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Transcarpathia (, ) is a historical region on the border between
Central and Eastern Europe Central and Eastern Europe is a geopolitical term encompassing the countries in Baltic region, Northeast Europe (primarily the Baltic states, Baltics), Central Europe (primarily the Visegrád Group), Eastern Europe, and Southeast Europe (primaril ...
, mostly located in western Ukraine's
Zakarpattia Oblast Zakarpattia Oblast (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Закарпатська область), also referred to as simply Zakarpattia (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Закарпаття; Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Kárpátalja'') or Transcar ...
. From the Hungarian
conquest Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or Coercion (international relations), coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or ...
of the Carpathian Basin (at the end of the 9th century) to the end of World War I (
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), most of this region was part of 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 ...
. In 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 ( ...
, it was part of the First and
Second Czechoslovak Republic The Second Czechoslovak Republic (Czech language, Czech and ), officially the Czecho-Slovak Republic (Czech and Slovak: ''Česko-Slovenská republika''), existed for 169 days, between 30 September 1938 and 15 March 1939. It was c ...
s. Before World War II, the region was annexed by 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 ...
once again when Germany dismembered the Second Czechoslovak Republic. After the war, it 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 ...
and became part 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. ...
. It is an ethnically diverse region, inhabited mostly by people who regard themselves as ethnic
Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...
,
Rusyns Rusyns, also known as Carpatho-Rusyns, Carpatho-Russians, Ruthenians, or Rusnaks, are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group from the Carpathian Rus', Eastern Carpathians in Central Europe. They speak Rusyn language, Rusyn, an East Slavic lan ...
,
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 ...
,
Romanians Romanians (, ; dated Endonym and exonym, exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation native to Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Sharing a Culture of Romania, ...
,
Slovaks The Slovaks ( (historical Sloveni ), singular: ''Slovák'' (historical: ''Sloven'' ), feminine: ''Slovenka'' , plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history ...
, and
Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...
. It also has small communities of
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
and Romani minorities. Prior to World War II, many more Jews lived in the region, constituting over 13% of its total population in 1930. The most commonly spoken languages are Rusyn, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Romanian, Slovak, and Polish.


Toponymy

The name Carpathian Ruthenia is sometimes used for the contiguous cross-border area of Ukraine, Slovakia and Poland inhabited by
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 ...
. The local Ruthenian population self-identifies in different ways: some consider themselves to be a separate and unique Slavic group of
Rusyns Rusyns, also known as Carpatho-Rusyns, Carpatho-Russians, Ruthenians, or Rusnaks, are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group from the Carpathian Rus', Eastern Carpathians in Central Europe. They speak Rusyn language, Rusyn, an East Slavic lan ...
and some consider themselves to be both Rusyns and Ukrainians. To describe their home region, most of them use the term ''Zakarpattia'' (). This is contrasted implicitly with ''
Prykarpattia Prykarpattia () is a Ukrainian term for Ciscarpathia, a physical geographical region for the northeastern Carpathian foothills.Vortman, D. Prykarpattia (ПРИКАРПАТТЯ)'. Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine. Located at the outer foot of ...
'' (), an unofficial geographical region in Ukraine, to the immediate north-east of the central area of the Carpathian Range, and potentially including its foothills, the Subcarpathian basin and part of the surrounding plains. From a Hungarian (and to an extent Slovak and Czech) perspective, the region is usually described as Subcarpathia (literally "below the Carpathians"), although technically this name refers only to a long, narrow basin that flanks the northern side of the mountains. During the period in which the region was administered by the Hungarian states, it was officially referred to in Hungarian as Kárpátalja (literally: "the base of the Carpathians") or the north-eastern regions of medieval ''Upper Hungary'', which in the 16th century was contested between the Habsburg monarchy and the Ottoman Empire. The Romanian name of the region is
Maramureș ( ; ; ; ) is a geographical, historical and cultural region in northern Romania and western Ukraine. It is situated in the northeastern Carpathians, along parts of the upper Tisza River drainage basin; it covers the Maramureș Depression and the ...
, which is geographically located in the eastern and south-eastern portions of the region. During the period of Czechoslovak administration in the first half of the 20th century, the region was referred to for a while as ''Rusinsko'' (Ruthenia) or ''Karpatske Rusinsko'', and later as Subcarpathian Rus (
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...
and Slovak: ''Podkarpatská Rus'') or Subcarpathian Ukraine (Czech and Slovak: ''Podkarpatská Ukrajina''), and from 1928 as Subcarpathian Ruthenian Land. (Czech: ''Země podkarpatoruská'', Slovak: ''Krajina podkarpatoruská''). Alternative, unofficial names used in Czechoslovakia before World War II included Subcarpathia (Czech and Slovak: ''Podkarpatsko''), Transcarpathia (Czech and Slovak: ''Zakarpatsko''), Transcarpathian Ukraine (Czech and Slovak: ''Zakarpatská Ukrajina''), Carpathian Rus/Ruthenia (Czech and Slovak: ''Karpatská Rus'') and, occasionally, Hungarian Rus/Ruthenia (; ). The region declared its independence as Carpatho-Ukraine on March 15, 1939, but was occupied and 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 ...
on the same day, and remained under Hungarian control until the end of World War II. During this period the region continued to possess a special administration and the term ''Kárpátalja'' was locally used. In 1944–1946, the region was occupied by the Soviet Army and was a separate political formation known as Transcarpathian Ukraine or Subcarpathian Ruthenia. During this period the region possessed some form of quasi-autonomy with its own legislature, while remaining under the governance of the Communist Party of Transcarpathian Ukraine. After the signing of a treaty between
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 ...
and 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 ...
as well as the decision of the regional council, Transcarpathia joined the
Ukrainian SSR 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 the
Zakarpattia Oblast Zakarpattia Oblast (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Закарпатська область), also referred to as simply Zakarpattia (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Закарпаття; Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Kárpátalja'') or Transcar ...
. The region has subsequently been referred to as ''Zakarpattia'' () or ''Transcarpathia'', and on occasions as ''Carpathian Rus’'' (), ''Transcarpathian Rus’'' (), or ''Subcarpathian Rus’'' ().


Geography

Carpathian Ruthenia rests on the southern slopes of the eastern
Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...
, bordered to the east and south by the
Tisza The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa (see below) is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. It was once called "the most Hungarian river" because it used to flow entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national bo ...
River, and to the west by the Hornád and Poprad Rivers. The region borders Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania, and makes up part of the Pannonian Plain. The region is predominantly rural and infrastructurally underdeveloped. The landscape is mostly mountainous; it is geographically separated from Ukraine, Slovakia, and Romania by mountains, and from Hungary by the Tisza river. The two major cities are
Uzhhorod Uzhhorod (, ; , ; , ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality on the Uzh, Uzh River in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistan ...
and Mukachevo, both with populations around 100,000. The population of the other five cities (including Khust and Berehove) varies between 10,000 and 30,000. Other urban and rural populated places have a population of less than 10,000.


History


Prehistoric cultures

During the Late
Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
in the 2nd millennium BC, the region was characterized by Stanove culture; however, it only gained more advanced metalworking skills with the arrival of
Thracians The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared betwee ...
from the South with Kushtanovytsia culture in the 6th-3rd century BC. In the 5th-3rd century BC,
Celts The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...
arrived from the West, bringing iron-melting skills and
La Tène culture The La Tène culture (; ) was a Iron Age Europe, European Iron Age culture. It developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from about 450 BC to the Roman Republic, Roman conquest in the 1st century BC), succeeding the early Iron Age ...
. A Thracian-Celtic symbiosis existed for a time in the region, after which appeared the
Bastarnae The Bastarnae, Bastarni or Basternae, also known as the Peuci or Peucini, were an ancient people who are known from Greek and Roman records to have inhabited areas north and east of the Carpathian Mountains between about 300 BC and about 300 AD, ...
. At that time, the Iranian-speaking
Scythians The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian noma ...
and later a
Sarmatian The Sarmatians (; ; Latin: ) were a large confederation of Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Iranian Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic peoples who dominated the Pontic–Caspian steppe, Pontic steppe from about the 5th century BCE to the 4t ...
tribe called the
Iazyges The Iazyges () were an ancient Sarmatians, Sarmatian tribe that traveled westward in 200BC from Central Asia to the steppes of modern Ukraine. In , they moved into modern-day Hungary and Serbia near the Pannonian steppe between the Danube ...
were present in the region.
Proto-Slavic Proto-Slavic (abbreviated PSl., PS.; also called Common Slavic or Common Slavonic) is the unattested, reconstructed proto-language of all Slavic languages. It represents Slavic speech approximately from the 2nd millennium BC through the 6th ...
settlement began between the 2nd-century BCE and 2nd century CE, and during the
Migration Period The Migration Period ( 300 to 600 AD), also known as the Barbarian Invasions, was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories ...
, the region was traversed by
Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...
and
Gepids The Gepids (; ) were an East Germanic tribes, East Germanic tribe who lived in the area of modern Romania, Hungary, and Serbia, roughly between the Tisza, Sava, and Carpathian Mountains. They were said to share the religion and language of the G ...
(4th century) and
Pannonian Avars The Pannonian Avars ( ) were an alliance of several groups of Eurasian nomads of various origins. The peoples were also known as the Obri in the chronicles of the Rus' people, Rus, the Abaroi or Varchonitai (), or Pseudo-Avars in Byzantine Empi ...
(6th century).


Slavic settlement

By the 8th and 9th century, the valleys of the Northern and Southern slopes of the
Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...
were "densely" settled by Slavic tribe of White Croats, who were closely related to East Slavic tribes who inhabited
Prykarpattia Prykarpattia () is a Ukrainian term for Ciscarpathia, a physical geographical region for the northeastern Carpathian foothills.Vortman, D. Prykarpattia (ПРИКАРПАТТЯ)'. Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine. Located at the outer foot of ...
,
Volhynia Volhynia or Volynia ( ; see #Names and etymology, below) is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between southeastern Poland, southwestern Belarus, and northwestern Ukraine. The borders of the region are not clearly defined, but in ...
,
Transnistria Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and locally as Pridnestrovie, is a Landlocked country, landlocked Transnistria conflict#International recognition of Transnistria, breakaway state internationally recogn ...
and
Dnieper Ukraine The term Dnieper Ukraine (), usually refers to territory on either side of the middle course of the Dnieper River. The Ukrainian name derives from ''nad‑'' (prefix: "above, over") + ''Dnipró'' ("Dnieper") + ''‑shchyna'' (suffix denoting a g ...
. Whereas some White Croats remained behind in Carpathian Ruthenia, others moved southward into the
Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
in the 7th century. Those who remained were conquered by
Kievan Rus' Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,. * was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...
in the late 10th century.


Hungarian arrival

In 896 the
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 ...
crossed the Carpathian Range and migrated into the
Pannonian Basin The Pannonian Basin, with the term Carpathian Basin being sometimes preferred in Hungarian literature, is a large sedimentary basin situated in southeastern Central Europe. After the Treaty of Trianon following World War I, the geomorpholog ...
. Nestor's Chronicle wrote that Hungarian tribes had to fight against the Volochi and settled among Slavs when on their way to Pannonia. Prince Laborec fell from power under the efforts of the Hungarians and the Kievan forces. According to
Gesta Hungarorum ''Gesta Hungarorum'', or ''The Deeds of the Hungarians'', is the earliest book about Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian history which has survived for posterity. Its genre is not chronicle, but ''gesta'', meaning "deeds" or "acts", which is a medie ...
, the Hungarians defeated a united Bulgarian and
Byzantine army The Byzantine army was the primary military body of the Byzantine Empire, Byzantine armed forces, serving alongside the Byzantine navy. A direct continuation of the East Roman army, Eastern Roman army, shaping and developing itself on the legac ...
led by Salan in the early 10th century on the plains of Alpár, who ruled over territory that was finally conquered by Hungarians. During the tenth and for most of the eleventh century the territory remained a borderland between 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 ...
to the south and the
Kievan Rus' Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,. * was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...
Principality of Halych The Principality of Galicia (; ), also known as Principality of Halych or Principality of Halychian Rus, was a medieval East Slavs, East Slavic principality, and one of the main regional states within the political scope of Kievan Rus', establi ...
to the north. Slavs from the north ( Galicia) and east—who actually arrived from Podolia via the mountain passes of
Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...
—continued to settle in small numbers in various parts of the Carpathian borderland, which the Hungarians and other medieval writers referred to as the Marchia Ruthenorum—the Rus' March. These new immigrants, from the north and east, like the Slavs already living in Carpathian Ruthenia, had by the eleventh century come to be known as the people of Rus', or
Rusyns Rusyns, also known as Carpatho-Rusyns, Carpatho-Russians, Ruthenians, or Rusnaks, are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group from the Carpathian Rus', Eastern Carpathians in Central Europe. They speak Rusyn language, Rusyn, an East Slavic lan ...
. Local Slavic nobility often intermarried with the Hungarian nobles to the south. Prince Rostislav, a Ruthenian noble unable to continue his family's rule of Kiev, governed a great deal of Transcarpathia from 1243 to 1261 for his father-in-law,
Béla IV of Hungary Béla IV (1206 – 3 May 1270) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia between 1235 and 1270, and Duke of Styria from 1254 to 1258. As the oldest son of Andrew II of Hungary, King Andrew II, he was crowned upon the initiative of a group ...
. The territory's ethnic diversity increased with the influx of some 40,000
Cuman The Cumans or Kumans were a Turkic nomadic people from Central Asia comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation who spoke the Cuman language. They are referred to as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Rus' chronicles, as " ...
settlers, who came to the Pannonian Basin after their defeat by Vladimir II (Monomakh) in the 12th century and their ultimate defeat at the hands of the
Mongols Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...
in 1238. During the early period of Hungarian administration, part of the area was included into the Gyepű border region, while the other part was under county authority and was included into the counties of Ung, Borsova and Szatmár. Later, the county administrative system was expanded to the whole of Transcarpathia, and the area was divided between the counties of Ung, Bereg, Ugocsa, and Máramaros. At the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th century, during the collapse of the central power in the Kingdom of Hungary, the region was part of the domains of semi-independent oligarchs Amadeus Aba and Nicholas Pok. Although King Leo I of Galicia–Volhynia (Lev Danylovych) attempted to extend his influence over parts of the Carpathian region during the late 13th century, there is no reliable historical evidence that north-western Carpathian Ruthenia was permanently annexed to his kingdom. Contemporary Hungarian royal charters from the period confirm that the region — including key fortresses like Huszt and Munkács — remained under the control of the Kingdom of Hungary. Historians such as Gyula Kristó and Pál Engel agree that Leo's interventions were temporary and opportunistic, taking advantage of internal conflicts within Hungary, but they did not lead to lasting occupation. Thus, the claim that north-western Carpathian Ruthenia belonged to the
Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia The Principality or, from 1253, Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, also known as the Kingdom of Ruthenia, Kingdom of Rus', or Kingdom of Russia, also Halych–Volhynian Kingdom was a medieval state in Eastern Europe which existed from 1199 to 1349. I ...
between 1280 and 1320 is not supported by primary sources or mainstream historical scholarship. The assumption that Transcarpathia briefly came under the rule of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia is, in this context, primarily the result of Ukrainian historiography’s attempt to establish historical rights and continuity over the region — suggesting that "medieval Ukraine" had annexed it even before 1946. This narrative is further reinforced by the frequent appearance of Transcarpathia on maps of Kievan Rus' as if it had been part of, or directly linked to, Kievan Rus'. However, this claim is not supported by either archaeological or historical evidence. On the contrary, both the historical sources — which indicate the settlement of Ruthenians in the region during the 13th and 14th centuries — and the archaeological record — which shows a lack of Orthodox church remains from that period — argue against such interpretations. Between the 12th and 15th centuries, the area was probably colonized by
Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...
groups of Vlach ( Romanian) highlanders with accompanying Ruthenian populations. Initially, the Romanians were organized into the Voivodeship of Maramureș, formally integrated into Hungary in 1402. All the groups, including local Slavic population, blended together, creating a distinctive culture from the main Ruthenian-speaking areas. Over time, because of geographical and political isolation from the main Ruthenian-speaking territory, the inhabitants developed distinctive features.


Part of Hungary and Transylvania

In 1526 the region was divided between the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary and the
Eastern Hungarian Kingdom The Eastern Hungarian Kingdom ( ) is a modern term coined by some historians to designate the realm of John Zápolya and his son John Sigismund Zápolya, who contested the claims of the House of Habsburg to rule the Kingdom of Hungary from 1526 ...
. Beginning in 1570 the latter transformed to the Principality of Transylvania, which soon fell under Ottoman suzerainty. The part of Transcarpathia under Habsburg administration was included into the Captaincy of Upper Hungary, which was one of the administrative units of the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary. During this period, an important factor in the Ruthenian cultural identity, namely religion, came to the forefront. The Union of Brest (1595) and Union of Uzhhorod (1646) were instituted, causing the Byzantine Orthodox Churches of Carpathian and Transcarpathian Rus' to come under the jurisdiction of
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, thus establishing the so-called "Unia" of
Eastern Catholic churches The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of ...
, the Ruthenian Catholic Church and the
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) is a Major archiepiscopal church, major archiepiscopal ''sui iuris'' ("autonomous") Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic church that is based in Ukraine. As a particular church of the Cathol ...
. In the 17th century (until 1648) the entire region was part of the Principality of Transylvania and between 1682 and 1685 its north-western part was administered by the Ottoman vassal state of
Upper Hungary Upper Hungary (, "Upland"), is the area that was historically the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary, now mostly present-day Slovakia. The region has also been called ''Felső-Magyarország'' ( literally: "Upper Hungary"; ). During the ...
, while the south-eastern parts remained under the administration of Transylvania. From 1699 the entire region eventually became part of the
Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...
, divided between 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 the Principality of Transylvania. Later, the entire region was included into the Kingdom of Hungary. Between 1850 and 1860 the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary was divided into five military districts, and the region was part of the Military District of Kaschau.


Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen

After 1867, the region was administratively included into Transleithania or the Hungarian part 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 ...
. In the 19th and 20th centuries, many nationalist groups vied for unification or alignment with many different possible nationalities, all arguing that the Rus people would be better off uniting with that nation for security or staying within the nation of Hungary. Many of these groups utilized the ethnic makeup of the region, with ideas such as the Lemko-Boiko-Hutsul schema looking to prove the Slavic nature of the Rus, and therefore justifying union with Russia (or later a Ukrainian state) under the claim that the Rus were part of that Slavic cultural sphere. These Rus or Ruthenians would argue this point until the early 1900s when action would be taken. In 1910, the population of Transcarpathia was 605,942, of which 330,010 (54.5%) were speakers of Ruthenian, 185,433 (30.6%) were speakers of Hungarian, 64,257 (10.6%) were speakers of German, 11,668 (1.9%) were speakers of Romanian, 6,346 (1%) were speakers of Slovak or
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...
, and 8,228 (1.4%) were speakers of other languages. * Ung County, Ungvár (
Uzhhorod Uzhhorod (, ; , ; , ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality on the Uzh, Uzh River in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistan ...
) *
Bereg County Bereg (; ) was an administrative county ( comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now mostly in western Ukraine and a smaller part in northeastern Hungary. The capital of the county was Beregszász ("Berehove" in Ukrainian, ''Bere ...
, Beregszász ( Berehove) * Ugocsa County, Nagyszőllős ( Vynohradiv) * Máramaros County (only the northern part), Máramarossziget ( Sighetu Marmației)


Transitional period (1918–1919)

After
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 ...
, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy collapsed and the region was briefly (in 1918 and 1919) claimed as part of the independent West Ukraine Republic. However, for most of this period the region was controlled by the newly formed independent Hungarian Democratic Republic, with a short period of West Ukrainian control. On November 8, 1918, the first National Council (the Ľubovňa Council, which later reconvened as the
Prešov Prešov () is a city in eastern Slovakia. It is the seat of administrative Prešov Region () and Šariš. With a population of approximately 85,000 for the city, and in total more than 100,000 with the urban area, it is the second-largest city i ...
Council) was held in western Ruthenia. The first of many councils, it simply stated the desire of its members to separate from the newly formed Hungarian state but did not specify a particular alternative—only that it must involve the right to
self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...
.Preclík, Vratislav. Masaryk a legie (Masaryk and legions), váz. kniha, 219 pages, first issue vydalo nakladatelství Paris Karviná, Žižkova 2379 (734 01 Karvina, Czech Republic) ve spolupráci s Masarykovým demokratickým hnutím (Masaryk Democratic Movement, Prague), 2019, , pp. 35–53, 106–107, 111–112, 124–125, 128, 129, 132, 140–148, 184–199. Other councils, such as the Carpatho-Ruthenian National Council meetings in Huszt ( Khust) (November 1918), called for unification 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 ...
. Only in early January 1919 were the first calls heard in Ruthenia for union with
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 ...
.


Rus'ka Krajina

Throughout November and the following few months, councils met every few weeks, calling for various solutions. Some wanted to remain part of the Hungarian Democratic Republic, but with greater autonomy; the most notable of these, the
Uzhhorod Uzhhorod (, ; , ; , ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality on the Uzh, Uzh River in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistan ...
Council (November 9, 1918), declared itself the representative of the Rusyn people and began negotiations with Hungarian authorities. These negotiations ultimately resulted in the passage of ''Law no. 10'' by the Hungarian government on December 21, 1918, thereby establishing the autonymous Rusyn province of Rus'ka Krajina from the Rusyn-inhabited parts of four eastern counties ( Máramaros County, Ugocha County,
Bereg County Bereg (; ) was an administrative county ( comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now mostly in western Ukraine and a smaller part in northeastern Hungary. The capital of the county was Beregszász ("Berehove" in Ukrainian, ''Bere ...
, Ung County. On February 5, 1919, a provisional government for Rus'ka Krajina was established. The "Rus'ka rada" (or Rusyn Council), was made up of 42 representatives from the four constituent counties and headed by a chairman, Orest Sabov, and vice-chairman, Avhustyn Shtefan. The following month, on March 4, elections were held for a formal diet of 36 deputies. Upon election, the new diet requested the Hungarian government define the borders of the autonomous region, which had not yet been elaborated; without an established territory, the deputies argued that the diet was useless. On March 21, 1919, the Democratic Republic of Hungary was replaced by the Hungarian Soviet Republic, which then announced the existence of a "Soviet Rus'ka Krajina". Elections organized by the new Hungarian government of a people's
soviet 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 ...
(council) on April 6 and 7, 1919 led to Rus'ka Krajina then had two councils: the original diet, and the newly elected soviet. Representatives from both councils then decided to join, forming the ''Uriadova rada'' ("Governing Council) of Rus'ka Krajina.


Fall of Soviet Hungary

Prior to this, in July 1918, Rusyn immigrants in the United States had convened and called for complete
independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...
. Failing that, they would try to unite with Galicia and
Bukovina Bukovina or ; ; ; ; , ; see also other languages. is a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. It is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided betwe ...
; and failing that, they would demand autonomy, though they did not specify under which state. They approached the American government and were told that the only viable option was unification with
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 ...
. Their leader, Gregory Zatkovich, then signed the "Philadelphia Agreement" with Czechoslovak President
Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Tomáš () is a Czech name, Czech and Slovak name, Slovak given name, equivalent to the name Thomas (name), Thomas. Tomáš is also a surname (feminine: Tomášová). Notable people with the name include: Given name Sport *Tomáš Berdych (born 198 ...
, guaranteeing Rusyn autonomy upon unification with Czechoslovakia on 25 October 1918. A referendum was held among American Rusyn parishes in November 1918, with a resulting 67% in favor. Another 28% voted for union with
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 ...
, and less than one percent each for Galicia, Hungary and Russia. Less than 2% desired complete independence. In April 1919, First Czechoslovak Republic, Czechoslovak control on the ground was established, when Czechoslovak Army troops acting in coordination with Romanian Land Forces, Royal Romanian Army forces arriving from the east—both acting under French Third Republic, French auspices—entered the area. In a series of battles they defeated and crushed the local militias of the newly formed Hungarian Soviet Republic, which had created the Slovak Soviet Republic and whose proclaimed aim was to "unite the Hungarian, Rusyn and Jewish toilers against the exploiters of the same nationalities". Communist sympathizers accused the Czechoslovaks and Romanians of atrocities, such as public hangings and the clubbing to death of wounded prisoners. This fighting prevented the arrival of Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet aid, for which the Hungarian Communist Party, Hungarian Communists hoped in vain; the Bolsheviks were also too preoccupied with their own Russian Civil War, civil war to assist. In May 1919, a Central National Council convened in the United States under Zatkovich and voted unanimously to accept the admission of Carpathian Ruthenia to Czechoslovakia. Back in Ruthenia, on May 8, 1919, a general meeting of representatives from all the previous councils was held, and declared that "The Central Russian National Council... completely endorse the decision of the American Uhro-Rusin Council to unite with the Czech-Slovak nation on the basis of full national autonomy." Note that the Central Russian National Council was an offshoot of the :uk:Центральна Руська Народна Рада, Central Ruthenian National Council and represented a Carpathian branch of the Russophiles of Galicia, Russophiles movement that existed in the Austrian Galicia. The Hungarian left-wing writer Béla Illés (writer), Béla Illés claimed that the meeting was little more than a farce, with various "notables" fetched from their homes by police, formed into a "National Assembly" without any semblance of a democratic process, and effectively ordered to endorse incorporation into Czechoslovakia. He further asserts that Georges Clemenceau, Clemenceau had personally instructed the French general on the spot to get the area incorporated into Czechoslovakia "at all costs", so as to create a buffer separating Soviet Ukraine from Hungary, as part of the French anti-Communist "Cordon sanitaire (politics), Cordon sanitaire" policy, and that it was the French rather than the Czechoslovaks who made the effective decisions.


Part of Czechoslovakia (1920–1938)

The Article 53, Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919), Treaty of St. Germain (September 10, 1919) granted the Carpathian
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 ...
autonomy, which was later upheld to some extent by the Czechoslovak Constitution of 1920, Czechoslovak constitution. Some rights were, however, withheld by Prague, which justified its actions by claiming that the process was to be a gradual one; and Ruthenians representation in the national sphere was less than that hoped for. Carpathian Ruthenia included former Hungarian territories of Ung County,
Bereg County Bereg (; ) was an administrative county ( comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now mostly in western Ukraine and a smaller part in northeastern Hungary. The capital of the county was Beregszász ("Berehove" in Ukrainian, ''Bere ...
, Ugocsa County and Máramaros County. After the Paris Peace Conference, 1919, Paris Peace Conference, Transcarpathia became part of
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 ...
. Whether this was widely popular among the mainly peasant population, is debatable; clearly, however, what mattered most to Ruthenians was not which country they would join, but that they be granted autonomy within it. After their experience of Magyarization, few Carpathian Rusyns were eager to remain under Hungarian rule, and they desired to ensure self-determination. According to the Czechoslovak Constitution of 1920, the former region of the Kingdom of Hungary, Ruthenian Land (''Ruszka Krajna''), was officially renamed to Subcarpathian Ruthenia (''Podkarpatská Rus''). In 1920, the area was used as a conduit for arms and ammunition for the anti-Soviet Poles fighting in the Polish-Soviet War directly to the north, while local Communists sabotaged the trains and tried to help the Soviet side. During and after the war many Ukrainian nationalism, Ukrainian nationalists in Eastern Galicia, East Galicia who opposed both Polish and Soviet rule fled to Carpathian Ruthenia. Gregory Žatkovich was appointed governor of the province by Masaryk on April 20, 1920, and resigned almost a year later, on April 17, 1921, to return to his law practice in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US. The reason for his resignation was dissatisfaction with the borders with Slovakia. His tenure is a historical anomaly as the only American citizen ever acting as governor of a province that later became a part of the USSR.


Subcarpathian Rus' (1928–1939)

In 1928,
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 ...
was divided into four provinces: Bohemia, Moravia-Silesia, Slovakia, and the Subcarpathian Rus'. The main town of the region, and its capital until 1938, was Užhorod. It had an area of , and its 1921 population was estimated as being 592,044. In the period 1918–1938 the Czechoslovak government attempted to bring the Subcarpathian Rus', with 70% of the population illiterate, no industry, and a herdsman way of life, up to the level of the rest of Czechoslovakia. Thousands of Czech teachers, policemen, clerks and businessmen went to the region. The Czechoslovak government built thousands of kilometers of railways, roads, airports, and hundreds of schools and residential buildings. The Rusyn people decided to join the new state of Czechoslovakia, a decision that happened parallel to other events that affected these proceedings. At the Paris Peace Conference, 1919, Paris Peace Conference, several other countries (including Hungary, Ukraine and Russia) laid claim to Carpathian Rus'. The Allies, however, had few alternatives to choosing Czechoslovakia. Hungary had lost the war and therefore gave up its claims; Ukraine was seen as politically unviable; and Russia was in the midst of a civil war. Thus the only importance of Rusyns' decision to become part of Czechoslovakia was in creating, at least initially, good relations between the leaders of Carpathian Rus' and Czechoslovakia. The Ukrainian language was not actively persecuted in Czechoslovakia 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 ( ...
, unlike in History of the Ukrainian minority in Poland, Poland and Bukovina#Kingdom of Romania, Romania.Serhy Yekelchyk ''"Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation"'', Oxford University Press (2007), , pp. 128–130 73 percent of local parents voted against Ukrainian language education for their children in a referendum conducted in Subcarpathian Rus' in 1937.


Carpathian Ukraine (1938–1939)

In November 1938, under the First Vienna Award—a result of the Munich Agreement—Second Czechoslovak Republic, Czechoslovakia ceded southern Carpathian Rus to
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 ...
. The remainder of Subcarpathian Rus' received Wiktionary:autonomy, autonomy, with Andrej Bródy as prime minister of the autonomous government. After the resignation of the government following a local political crisis, Avhustyn Voloshyn became prime minister of the new government. In December 1938, Subcarpathian Rus' was renamed to Carpathian Ukraine. Following the Slovak Republic (1939–1945)#Creation, Slovak proclamation of independence on March 14, 1939, and the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, Nazis' seizure of the Czech lands on March 15, Carpathian Ukraine declared its independence as the Republic of Carpatho-Ukraine, with Avhustyn Voloshyn as head of state, and was immediately occupied and 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 ...
, restoring provisionally the former counties of Ung, Bereg and partially Máramaros.


Governorate of Subcarpathia (1939–1945)

On March 23, 1939, Hungary Slovak–Hungarian War, annexed further territories disputed with Slovak Republic (1939–1945), Slovakia bordering with the west of the former Carpatho-Rus. The Hungarian invasion was followed by a few weeks of terror in which more than 27,000 people were shot dead without trial and investigation. Over 75,000 Ukrainians decided to seek asylum in 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 ...
; of those almost 60,000 of them died in Gulag prison-camps. Others joined the remaining Czech troops from the Czechoslovak army-in-exile.Today is the 80th anniversary of the proclamation of the Carpathian Ukraine
Ukrinform (15 March 2019)
Upon liquidation of Carpatho-Ukraine, in the territory annexed the Governorate of Subcarpathia was installed and divided into three, the administrative branch offices of Ung (), Bereg () and Máramaros () governed from Uzhhorod, Ungvár, Mukachevo, Munkács and Khust, Huszt respectively, having Hungarian and Rusyn language as official languages. Memoirs and historical studies provide much evidence that in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Rusyn-Jewish relations were generally peaceful. In 1939, census records showed that 80,000 Jews lived in the autonomous province of Ruthenia. Jews made up approximately 14% of the prewar population; however, this population was concentrated in the larger towns, especially Mukachevo, where they constituted 43% of the prewar population. After the Operation Margarethe, German occupation of Hungary (19 March 1944) the pro-Nazi policies of the Hungarian government resulted in emigration and deportation of Hungarian-speaking Jews, and other groups living in the territory were decimated by war. During the Holocaust, 17 main ghettos were set up in cities in Carpathian Ruthenia, from which all Jews were taken to Auschwitz for extermination. Ruthenian ghettos were set up in May 1944 and liquidated by June 1944. Most of the Jews of Transcarpathia were killed, though a number survived, either because they were hidden by their neighbours, or were forced into labour battalions, which often guaranteed food and shelter. The end of the war had a significant impact on the ethnic Hungarian population of the area: 10,000 fled before the arrival of Soviet Union, Soviet forces. Many of the remaining adult men (25,000) were deported to the Soviet Union; about 30% of them died in Soviet labor camps. As a result of this development since 1938, the Hungarian and Hungarian-speaking population of Transcarpathia was recorded differently in various censuses and estimations from that time: 1930 census recorded 116,548 ethnic Hungarians, while the contested Hungarian census from 1941 shows as many as 233,840 speakers of Hungarian language in the region. Subsequent estimations are showing 66,000 ethnic Hungarians in 1946 and 139,700 in 1950, while the Soviet census from 1959 recorded 146,247 Hungarians.


Transition to Soviet takeover and control (1944–1945)

The Soviet takeover of the region started with the Battle of the Dukla Pass, East Carpathian Strategic Offensive in the fall of 1944. This offensive consisted of two parts: the Battle of the Dukla Pass in effort to support the Slovak National Uprising; and the Battle of Uzhgorod to break through to the Great Hungarian Plain, Hungarian plains and encircle Wehrmacht, German troops in
Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...
. On 28 October 1944, upon conclusion of the offensive campaign, most of Subcarpathian Ruthenia was secured by the Red Army, Workers-Peasants Red Army (RKKA). The Czechoslovak government delegation led by minister František Němec arrived in Khust to establish the provisional Czechoslovak administration, according to the treaties between the Soviet Union, Soviet and Czechoslovak government-in-exile, 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 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. On 14 November 1944 the underground radio "Vladislav" transmitted the following message from Khust to London: "The Red Army is subjugating everything to it. We are requesting information, whether it is discussed with the government. Our situation is critical. An open campaign is ongoing for uniting Subcarpathian Ukraine with the Soviet Union. Forced recruitment to the ranks of the Red Army. People are uneducated. Awaiting your recommendations. We urgently need instructions from the government." On 5 November 1944, in anticipation of Soviet rule, the Uzhgorod city council introduced Moscow time (2 hours ahead of Central European Time). According to Magdalena Lavrincova, this was perceived by many as a sign of the totalitarianism to come.With Their Backs to the Mountains: A History of Carpathian Rus? and Carpatho-Rusyns
by Paul Robert Magocsi, Central European University Press, 2015
In November 1944, in Mukachevo, there was a meeting of representatives of Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, Communist Party organization from local districts, who created an organization committee to call for a party conference.Hranchak, I.
Communist Party of Zakarpattia Ukraine (КОМУНІСТИЧНА ПАРТІЯ ЗАКАРПАТСЬКОЇ УКРАЇНИ)
'. Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedia.
On 19 November 1944 at the conference in Mukachevo, the Communist Party of Zakarpattia Ukraine was established. The conference also decided to unite Carpathian Ruthenia with the
Ukrainian SSR 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. ...
, to strengthen People's committees as organs of revolutionary authority, and to organize help for the Red Army. The conference also elected its central committee and its first secretary, Ivan Turyanytsia, and agreed to hold a congress of the People's committees on 26 November 1944. The "National Council of Transcarpatho-Ukraine" was set up in Mukachevo under the protection of the Red Army. On November 26 this committee, led by Ivan Turyanitsa (a Rusyn who Desertion, deserted from the I Corps (Czechoslovakia), Czechoslovak army) proclaimed the will of Ukrainian people to separate from Czechoslovakia and join Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Ukraine. After two months of conflicts and negotiations the Czechoslovak government delegation departed from Khust on February 1, 1945, leaving Carpathian Ukraine under Soviet control.


Transcarpathian Ukraine–Soviet Union (1945–1991)

On 29 June 1945, Czechoslovakia signed a treaty with the Soviet Union, officially ceding the region. Between 1945 and 1947, the new Soviet authorities fortified the new borders, and in July 1947 declared Transcarpathia as a "restricted zone of the highest level", with checkpoints on the mountain passes connecting the region to mainland Ukraine. In December 1944 the National Council of Transcarpatho-Ukraine set up a special people's tribunal in Uzhgorod to try and condemn all collaborationists with the previous regimes—both Hungary and Carpatho-Ukraine. The court was allowed to hand down either 10 years of forced labour, or the death penalty. Several Ruthenian leaders, including Andrej Bródy and Shtefan Fentsyk, were condemned and executed in May 1946. Avgustyn Voloshyn also died in prison. The extent of the repression showed to many Carpatho-Ruthenian activists how it would not have been possible to find an accommodation with the coming Soviet regime as it had been with all previous ones. After breaking the Greek Catholic Church in Eastern Galicia in 1946, Soviet authorities pushed for the return to Orthodoxy of Greek-Catholic parishes in Transcarpathia too, including by engineering an accident leading to the death of recalcitrant bishop Theodore Romzha on 1 November 1947. In January 1949 the Greek-Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo was declared illegal; remaining priests and nuns were arrested, and church properties were nationalised and parcelled for public use or lent to the Russian Orthodox Church (Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus', Moscow Patriarchate), the only accepted religious authority in the region. Cultural institutions were also forbidden, including the Russophilia, Russophile Dukhnovych Society, the Ukrainophilia, Ukrainophile Prosvita, and the Subcarpathian Scholarly Society. New books and publications were circulated, including the ''Zakarpatska Pravda'' (130,000 copies). The Uzhhorod National University was opened in 1945 and over 816 cinematographs were open by 1967. The Ukrainian language was the first language of instruction in schools throughout the region, followed by Russian language, Russian, which was used in academia. Most new generations had a passive knowledge of Rusyn language, but no knowledge about local culture. XIX-century Rusyn intellectuals were labelled as "members of the reactionary class and instruments of Vatican obscurantism". The Rusyn anthem and hymn were banned from public performance. Carpatho-Rusyn folk culture and songs, which were promoted, were presented as part of Transcarpathian regional culture as a local variant of Ukrainian culture. In 1924, the Comintern declared all East Slavic inhabitants of Czechoslovakia (
Rusyns Rusyns, also known as Carpatho-Rusyns, Carpatho-Russians, Ruthenians, or Rusnaks, are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group from the Carpathian Rus', Eastern Carpathians in Central Europe. They speak Rusyn language, Rusyn, an East Slavic lan ...
, Carpatho-Russians, Rusnaks) to be
Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...
. Starting with the 1946 census, all Rusyns were recorded as Ukrainians; anyone clinging to the old label was considered a separatist and a potential counter-revolutionary. In February 1945, the National Council confiscated 53,000 hectares of land from large landowners and redistribute it to 54,000 peasant households (37% of the population). Collectivization in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Collectivisation of land started in 1946; around 2,000 peasants were arrested during protests in 1948–49 and sent for forced labour in the gulags. Collectivisation, including of mountain shepherds, was completed by May 1950. Planned economy, Central planning decisions set Transcarpatia to become a "land of orchards and vineyards" between 1955 and 1965, planting 98,000 hectares with little results. Attempt to cultivate tea and citrus also failed due to the climate. Most vineyards were uprooted twenty years later, during Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign in 1985–87. The Soviet period also meant the upscaling of industrialization in Transcarpathia. State-owned lumber mills, chemical and food-processing plants widened, with Mukachevo's tobacco factory and Solotvyno's salt works as the biggest ones, providing steady employment to the residents of the region, beyond the traditional subsistence agriculture. And while traditional labour migration routes to the fields of Hungary or the factories of the United States were now closed, Carpathian Ruthens and Romanians could now move for seasonal work in Russia's North and East. The inhabitants of the region grew steadily in the Soviet period, from 776,000 in 1946 to over 1.2 million in 1989. Uzhgorod's population increased five-fold, from 26,000 to 117,000, and Mukachevo likewise from 26,600 to 84,000. This population increase also reflected demographic changes. The arrival of the Red Army meant the departure of 5,100 Magyars and 2,500 Germans, while 15–20,000 Jewish survivors of the Holocaust also decided to move out before the borders were sealed. By 1945, around 30,000 Hungarians and Germans had been interned and sent for labour camps in Eastern Ukraine and Siberia; while amnestied in 1955, around 5,000 did not come back. In January 1946, 2,000 more Germans were deported. In return, a large number of Ukrainians and Russians moved to Transcarpathia, were they found jobs in the industry, the military, or the civilian administration. By 1989, around 170,000 Ukrainians (mainly from nearby Galizia) and 49,000 Russians were living in Transcarpatia, mainly in new residential blocks in the main towns of Uzhgorod and Mukachevo, where the dominant language had soon turned from Hungarian and Yiddish to Russian. They kept being considered newcomers (''novoprybuli'') due to their disconnect from the Rusyn- and Hungarian-speaking countryside.


Transition to independent Ukraine (1991–)

In July 1991 the
Ukrainian SSR 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. ...
adopted a law about referendums that lasted until 2012. Soon after the August coup in Moscow (19–22), on 24 August 1991 the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) of the
Ukrainian SSR 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. ...
proclaimed declaration about its independence and also prohibited the Communist Party in the republic.Pipash, Volodymyr.
Political confrontations in Zakarpattia in the fall of 1991. To the 20th Anniversary of Ukrainian Independence. Part 4 (Політичне протистояння на Закарпатті восени 1991 р. До двадцятиріччя Незалежності України. Ч. 4)
'. Zakarpattia online. 22 September 2011
The local nomenklatura remained in confusion for several days following those events. The local People's Movement of Ukraine (Rukh) and other activists were organizing protests across the whole oblast (region). The local council of Uzhhorod city renamed the Lenin Square to People's Square. On 30 August 1991 during a protest in Uzhhorod a monument of Lenin was removed. Demolition of monuments to Vladimir Lenin in Ukraine, Monuments of Lenin were also removed in other settlements; however, this decision was not universally accepted and faced resistance in some instances. In Tiachiv, a municipality which also adopted the decision to remove the monument faced resistance from local "supporters of Lenin" of Roma ethnicity who clashed with Rukh activists. Due to support of the Zakarpattia regional council of the putsch organizers in Moscow (GKChP), the local "democratic forces" were requesting for the council to announce its dissolution. Among those "democratic forces" were members of the Uzhhorod city council, deputies of "Democratic platform" in the regional council, National Movement of Ukraine, Ukrainian Republican Party, Democratic Party of Ukraine, Hungarian Cultural Federation in Transcarpathia (KMKSZ), Shevchenko Association of Ukrainian Language and the regional branch of Prosvita. Because of the situation in the region, on 26 August 1991 the deputy chairman of the regional council Yuriy Vorobets signed an order to hold an extraordinary session of the council on 30 August, but on 29 August the head of the council Mykhailo Voloshchuk (formerly the 1st secretary of the Zakarpattia Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, Zakarpattia regional communist party committee) postponed it by a separate order. On 28 August 1991 the demand for the extraordinary session was supported by the Zakarpattia Democratic League of Youth that previously was part of the Komsomol of Ukraine (LKSMU). To relieve the pressure, Voloshchuk approved a composition of provisional deputy commission for inspection of activity of officials during the putsch that consisted of 17 members mostly of the recently dissolved Communist Party and couple of Rukh members (:uk:Тиводар Михайло Петрович, Mykhailo Tyvodar and Lyubov Karavanska). At the same time Voloshchuk was urgently seeking for other managing positions for other party officials who lost their job with recent liquidation of the party. Concurrently, the regional ispolkom (executive committee) suddenly registered 208 religious communities and transferred property ownership of 83 church buildings to them. The government of Zakarpattia decided to bet on separatist actions. On 27 August 1991 the Mukachevo city council decided to ask the Zakarpattia regional council to adopt a decision about proclamation of the region as the "Zakarpattia autonomous land of Ukraine". In two days the Mukachevo Raion council has decided to ask the regional council to petition before the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) to "grant the Zakarpattia Oblast status of autonomous republic". The latter decision was supported by the Berehove Raion council, Uzhhorod city council and Svaliava Raion council. On 1 September 1991 in Mukachevo, the Association of Carpatho-Rusyns organized a picket with anti-Ukrainian slogans and accusations in "forceful Ukrainization of Rusyns". At the gathering were adopted statement with demand for autonomy and carrying out a regional referendum on the issue. On 15 September 1991 the same demand were put forward by KMKSZ. Those Rusyns questioned legality of Zakarpattia unification with the
Ukrainian SSR 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. ...
in 1945. By the end of September 1991 in
Zakarpattia Oblast Zakarpattia Oblast (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Закарпатська область), also referred to as simply Zakarpattia (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Закарпаття; Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Kárpátalja'') or Transcar ...
has formed two opposing political camps. One camp pro-Ukrainian has united around the National Movement of Ukraine also included URP, DemPU, Party of Greens, Shevchenko Association of Ukrainian Language, regional branches of Prosvita, Memorial (society), Memorial and others. The camp also supported by students of the Uzhhorod State University, several members of the Uzhhorod city council, Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo, and small faction of deputies in the regional council. The pro-Ukrainian camp was seeking to reelect the regional council. The other camp consisted of sympathizers of the regional nomenklatura officials (and formerly communist) who were supported by Association of Carpatho-Rusyns, later it was joined by Party of Hungarians of Ukraine (KMKSZ), KMKSZ (Association of Hungarian Culture of Zakarpattia). The latter camp also was supported by the Zakarpattia eparchy of Russian Orthodox Church, selected members of the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo as well as by the majority of the regional council. The camp was aimed to prevent reelection of the regional council and obtain autonomous status for the region. On 27 September 1991 it was finally announced about the extraordinary session of the regional council. The leadership of the council planned to end its work the same day, but the session stretched until 31 October 1991 and the center of political life in
Zakarpattia Oblast Zakarpattia Oblast (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Закарпатська область), also referred to as simply Zakarpattia (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Закарпаття; Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Kárpátalja'') or Transcar ...
had relocated to the regional council and the People's Square in front of the council's building. In December 1991 Zakarpattia became a part of 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 ...
. A majority 92.59% of voters of Zakarpattia oblast 1991 Ukrainian independence referendum, approved the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine. On the same day in Zakarpattia Oblast a 1991 Transcarpathian general regional referendum, regional referendum also took place. 78 percent of voters voted for autonomy within Ukraine, which was not granted.


Demographics


Ethnic groups


Religion

According to a 2015 survey, 68% of the population of Zakarpattia Oblast adheres to Eastern Orthodoxy, while 19% are followers of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church and 7% are Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholics. Protestantism, Protestants and nondenominational Christianity, unaffiliated generic Christians make up 1% and 3% of the population respectively. Only one percent of the population does not follow any religion. The Orthodox community of Zakarpattia is divided as follows: * Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate – 42% * Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate – 33% * Non-denominational – 25%


Issue with self-identity: Ukrainians or Rusyns

Carpathian Ruthenia is inhabited mainly by people who self-identify as
Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...
, many of whom may refer to themselves as
Rusyns Rusyns, also known as Carpatho-Rusyns, Carpatho-Russians, Ruthenians, or Rusnaks, are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group from the Carpathian Rus', Eastern Carpathians in Central Europe. They speak Rusyn language, Rusyn, an East Slavic lan ...
, ''Rusnak'' or ''Lemko''. Places inhabited by Rusyns also span adjacent regions of the
Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...
, including regions of present-day Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania. Ruthenian settlements exist in the
Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
as well. In the 19th century and the first part of the 20th, the inhabitants of Transcarpathia continued to call themselves "Ruthenians" ("''Rusyny''"). After Soviet annexation the ethnonym "Ukrainian", which had replaced "Ruthenian" in eastern Ukraine at the turn of the century, was also applied to Ruthenians/Rusyns of Transcarpathia. Most present-day inhabitants consider themselves ethnically
Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...
, although in the most recent census 10,100 people (0.8% of Zakarpattia Oblast's 1.26 million) identified themselves as ethnically Rusyns, Rusyn.


Hungarians

The following data is according to the Ukrainian census of 2001. The 1910 Austro-Hungarian census showed 185,433 speakers of the Hungarian language, while the Czechoslovak census of 1921 showed 111,052 ethnic Hungarians and 80,132 ethnic Jews, many of whom were speakers of the Hungarian language. Much of the difference in these censuses reflects differences in methodology and definitions rather than a decline in the region's ethnic Hungarian (Magyars, Magyar) or Hungarian-speaking population. According to the 1921 census, Hungarians constituted about 17.9% of the region's total population. The end of World War II had a significant impact on the ethnic Hungarian population of the area: 10,000 fled before the arrival of Soviet Union, Soviet forces. Many of the remaining adult men (25,000) were deported to the Soviet Union; about 30% of them died in Soviet labor camps. As a result of this development since 1938, the Hungarian and Hungarian-speaking population of Transcarpathia was recorded differently in various censuses and estimations from that time: 1930 census recorded 116,548 ethnic Hungarians, while the contested Hungarian census from 1941 shows as much as 233,840 speakers of Hungarian language in the region. Subsequent estimations are showing 66,000 ethnic Hungarians in 1946 and 139,700 in 1950, while the Soviet census from 1959 recorded 146,247 Hungarians. , about 170,000 (12–13%) inhabitants of Transcarpathia declare Hungarian as their mother tongue. Homeland Hungarians refer to Hungarians in Ukraine as ''kárpátaljaiak''.


Jews

Memoirs and historical studies provide much evidence that in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Rusyn-Jewish relations were generally peaceful. In 1939, census records showed that 80,000 Jews lived in the autonomous province of Ruthenia. Jews made up approximately 14% of the prewar population; however, this population was concentrated in the larger towns, especially Mukachevo, where they constituted 43% of the prewar population. Most of them perished during the Holocaust.


Germans

See Carpathian Germans for more information (mainly Germans from Bohemia, Moravia and the territories from present-day central and eastern Germany) about their settlement in the 16th to 18th centuries.


Czechs

Czechs in Carpathian Ruthenia are ethnoculturally distinct from other West Slavs, West Slavic groups like the Slovaks, as they originated from Czech-speaking groups from Bohemia and Moravia instead of Slovakia.


Romani

There are approximately 25,000 ethnic Romani people in Ukraine, Romani in present-day Transcarpathia. Some estimates point to a number as high as 50,000 but a true count is hard to obtain as many Roma cannot afford ID documents for themselves and their children. Additionally, many Romani will claim to be Hungarian or Romanian when interviewed by Ukrainian authorities. They are by far the poorest and least-represented ethnic group in the region and face intense prejudice. The years since the Dissolution of the Soviet Union, fall of the Soviet Union have not been kind to the Romani of the region, as they have been particularly hard hit by the economic problems faced by peoples all over the former USSR. Some Romani in western Ukraine live in major cities such as Uzhhorod and Mukachevo, but most live in ghettos on the outskirts of cities. These ghettos are known as "taberi" and can house up to 300 families. These encampments tend to be fairly primitive with no running water or electricity.


Romanians

Today some 30,000 Romanians in Ukraine, Romanians live in this region, mostly in northern Maramureș, around the southern towns of Rahău/Rakhiv and Teceu Mare/Tiachiv and close to the Romania–Ukraine border, border with Romania. However, there also are Romanians in Carpathian Ruthenia living outside Maramureș, mostly in the village of Poroshkovo. They are usually called in Romanian and live closer to Poland and Slovakia than Romania.


Greeks

There are a few Greeks in Carpathian Ruthenia. They are also known as Carpatho-Greeks and Greek-Carpathians.


Carpatho-Rus under western eyes

For 19th-century west-European readers, Ruthenia was an inspiration for "Ruritania", a rustic province lost in forested mountains. Conceived as a Central European kingdom, Ruritania was the setting for several of Anthony Hope's novels, including ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1894). A century later Vesna Goldsworthy, in ''Inventing Ruritania: the Imperialism of the Imagination'' (1998), theorizes on ideas underpinning western views of Europe's "Wild East", especially Ruthenia and some Slavic Balkan areas. She sees these ideas as highly applicable to Transcarpathia and describes "an innocent process: a cultural great power seizes and exploits the resources of an area, while imposing new frontiers on its mind-map and creating ideas which, reflected back, have the ability to reshape reality.”


See also

* Black Ruthenia * Red Ruthenia * White Ruthenia * Military history of Carpathian Ruthenia during World War II * Ruthenians and Ukrainians in Czechoslovakia (1918–1938) * Eparchy of Mukačevo and Prešov * Alexander Dukhnovych * Avgustyn Voloshyn * Ukrainian dialects * Kárpátalja football team * Magyaron


Notes


References


Sources

* Baerlein, Henri (1938). ''In Czechoslovakia's Hinterland'', Hutchinson. * Boysak, Basil (1963). ''The Fate of the Holy Union in Carpatho-Ukraine'', Toronto-New York. * Fentsik, Stefan A. (1935). ''Greetings from the Old Country to all of the American Russian people! (Pozdravlenije iz staroho Kraja vsemu Amerikanskomu Karpatorusskomu Narodu!)''. * Nemec, Frantisek, and Vladimir Moudry (2nd ed., 1980). ''The Soviet Seizure of Subcarpathian Ruthenia'', Hyperion Press. * Ganzer, Christian (2001). ''Die Karpato-Ukraine 1938/39: Spielball im internationalen Interessenkonflikt am Vorabend des Zweiten Weltkrieges.'' Hamburg (''Die Ostreihe – Neue Folge'', Heft 12). * Kotowski, Albert S. (2001). ''"Ukrainisches Piemont"? Die Karpartenukraine am Vorabend des Zweiten Weltkrieges'', in ''Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas 49'', Heft 1. S. 67–95. * Krofta, Kamil (1934). ''Carpathian Ruthenia and the Czechoslovak Republic''. * * * * * * Magocsi, Paul R
''The Rusyn-Ukrainians Of Czechoslovakia''
* Magocsi, Paul R. – Pop, Ivan. ''Encyclopedia of Rusyn history and culture'', Univ. of Toronto Press, 2005. * Pop, Ivan. ''Dějiny Podkarpatské Rusi v datech.'' Libri, Praha 2005. * Rosokha, Stepan (1949). ''Parliament of Carpatho-Ukraine (Coйм Карпатськoї України)'', Ukrainian National Publishing Co., Ltd. for Culture and Knowledge (Культура й ocвiтa). * * Stercho, Peter (1959). ''Carpatho-Ukraine in International Affairs: 1938–1939'', Notre Dame. * Subtelny, Orest (3rd ed., 2000). ''Ukraine: A History'', University of Toronto Press * Wilson, Andrew (2nd ed., 2002). ''The Ukrainians: Unexpected Nation'', Yale University Press. . * Winch, Michael (1973). '' Republic for a day: An eye-witness account of the Carpatho-Ukraine incident'', University Microfilms. * Nykolaj Beskyd. "Who Was Aleksander Duchnovyc?" Narodny Novynky. Prešov, Slovakia. No. 17. April 28, 1993. Translated by John E. Timo. * Paul Robert Magocsi (1995) ''The Carpatho-Rusyns''. * "Nation Building or Nation Destroying? Lemkos, Poles and Ukrainians in Contemporary Poland." Polish Review. XXXV 3/4. New York 1990. * John Slivka. The History of the Greek Rite Gatholics in Pannonia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Podkarpatska Rus 863–1949. 1974. * Ivan Panjkevic (1938) ''Українськi Говори Пiдкарпатської Руси i Сумeжних'' Областeй: Prague. * Aleksej L. Petrov (1998) ''Medieval Carpathian Rus'', New York.


External links


The Carpatho-Rusyn knowledge base


* [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkPath=pages\C\A\Carpatho6Ukraine.htm Carpatho-Ukraine] (Encyclopedia of Ukraine)
Diet of Carpatho-Ukraine
(Encyclopedia of Ukraine)

(the web library of historical documents & publicism about Malorussia/Ukraine)

* Mykola Vehesh, ''The greatness and the tragedy of Carpathian Ukraine'', ''Zerkalo Nedeli'', 10(485), 13–19 March 200
in Russian
an
in Ukrainian

Zakarpattia.ru
*
Kárpátinfo

Carpathian Ruthenia
– photographs and information

{{Coord, 48, 20, N, 23, 14, E, region:SK_type:landmark, display=title Carpathian Ruthenia, Historical regions in Ukraine Historical regions in Slovakia Historical regions in the Kingdom of Hungary History of Ukraine (1918–1991) Modern history of Ukraine Territorial disputes of Czechoslovakia Territorial disputes of Hungary Territorial disputes of the Soviet Union Czechoslovakia–Soviet Union relations States and territories established in 1919 States and territories disestablished in 1948 1919 establishments in Hungary 1948 disestablishments in Hungary 1919 establishments in Ukraine 1948 disestablishments in Ukraine 1919 establishments in Slovakia 1940s disestablishments in Czechoslovakia 1940s disestablishments in the Soviet Union Rusyns History of Carpathian Ruthenia,