Eastern Galicia, or Eastern Halychyna ( uk, Східна Галичина, translit=Skhidna Halychyna, pl, Galicja Wschodnia, german: Ostgalizien) is a geographical region in

Western Ukraine Western Ukraine or West of Ukraine ( uk, Західна Україна or Захід України ''Zakhidna Ukraina'' or ''Zakhid Ukrainy'') is a geographical and historical relative term used in reference to the western territories of Ukrain ...

(present day

oblast An oblast (; ; Cyrillic script, Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian language, Russian and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian): , Bulgarian language, Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzs ...

s of

Lviv Lviv ( ; uk, Львів ; pl, Lwów ; russian: Львов ; german: Lemberg; see also other names Other most often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Books * The Oth ...

Ivano-Frankivsk Ivano-Frankivsk ( uk, Іва́но-Франкі́вськ, translit=Ivano-Frankiwśk ; formerly ''Stanyslaviv'', ''Stanislau'', or ''Stanisławów''; see #Name, below) is a city located in West Ukraine, Western Ukraine. It is the administrative c ...

and

Ternopil Ternopil, ; pl, Tarnopol; russian: Тернополь, Ternopol'; german: Tarnopol; yi, טאַרנאָפּל, Tarnopl, or ; he, טארנופול (טַרְנוֹפּוֹל), Tarnopol is a city A city is a large human settlement.Goodall, B. ( ...

), having also essential historic importance in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country located in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 Voivodeships of Poland, administrative provinces, covering an area of , and has a largely Temperate climate, temperate seasonal cli ...

Poland

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval Kingdom ...

was formed within the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling ') was a Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe Europe is a which is also recognised as part of , located entirely in the and mostly in the . It compr ...

during the years 1772–1918. Eastern Galicia now includes all of the

and

Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast ( uk, Іва́но-Франкі́вська о́бласть, translit=Ivano-Frankivska oblast) is an oblast An oblast (; ; Cyrillic script, Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian language, Russian and Ukrainian l ...

s (regions) of

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in . It is the in Europe after , which it borders to the east and north-east. Ukraine also shares borders with to the north; , , and to the west; and to the south; and has a coastli ...

Ukraine

as well as Ternopil Oblast, with its northern strip bordering the former

Kremenets Kremenets ( ua, Крем'янець, Кременець, translit. ''Kremianets''', ''Kremenets'''; pl, Krzemieniec; yi, קרעמעניץ, Kremenits) is a city in Ternopil Oblast Ternopil Oblast ( uk, Тернопільська о� ...

Shumsk Shumsk (, ) is a city in Kremenets Raion Kremenets Raion ( uk, Кременецький район) is a raion (district) in Ternopil Oblast of western Ukraine. The capital (political), administrative center is the city of Kremenets. Population: ...

Shumsk

and

Lanivtsi Raion

s and the northern part of

Zbarazh Raion Zbarazh Raion ( uk, Збаразький район) was a subdivision known as a ''raion'', of Ternopil Oblast of Ukraine. The administrative center was the city of Zbarazh. The raion was abolished on 18 July 2020 as part of the administrative ref ...

. The area of Eastern Galicia is about 46,800 km² (18,100 sq miles).

History

In 1918, Western Galicia became a part of the restored

Republic of Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country located in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 Voivodeships of Poland, administrative provinces, covering an area of , and has a largely Temperate climate, temperate seasonal clim ...

, which absorbed part of the

Lemko Lemkos (Lemko language, Lemko: Лeмкы, ''Lemkŷ''; pl, Łemkowie; uk, Лемки, translit=Lemky) are an ethnic group inhabiting the Lemko Region (also known as Lemkivshchyna or Lemkovyna, meaning "Lemko Land") in Carpathian Ruthenia, an et ...

region. The local Ukrainian population declared the independence of Eastern Galicia as the

West Ukrainian People's Republic The West Ukrainian People's Republic (WUPR) or West Ukrainian National Republic (WUNR), known for part of its existence as the Western Oblast of the Ukrainian People's Republic, was a short-lived polity that controlled most of Eastern Galicia ...

. The predominantly-Polish population of Lviv (Lwów, Lemberg) resisted, which led to the Polish-Ukrainian War during which the Poles took control of all of Galicia. In a pact with Poland, Herman Petyura of the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR), or Ukrainian National Republic (UNR), was a country in Eastern Europe that existed between 1917 and 1920. It was Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, declared following the February Revolution in Russia. ...

ceded Eastern Galicia in exchange for help against the Soviets. During the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (Polish–Bolshevik War, Polish–Soviet War, Polish–Russian War 1919–1921) * russian: Советско-польская война (''Sovetsko-polskaya voyna'', Soviet-Polish War), Польский фронт (' ...

, the Soviets established in July 1920 in Eastern Galicia the short-lived

Galician Soviet Socialist Republic The Galician Soviet Socialist Republic (russian: Галицкая Социалистическая Советская Республика, Г.С.С.Р.) was a Bolshevik's self-declared and short-lived political entity that existed from 15 July t ...

. The

Peace of Riga The Peace of Riga, also known as the Treaty of Riga ( pl, Traktat Ryski), was signed in Riga on 18 March 1921, among Second Polish Republic, Poland, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Russia (acting also on behalf of Byeloru ...

of 18 March 1921 assigned the contested Eastern Galicia to the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center (disambiguation), center of some place or (mathematical) object. Centr ...

. The

Entente

powers recognized the Polish possession of the territory on 15 May 1923. The Ukrainians of the former Eastern Galicia and the neighbouring province of

Volhynia Volhynia (; uk, Волинь, Volyn'; be, Валынь (); pl, Wołyń ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe Central and Eastern Europe is a term encompassing the countries in Central Europe Central Europe is the central r ...

made up about 12% of the population of the Second Polish Republic and were its largest minority. As the Polish government's policies were unfriendly towards minorities, tensions between the Polish government and the Ukrainian population grew, which eventually gave the rise to the militant underground

Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) ( uk, Організація Українських Націоналістів (ОУН), ) was a radical Far-right politics, far-right Ukraine, Ukrainian Ultranationalism, ultranationalist political ...

Etymology

The name ''Galicia'', or ''Halychyna'' in Ukrainian, is derived from the city of

Halych Halych ( uk, Га́лич, Halyč ; ro, Halici; pl, Halicz; russian: Га́лич, Galič; german: Halytsch, ''Halitsch'' or ''Galitsch'') is a historic city on the Dniester River The Dniester ( ) is a river in Eastern Europe Eastern Eu ...

(Latin Galic) which was the first capital of the Galician principality. The name Halych in turn derives from the Ukrainian word ''halka'' which means "crow", which is reflected by the crow at the center of the city's early modern coat of arms. Many also believe that the name Halych/Galic (and from it Halychyna/Galizia) is derived from the Greek word ἅλς (''hals''), meaning "salt". The Byzantines and the Greeks had a strong influence on these lands and it was from the Greeks that Galicia and

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rus' ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , "Rus' land") or Kyivan Rus', was a loose federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity A polity is an identifiable political entity—any group of people who have a ...

were converted to Christianity. In fact the Greek word for salt pit is αλυκή (''alyki''), which makes a strong argument that Halych could be an alteration of that. Halych was rich in salt, which was mined in the region. During the early medieval period, salt was Halych's main export. Today, however, there is no more salt mining in Halych.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* ''

Encyclopedia of Ukraine The ''Encyclopedia of Ukraine'' ( uk, Енциклопедія українознавства, translit=Entsyklopediia ukrainoznavstva) is a fundamental work of Ukrainian Studies created under the auspices of the Shevchenko Scientific Society ...

'' * ''Small Dictionary of History of Ukraine''{{citation needed, date=February 2016 Eastern

History

Etymology

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography