. Avgustyn Ivanovych Monsignor Voloshyn (, , 17 March 1874 – 19 July 1945), also known as Augustin Voloshyn, was a Carpatho-Ukrainian politician, teacher, essayist, and Greek Catholic priest of the Mukacheve eparchy in Czechoslova ...

had sought to restore its historical borders and the revision of the

, on 2 November 1938, the

First Vienna Award The First Vienna Award was a treaty signed on 2 November 1938 pursuant to the Vienna Arbitration, which took place at Vienna's Belvedere Palace. The arbitration and award were direct consequences of the previous month's Munich Agreement, whic ...

separated territories from

, including the southern

Carpathian Rus' 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 ...

that were mostly Hungarian-populated and returned them to

. In the dispute between the various ethnic groups, the " Ukrainophiles" now prevailed in Carpathian Ruthenia, who increasingly favored the option of annexation to an independent

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. All political parties except the Ukrajinské národní sjednocení were banned. On March 14, 1939,

Jozef Tiso Jozef Gašpar Tiso (, ; 13 October 1887 – 18 April 1947) was a Slovaks, Slovak politician and Catholic priest who served as president of the Slovak Republic (1939–1945), First Slovak Republic, a client state of Nazi Germany during World War ...

proclaimed the independence of

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. Carpathian Ruthenia also declared itself independent. The Hungarian Teleki government and

Miklós Horthy Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya (18 June 1868 – 9 February 1957) was a Hungarian admiral and statesman who was the Regent of Hungary, regent of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946), Kingdom of Hungary Hungary between the World Wars, during the ...

were informed by

Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

on March 12 that they had 24 hours to resolve the Ruthenian question.

responded immediately with the military occupation of the entire Carpathian Ruthenia. As a result of the annexation, Hungary gained a territory with 552,000 inhabitants, 70.6% of whom were Ruthenian, 12.5% Hungarian, and 12% were

Carpathian Germans Carpathian Germans (, or ''felvidéki németek'', , , ) are a group of Germans, ethnic Germans in Central and Eastern Europe. The term was coined by the historian :de:Raimund Friedrich Kaindl, Raimund Friederich Kaindl (1866–1930), originally ...

. The region remained under Hungarian control until the

end of World War II in Europe The end of World War II in Europe occurred in May 1945. Following the Death of Adolf Hitler, suicide of Adolf Hitler on 30 April, leadership of Nazi Germany passed to Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz and the Flensburg Government. Soviet Union, Soviet t ...

, after which it was occupied by the

. Hungary had to renounce the territories won in the Vienna Awards in the Armistice Agreement signed in Moscow on January 20, 1945, which stated that ''"Hungary has accepted the obligation to evacuate all Hungarian troops and officials from the territory of Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Rumania occupied by her within the limits of the frontiers of Hungary existing on December 31, 1937, and also to repeal all legislative and administrative provisions relating to the annexation or incorporation into Hungary of Czechoslovak, Yugoslav and Rumanian territory.''" The renunciation was reconfirmed at the

Paris Peace Conference Agreements and declarations resulting from meetings in Paris include: Listed by name Paris Accords may refer to: * Paris Accords, the agreements reached at the end of the London and Paris Conferences in 1954 concerning the post-war status of Germ ...

in 1946 and recorded in the Peace Treaty of 1947, which stated that ''"The frontier between Hungary and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, from the point common to the frontier of those two States and Rumania to the point common to the frontier of those two States and Czechoslovakia, is fixed along the former frontier between Hungary and Czechoslovakia as it existed on January 1, 1938"''.

Accession to the Ukrainian SSR

The London government-in-exile under

Edvard Beneš Edvard Beneš (; 28 May 1884 – 3 September 1948) was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1939 to 1948. During the first six years of his second stint, he led the Czec ...

negotiated the restoration of the state of Czechoslovakia with the Soviet Union, with which it had been allied since 1943, in Moscow. On May 8, 1944, Beneš and Soviet dictator

Josef Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

signed a treaty of alliance that guaranteed that the territory of Czechoslovakia would be liberated by the

and returned to Czechoslovak civilian control. Carpathian Ruthenia was to be reincorporated into Czechoslovakia while maintaining this status. In October 1944, Carpathian Ruthenia was liberated by the Red Army and occupied by the Soviet Union. The Czechoslovak government delegation led by minister František Němec arrived in

Khust Khust (, ; ; ; ; ; ) is a city located on the Khustets River in Zakarpattia Oblast, western Ukraine. It is near the сonfluence of the Tisa and Rika Rivers. It serves as the administrative center of Khust Raion. Population: Khust was the capi ...

to establish the provisional Czechoslovak administration, according to the treaties between the Soviet and Czechoslovak governments on 8 May 1944.Bryzh, Yevhen.
365 days. Our history. 26 November. How Transcarpathia "voluntarily" and decisively became Ukraine (365 днів. Наша історія. 26 листопада. Як Закарпаття "добровільно" і остаточно стало Україною)
'. Poltava 365. 26 November 2018. According to the Soviet–Czechoslovak treaty, it was agreed that once any liberated territory of Czechoslovakia ceased to be a combat zone of the Red Army, those lands would be transferred to full control of the Czechoslovak state. However, after a few weeks, the Red Army and

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

started to obstruct the Czechoslovak delegation's work. Communications between Khust and the government center in exile in London were obstructed and the Czechoslovak officials were forced to use underground radio. Furthermore, the delegation had to win the support of the population to remain with Czechoslovakia, because the loyalty of Carpathian Ruthenia to a new Czechoslovak state was weak as a result 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 ...

. In April 1944, all former collaborators were excluded from the political arena. Collaborators included Magyars, Germans, and those Ruthenians who were supporters of István Fencik's party (which had collaborated with the Magyars). This concerned about one third of the population. Another third were

Communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

, so that only a third of the Ukrainian population probably sympathized with the Czechoslovak Republic. After arriving in Carpathian Ruthenia, the Czechoslovak delegation announced its planned mobilization at its headquarters in

on October 30. The Red Army prevented the dissemination of this news and instead began to rally popular support. Protests from Beneš's government were ignored. The Czechoslovak delegation was also allegedly hindered in building relations with the Ukrainian minority, which caused the disappointment of the population. Soviet activities resulted in 73% of the population being in favor of annexation.

Soviet annexation

On November 26, 1944, the first meeting of the newly elected People's Committee, organized by representatives of the Communist Party of Carpathian Ruthenia, was held in

Mukachevo Mukachevo (, ; , ; see name section) is a city in Zakarpattia Oblast, western Ukraine. It is situated in the valley of the Latorica River and serves as the administrative center of Mukachevo Raion. The city is a rail terminus and highway junct ...

. It proclaimed withdrawal from Czechoslovakia and "unification with its great mother, Soviet Ukraine." The Czechoslovak delegation was asked to leave the area. After two months of conflicts and negotiations the Czechoslovak government delegation departed from Khust on February 1, 1945, leaving Carpathian Ruthenia under Soviet control. Nevertheless, negotiations between the Czechoslovak government and the Soviet government were not concluded. While the right-wing conservative Czechoslovak parties voted against a cession, the KSČ promoted a cession of Carpathian Ruthenia. At the end of 1945, Beneš also confirmed the cession. An agreement was reached with the Soviet Union to postpone the annexation until 1946; the cession to the Soviet Union was agreed by treaty in Moscow on June 29, 1945, and the agreement entered into force on January 30, 1946.For a discussion of the treaty see ; for a copy of the treaty see ''British and Foreign State Papers''
volume cxlv
p. 1096. Czechoslovaks and Ukrainians living in Carpathian Ruthenia were given the choice between Czechoslovak and Soviet citizenship.

Consequences

Over 120,000 people emigrated from the former part of the country. Of the 15,800 Ruthenian Jews, 8,000 emigrated. As a result of the cession, Czechoslovakia lost 12,777 km² of its territory and about 450,000 inhabitants.

Literature

* Paul Robert Magocsi: ''The Shaping of a National Identity. Subcarpathian Rus’, 1848–1948.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts/London, 1978. * Vincent Shandor: ''Carpatho-Ukraine in the Twientieth Century. A Political and Legal History.'' Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard U.P. for the Ukrainian Research Institute, Harvard University, 1997. * Ivan Pop: ''Enzyklopedija Podkarpatskoj Rusi'', Uschhorod 2001 (Ukrainian); ''Encyclopedia of Rusyn history and culture'', University of Toronto Press, 2002/05,

References

{{Soviet occupation Hungary in World War II Ukraine in World War II Czechoslovakia in World War II Military history of the Soviet Union Annexation Territorial disputes of the Soviet Union Czechoslovakia–Soviet Union relations 1946 in Ukraine 1946 in Czechoslovakia