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Carpathian Ruthenia ( rue, Карпатьска Русь, Karpat'ska Rus'; uk, Закарпаття, Zakarpattia; sk, Podkarpatská Rus; hu, Kárpátalja; ro, Transcarpatia; pl, Zakarpacie); cz, Podkarpatská Rus; german: Karpatenukraine is a historical region on the border between Central and Eastern Europe, mostly located in western
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
's
Zakarpattia Oblast The Zakarpattia Oblast ( uk, Закарпатська область, Zakarpatska oblast) is an administrative oblast located in western Ukraine, mostly coterminous with the historical region of Carpathian Ruthenia. Its administrative centre is ...
, with smaller parts in eastern
Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), 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 s ...
(largely in Prešov Region and
Košice Region The Košice Region ( sk, Košický kraj, , hu, Kassai kerület; uk, Кошицький край) is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions. The region was first established in 1923 and its present borders were established in 1996. It c ...
) and the
Lemko Region The Lemko Region (; pl, Łemkowszczyzna; uk, Лемківщина, translit=Lemkivshchyna) is an ethnographic area in southern Poland that has traditionally been inhabited by the Lemko people. The land stretches approximately long and wid ...
in Poland. From the Hungarian
conquest Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms. Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, t ...
of the
Carpathian Basin The Pannonian Basin, or Carpathian Basin, is a large Sedimentary basin, basin situated in south-east Central Europe. The Geomorphology, geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewh ...
(in the 10th century) to the end of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
(
Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (french: Traité de Trianon, hu, Trianoni békeszerződés, it, Trattato del Trianon) was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference and was signed in the Grand Trianon château in Versailles on 4 June 1920. It forma ...
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 the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
. In the interwar period, it was part of the
First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
and Second Czechoslovak Republic. Before
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
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 the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
once again. After the war, it was annexed by the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
and became part of
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
. It is an ethnically diverse region, inhabited mostly by people who regard themselves as ethnic
Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...
,
Rusyns Rusyns (), also known as Carpatho-Rusyns (), or Rusnaks (), are an East Slavic ethnic group from the Eastern Carpathians in Central Europe. They speak Rusyn, an East Slavic language variety, treated variously as either a distinct langu ...
,
Lemkos Lemkos ( rue, Лeмкы, translit= Lemkŷ; pl, Łemkowie; uk, Лемки, translit=Lemky) are an ethnic group inhabiting the Lemko Region ( rue, Лемковина, translit=Lemkovyna; uk, Лемківщина, translit=Lemkivshchyna) of Car ...
, Boykos,
Hutsuls The Hutsuls (sometimes the spelling variant: Gutsuls; uk, Гуцули, translit=Hutsuly; pl, Huculi, Hucułowie; ro, huțuli) are an ethnic group spanning parts of western Ukraine and Romania (i.e. parts of Bukovina and Maramureș). They ...
,
Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and  ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...
,
Romanians The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym '' Vlachs'') are a Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Romanian culture and ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they live primarily in Romania and Moldova. The 2011 Roman ...
, Slovaks and
Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in C ...
. It also has small
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
and
Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
minorities. The most commonly spoken languages are Rusyn,
Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...
, Hungarian,
Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...
, Slovak, and
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
.


Etymology

The name Carpathian Ruthenia is sometimes used for the contiguous cross-border area of Ukraine, Slovakia and Poland inhabited by
Ruthenians Ruthenian and Ruthene are exonyms of Latin language, Latin origin, formerly used in Eastern and Central Europe as common ethnonyms for East Slavs, particularly during the late medieval and early modern periods. The Latin term Rutheni was used in ...
. The local Ruthenian population self-identifies in different ways: some consider themselves to be Ukrainians; some consider themselves to be Russians; and some consider themselves to be a separate and unique Slavic group of
Rusyns Rusyns (), also known as Carpatho-Rusyns (), or Rusnaks (), are an East Slavic ethnic group from the Eastern Carpathians in Central Europe. They speak Rusyn, an East Slavic language variety, treated variously as either a distinct langu ...
. To describe their home region, most Rusyns use the term ''Zakarpattia'' (Trans-Carpathia; literally "beyond the Carpathian mountains"). This is contrasted implicitly with '' Prykarpattia'' (Ciscarpathia; "Near-Carpathia"), an unofficial 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, 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 Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...
name of the region is
Maramureș or Marmaroshchyna ( ro, Maramureș ; uk, Мармарощина, Marmaroshchyna; hu, Máramaros) is a geographical, historical and cultural region in northern Romania and western Ukraine. It is situated in the northeastern Carpathians, alon ...
, which is geographically located in the eastern and south-eastern portions of the region. During the period of
Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...
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' Places * Czech, ...
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 ( cs, Uherská Rus; sk, Uhorská Rus). The region declared its independence as
Carpatho-Ukraine Carpatho-Ukraine or Carpathian Ukraine ( uk, Карпа́тська Украї́на, Karpats’ka Ukrayina, ) was an autonomous region within the Second Czechoslovak Republic, created in December 1938 by renaming Subcarpathian Rus' whose full ...
on March 15, 1939, but was occupied and annexed by
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning 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 ...
on the same day, and remained under Hungarian control until the end of the
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. 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 , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
and the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
as well as the decision of the regional council, Transcarpathia joined the
Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
as the
Zakarpattia Oblast The Zakarpattia Oblast ( uk, Закарпатська область, Zakarpatska oblast) is an administrative oblast located in western Ukraine, mostly coterminous with the historical region of Carpathian Ruthenia. Its administrative centre is ...
. The region has subsequently been referred to as ''Zakarpattia'' ( uk, Закарпаття) or ''Transcarpathia'', and on occasions as ''Carpathian Rus’'' ( uk, Карпатська Русь, translit=Karpatska Rus), ''Transcarpathian Rus’'' ( uk, Закарпатська Русь, translit=Zakarpatska Rus), or ''Subcarpathian Rus’'' ( uk, Підкарпатська Русь, translit=Pidkarpatska Rus).


Geography

Carpathian Ruthenia rests on the southern slopes of the eastern Carpathian Mountains, bordered to the east and south by the
Tisza The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa, is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. Once, it was called "the most Hungarian river" because it flowed entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national borders. The Tisza be ...
River, and to the west by the
Hornád Hornád ( Slovak, ) or Hernád ( Hungarian, ) is a river in eastern Slovakia and north-eastern Hungary. It is a tributary to the river Slaná (Sajo). The source of the Hornád is the eastern slopes of Kráľova hoľa hill, south of Šuňava. ...
and
Poprad River The Poprad ( hu, Poprád, links=no, german: Popper, links=no) is a river in northern Slovakia and southern Poland, and a tributary of the Dunajec River near Stary Sącz, Poland. It has a length of 170 kilometres (63 km of which are wit ...
s. The region borders
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
,
Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), 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 s ...
,
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning 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 ...
, and
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
, and makes up part of the
Pannonian Plain The Pannonian Basin, or Carpathian Basin, is a large basin situated in south-east Central Europe. The geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewhat different sense, with only the ...
. 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 ( uk, У́жгород, , ; ) is a city and municipality on the river Uzh in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistant from the Baltic, the Adriatic and the ...
and
Mukachevo Mukachevo ( uk, Мукачево, ; hu, Munkács; see name section) is a city in the valley of the Latorica river in Zakarpattia Oblast (province), in Western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of Mukachevo Raion (district), the city ...
, both with populations around 100,000. The population of the other five cities (including
Khust Khust ( uk, Хуст; hu, Huszt) is a city located on the Khustets River in Zakarpattia Oblast ( province) in western Ukraine. It is near the сonfluence of the Tisa and Rika Rivers. Serving as the administrative center of Khust Raion (distr ...
and Berehovo) 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 is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
in the 2nd millennium BCE, the region was characterized by Stanove culture, however, it only gained more advanced metalworking skills with the arrival of
Thracians The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied t ...
from the South with Kushtanovytsia culture in the 6th-3rd century BCE. In the 5th-3rd century BCE,
Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...
arrived from the West, bringing iron-melting skills and
La Tène culture The La Tène culture (; ) was a European Iron Age culture. It developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from about 450 BC to the Roman conquest in the 1st century BC), succeeding the early Iron Age Hallstatt culture without any defi ...
. A Thracian-Celtic symbiosis existed for a time in the region, after which appeared the
Bastarnae The Bastarnae ( Latin variants: ''Bastarni'', or ''Basternae''; grc, Βαστάρναι or Βαστέρναι) and Peucini ( grc, Πευκῖνοι) were two ancient peoples who between 200 BC and 300 AD inhabited areas north of the Roman front ...
. At that time, the Iranian-speaking
Scythians The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...
and later a
Sarmatian The Sarmatians (; grc, Σαρμαται, Sarmatai; Latin: ) were a large confederation of ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic peoples of classical antiquity who dominated the Pontic steppe from about the 3rd century BC to the 4th cen ...
tribe called the
Iazyges The Iazyges (), singular Ἰάζυξ. were an ancient Sarmatian tribe that traveled westward in BC from Central Asia to the steppes of modern Ukraine. In BC, they moved into modern-day Hungary and Serbia near the Dacian steppe between th ...
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 B.C. through the 6th ...
settlement began between the 2nd-century BCE and 2nd century CE, and during the Migration Period, 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 century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...
and
Gepids The Gepids, ( la, Gepidae, Gipedae, grc, Γήπαιδες) were an 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 ...
(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 chronicles of Rus, the Abaroi or Varchonitai ( el, Βαρχονίτες, Varchonítes), or Pseudo-Avars ...
(6th century).


Slavic settlement

By the 8th and 9th century, the valleys of the Northern and Southern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains were "densely" settled by Slavic tribe of
White Croats White Croats ( hr, Bijeli Hrvati; pl, Biali Chorwaci; cz, Bílí Chorvati; uk, Білі хорвати, Bili khorvaty), or simply known as Croats, were a group of Early Slavic tribes who lived among other West and East Slavic tribes in the ar ...
, who were closely related to East Slavic tribes who inhabited Prykarpattia,
Volhynia Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. The ...
,
Transnistria Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...
and
Dnieper Ukraine The term Dnieper Ukraine (: "over Dnieper land"), 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'' ...
. Whereas some White Croats remained behind in Carpathian Ruthenia, others moved southward into the
Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as 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 throughout the who ...
in the 7th century. Those who remained were conquered by
Kievan Rus' Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...
in the late 10th century.


Hungarian arrival

In 896 the
Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and  ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...
crossed the Carpathian Range and migrated into the
Pannonian Basin The Pannonian Basin, or Carpathian Basin, is a large basin situated in south-east Central Europe. The geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewhat different sense, with only th ...
.
Nestor's Chronicle The ''Tale of Bygone Years'' ( orv, Повѣсть времѧньныхъ лѣтъ, translit=Pověstĭ vremęnĭnyxŭ lětŭ; ; ; ; ), often known in English as the ''Rus' Primary Chronicle'', the ''Russian Primary Chronicle'', or simply the ...
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 Hungarian history which has survived for posterity. Its genre is not chronicle, but ''gesta'', meaning "deeds" or "acts", which is a medieval entertaining li ...
, the Hungarians defeated a united
Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...
and Byzantine army led by
Salan ] Salan, Salanus or Zalan ( Bulgarian language, Bulgarian and Serbian Cyrillic: Салан or Залан; hu, Zalán; ro, Salanus) was, according to the Gesta Hungarorum, a local Bulgarianhttp://keptar.niif.hu/000500/000586/magyaro-honf-terke ...
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 the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
to the south and the
Kievan Rus' Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...
Principality of Halych The Principality of Halych ( uk, Галицьке князівство, translit=Halytske kniazivstvo; rus, Галицкое княжество; orv, Галицкоє кънѧжьство; ro, Cnezatul Galiția), or Principality of Halychian Ru ...
to the north. Slavs from the north ( Galicia) and east – who actually arrived from
Podolia Podolia or Podilia ( uk, Поділля, Podillia, ; russian: Подолье, Podolye; ro, Podolia; pl, Podole; german: Podolien; be, Падолле, Padollie; lt, Podolė), is a historic region in Eastern Europe, located in the west-central ...
via the mountain passes of
Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
– 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 (), or Rusnaks (), are an East Slavic ethnic group from the Eastern Carpathians in Central Europe. They speak Rusyn, an East Slavic language variety, treated variously as either a distinct langu ...
. 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 A parent-in-law is a person who has a legal affinity (law), affinity with another by being the parent of the other's spouse. Many cultures and legal systems impose duties and responsibilities on persons connected by this relationship. A person i ...
,
Béla IV of Hungary Béla IV (1206 – 3 May 1270) was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1235 and 1270, and Duke of Styria from 1254 to 1258. As the oldest son of King Andrew II, he was crowned upon the initiative of a group of influential noblemen in his fath ...
. The territory's ethnic diversity increased with the influx of some 40,000
Cuman The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian exonym ), were a Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. After the Mongol invasion (1237), many so ...
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 The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...
in 1238. During the early period of Hungarian administration, part of the area was included into the
Gyepű In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of borderland, as opposed to a national "heartland". More specifically, a march was a border between realms or a neutral buffer zone under joint control of two states in which diff ...
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 Ugocsa was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in north-western Romania () and western Ukraine (). The capital of the county was Nagyszőllős (now Vynohradiv, Ukraine). Geography Ugocsa county ...
, 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 Amadeus Aba or Amade Aba ( hu, Aba Amadé; sk, Omodej Aba; ? – 5 September 1311) was a Hungarian oligarch in the Kingdom of Hungary who ruled ''de facto'' independently the northern and north-eastern counties of the kingdom (today parts of ...
and
Nicholas Pok Nicholas from the kindred Pok ( hu, Pok nembeli Miklós; ''c''. 1245 – after 19 August 1319; fl. 1270–1319) was a Hungarian influential lord in the Kingdom of Hungary at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. He held positions in the royal ...
. From 1280 to 1320, the north-western part of Carpathian Ruthenia was part of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia. Between the 12th and 15th centuries, the area was probably colonized by
Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...
groups of
Vlach "Vlach" ( or ), also "Wallachian" (and many other variants), is a historical term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate mainly Romanians but also Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians and other Easter ...
highlanders with accompanying Ruthenian populations. 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. 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 Unions of Brest-Lytovsk (1595) and Ungvár (Uzhorod) (1646) were instituted, causing the Byzantine Orthodox Churches of Carpathian and Transcarpathian Rus' to come under the jurisdiction of
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
, thus establishing the so-called "Unia" of
Eastern Catholic churches The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of t ...
, the Ruthenian Catholic Church and the
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , native_name_lang = uk , caption_background = , image = StGeorgeCathedral Lviv.JPG , imagewidth = , type = Particular church (sui iuris) , alt = , caption = St. George's ...
. 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 is the usual English translation of ''Felvidék'' (literally: "Upland"), the Hungarian term for the area that was historically the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary, now mostly present-day Slovakia. The region has also been ...
, while the south-eastern parts remained under the administration of Transylvania. From 1699 the entire region eventually became part of the Habsburg monarchy, divided between the
Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
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 The Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen ( hu, a Szent Korona Országai), informally Transleithania (meaning the lands or region "beyond" the Leitha River) were the Hungarian territories of Austria-Hungary, throughout the latter's entire exis ...
or the Hungarian part of
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
. 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 1900's 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 German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
, 11,668 (1.9%) were speakers of
Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...
, 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' Places * Czech, ...
, and 8,228 (1.4%) were speakers of other languages. *
Ung County Ung County (in Latin: ''comitatus Unghvariensis''; Hungarian: ''Ung (vár)megye''; also in Slovak: ''Užský komitát/ Užská župa / Užská stolica''; ro, Comitatul Ung) was an administrative county ( comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. It ...
, Ungvár (
Uzhhorod Uzhhorod ( uk, У́жгород, , ; ) is a city and municipality on the river Uzh in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistant from the Baltic, the Adriatic and the ...
) *
Bereg County Bereg ( rue, Береґ; ) 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 U ...
, Beregszász (
Berehove Berehove ( uk, Берегове; hu, Beregszász) is a city located in Zakarpattia Oblast (province) in western Ukraine, near the border with Hungary. It is the cultural centre of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine. Serving as the administrativ ...
) *
Ugocsa County Ugocsa was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in north-western Romania () and western Ukraine (). The capital of the county was Nagyszőllős (now Vynohradiv, Ukraine). Geography Ugocsa county ...
, Nagyszőllős (
Vynohradiv Vynohradiv ( uk, Виноградів, hu, Nagyszőlős, ro, Seleușu Mare, sk, Vinohradov) is a city in western Ukraine, in Zakarpattia Oblast. It was the center of Vynohradiv Raion and since 2020 it has been incorporated into Berehove Raio ...
) * Maramaros County (only the northern part), Máramarossziget (
Sighetu Marmației Sighetu Marmației (, also spelled ''Sighetul Marmației''; german: Marmaroschsiget or ''Siget''; hu, Máramarossziget, ; uk, Сигіт, Syhit; yi, סיגעט, Siget), until 1960 Sighet, is a city (municipality) in Maramureș County near the ...
)


Transitional period (1918–1919)

After
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy collapsed and the region was briefly (in 1918 and 1919) claimed as part of the independent
West Ukraine Western Ukraine or West Ukraine ( uk, Західна Україна, Zakhidna Ukraina or , ) is the territory of Ukraine linked to the former Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, which was part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Austrian ...
Republic. However, for most of this period the region was controlled by the newly formed independent
Hungarian Democratic Republic The First Hungarian Republic ( hu, Első Magyar Köztársaság), until 21 March 1919 the Hungarian People's Republic (), was a short-lived unrecognized country, which quickly transformed into a small rump state due to the foreign and military ...
, with a short period of West Ukrainian control. On November 8, 1918, the first National Council (the Lubovňa Council, which later reconvened as the Prešov 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.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, , pages 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 Khust ( uk, Хуст; hu, Huszt) is a city located on the Khustets River in Zakarpattia Oblast ( province) in western Ukraine. It is near the сonfluence of the Tisa and Rika Rivers. Serving as the administrative center of Khust Raion (distr ...
) (November 1918), called for unification with 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 Gali ...
. Only in early January 1919 were the first calls heard in Ruthenia for union with
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
.


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 ( uk, У́жгород, , ; ) is a city and municipality on the river Uzh in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistant from the Baltic, the Adriatic and the ...
Council (November 9, 1918), declared itself the representative of the
Rusyn people Rusyns (), also known as Carpatho-Rusyns (), or Rusnaks (), are an East Slavic ethnic group from the Eastern Carpathians in Central Europe. They speak Rusyn, an East Slavic language variety, treated variously as either a distinct langua ...
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 ( Maramorosh County, Ugocha County,
Bereg County Bereg ( rue, Береґ; ) 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 U ...
,
Ung County Ung County (in Latin: ''comitatus Unghvariensis''; Hungarian: ''Ung (vár)megye''; also in Slovak: ''Užský komitát/ Užská župa / Užská stolica''; ro, Comitatul Ung) was an administrative county ( comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. It ...
. On February 5, 1919, a provisional government for Rus'ka Krajina was established. The "Rus'ka
rada The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Se ...
" (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 4th, elections were held for a formal
diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...
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 The Socialist Federative Republic of Councils in Hungary ( hu, Magyarországi Szocialista Szövetséges Tanácsköztársaság) (due to an early mistranslation, it became widely known as the Hungarian Soviet Republic in English-language sources ( ...
, which then announced the existence of a "Soviet Rus'ka Krajina". Elections organized by the new Hungarian government of a people's
soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
(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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
had convened and called for complete
independence Independence is a condition of a person, 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 statu ...
. Failing that, they would try to unite with Galicia and Bukovina; 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 , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
. Their leader, Gregory Zatkovich, then signed the "Philadelphia Agreement" with Czechoslovak President
Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Tomáš () is a Czech and Slovak given name, equivalent to the name Thomas. It may refer to: * Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850–1937), first President of Czechoslovakia * Tomáš Baťa (1876–1932), Czech footwear entrepreneur * Tomáš Berdyc ...
, 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 ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
, and less than one percent each for Galicia, Hungary and Russia. Less than 2% desired complete independence. In April 1919,
Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...
control on the ground was established, when Czechoslovak Army troops acting in coordination with Royal Romanian Army forces arriving from the east – both acting under French auspices – entered the area. In a series of battles they defeated and crushed the local militias of the newly formed
Hungarian Soviet Republic The Socialist Federative Republic of Councils in Hungary ( hu, Magyarországi Szocialista Szövetséges Tanácsköztársaság) (due to an early mistranslation, it became widely known as the Hungarian Soviet Republic in English-language sources ( ...
, which had created the
Slovak Soviet Republic The Slovak Soviet Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika rád, hu, Szlovák Tanácsköztársaság, uk, Словацька Радянська Республіка, literally: 'Slovak Republic of Councils') was a short-lived Communist state in sout ...
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
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
aid, for which the
Hungarian Communists Hungarian may refer to: * Hungary, a country in Central Europe * Kingdom of Hungary, state of Hungary, existing between 1000 and 1946 * Hungarians, ethnic groups in Hungary * Hungarian algorithm, a polynomial time algorithm for solving the assignme ...
hoped in vain; the
Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
were also too preoccupied with their own
civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
to assist. Transcarpathia, as well as a broader region, was occupied by
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
from April 1919 until July or August 1919, and then was again occupied by the Hungarian state. 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 Central Ruthenian National Council and represented a Carpathian branch of the Russophiles movement that existed in the Austrian Galicia. The Hungarian left-wing writer
Béla Illés Béla Illés (; born 27 April 1968 in Sárvár, Hungary) is a retired Hungarian football player who has spent most of his career playing for MTK Hungária FC. He is considered to be the greatest Hungarian footballer of the 1990s. He was only ...
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 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 ''Cordon sanitaire'' () is French for "sanitary cordon". It may refer to: *Cordon sanitaire (medicine), a cordon that quarantines an area during an infectious disease outbreak *Cordon sanitaire (politics), refusal to cooperate with certain politic ...
" 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 St. Germain (September 10, 1919) granted the Carpathian
Ruthenians Ruthenian and Ruthene are exonyms of Latin language, Latin origin, formerly used in Eastern and Central Europe as common ethnonyms for East Slavs, particularly during the late medieval and early modern periods. The Latin term Rutheni was used in ...
autonomy, which was later upheld to some extent by the 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 Ung County (in Latin: ''comitatus Unghvariensis''; Hungarian: ''Ung (vár)megye''; also in Slovak: ''Užský komitát/ Užská župa / Užská stolica''; ro, Comitatul Ung) was an administrative county ( comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. It ...
,
Bereg County Bereg ( rue, Береґ; ) 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 U ...
,
Ugocsa County Ugocsa was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in north-western Romania () and western Ukraine (). The capital of the county was Nagyszőllős (now Vynohradiv, Ukraine). Geography Ugocsa county ...
and
Máramaros County Máramaros County (german: Komitat Maramuresch; hu, Máramaros vármegye; la, Comitatus Maramarosiensis; ro, Comitatul Maramureș; rue, Комітат Марамарош; uk, Kомітат Мармарош; ) was an administrative county (c ...
. After the Paris Peace Conference, Transcarpathia became part of
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
. 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 After World War I, Czechoslovakia established itself and as a republic and democracy with the establishment of the Constitution of 1920. The constitution was adopted by the National Assembly on 29 February 1920 and replaced the provisional constit ...
, 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 nationalists Ukrainian nationalism refers to the promotion of the unity of Ukrainians as a people and it also refers to the promotion of the identity of Ukraine as a nation state. The nation building that arose as nationalism grew following the French Revol ...
in
East Galicia Eastern Galicia ( uk, Східна Галичина, Skhidna Galychyna, pl, Galicja Wschodnia, german: Ostgalizien) is a geographical region in Western Ukraine (present day oblasts of Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil), having also essential ...
who opposed both Polish and Soviet rule fled to Carpathian Ruthenia. Zatkovich 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 Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, USA. 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' (1928–1938)

In 1928,
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
was divided into four provinces, Bohemia, Moravia-Silesia, Slovakia and the Subcarpathian Rus'. 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, 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 Ukrainian ( uk, украї́нська мо́ва, translit=ukrainska mova, label=native name, ) is an East Slavic language of the Indo-European language family. It is the native language of about 40 million people and the official state lan ...
was not actively persecuted in Czechoslovakia during the interwar period, unlike in
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
and
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
.
Serhy Yekelchyk Serhy Yekelchyk (born November 13, 1966 in Kyiv) is a Ukrainian Canadian historian, who has published widely on modern Ukrainian and Russian history and Russian-Ukrainian relations. Education and career Yekelchyk received his B.A. from the Unive ...
''"Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation"'',
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
(2007), (page 128-130)
73 percent of local parents voted against Ukrainian language education for their children in a referendum conducted in Sub-Carpathian Rus in 1937.


Carpathian Ukraine (1938–1939)

In November 1938, under 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, which ...
—a result of the
Munich Agreement The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. It provided "cession to Germany ...
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
ceded southern Carpathian Rus to
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning 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 ...
. The remainder of Subcarpathian Rus' received autonomy, with Andrej Bródy as
prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
of the autonomous government. After the resignation of the government following a local political crisis, Avhustyn Voloshyn became
prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
of the new government. In December 1938, Subcarpathian Rus' was renamed to Carpathian Ukraine. Following the Slovak proclamation of independence on March 14, 1939 and the Nazis' seizure of the Czech lands on March 15, Carpathian Ukraine declared its independence as the
Republic of Carpatho-Ukraine Carpatho-Ukraine or Carpathian Ukraine ( uk, Карпа́тська Украї́на, Karpats’ka Ukrayina, ) was an autonomous region within the Second Czechoslovak Republic, created in December 1938 by renaming Subcarpathian Rus' whose ful ...
, with Avhustyn Voloshyn as head of state, and was immediately occupied and annexed by
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning 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 ...
, restoring provisionally the former counties of Ung, Bereg and partially Máramaros.


Governorate of Subcarpathia (1939–1945)

On March 23, 1939, Hungary annexed further territories disputed with
Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), 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 s ...
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 Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
; of those almost 60,000 of them died in
Gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...
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 The National News Agency of Ukraine ( uk, Українське національне інформаційне агентство), or Ukrinform ( uk, Укрінформ), is a state information and news agency, and international broadcaster of ...
(15 March 2019)
Upon liquidation of
Carpatho-Ukraine Carpatho-Ukraine or Carpathian Ukraine ( uk, Карпа́тська Украї́на, Karpats’ka Ukrayina, ) was an autonomous region within the Second Czechoslovak Republic, created in December 1938 by renaming Subcarpathian Rus' whose full ...
, in the territory annexed the Governorate of Subcarpathia was installed and divided into three, the administrative branch offices of Ung ( hu, Ungi közigazgatási kirendeltség), Bereg ( hu, Beregi közigazgatási kirendeltség) and Máramaros ( hu, Máramarosi közigazgatási kirendeltség) governed from
Ungvár Uzhhorod ( uk, У́жгород, , ; ) is a city and municipality on the river Uzh in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistant from the Baltic, the Adriatic and the ...
,
Munkács Mukachevo ( uk, Мукачево, ; hu, Munkács; see name section) is a city in the valley of the Latorica river in Zakarpattia Oblast (province), in Western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of Mukachevo Raion (district), the city ...
and 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 Mukachevo ( uk, Мукачево, ; hu, Munkács; see name section) is a city in the valley of the Latorica river in Zakarpattia Oblast (province), in Western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of Mukachevo Raion (district), the city ...
, where they constituted 43% of the prewar population. After the German occupation of Hungary (19th March 1944) the pro-
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
policies of the Hungarian government resulted in emigration and deportation of Hungarian-speaking
Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
s, and other groups living in the territory were decimated by war. During the
Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
, 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 battalion Labour battalions have been a form of alternative service or unfree labour in various countries in lieu of or resembling regular military service. In some cases they were the result of some kind of discriminative segregation of the population, wh ...
s, 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 The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
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.


Transition to Soviet takeover and control (1944-1945)

The Soviet takeover of the region started with the
East Carpathian Strategic Offensive East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
in the fall of 1944. This offensive consisted of two parts: the
Battle of the Dukla Pass The Battle of the Dukla Pass, also known as the Dukla, Carpatho–Dukla, Rzeszów–Dukla, or Dukla–Prešov offensive, was the battle for control over the Dukla Pass on the border between Poland and Slovakia on the Eastern Front of World ...
in effort to support the
Slovak National Uprising The Slovak National Uprising ( sk, Slovenské národné povstanie, abbreviated SNP) was a military uprising organized by the Slovak resistance movement during World War II. This resistance movement was represented mainly by the members of the ...
; and the Battle of Uzhgorod to break through to the Hungarian plains and encircle German troops in
Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
. On 28 October 1944, upon conclusion of the offensive campaign, most of Subcarpathian Ruthenia was secured by the Workers-Peasants Red Army (RKKA). The Czechoslovak government delegation led by minister František Němec arrived in
Khust Khust ( uk, Хуст; hu, Huszt) is a city located on the Khustets River in Zakarpattia Oblast ( province) in western Ukraine. It is near the сonfluence of the Tisa and Rika Rivers. Serving as the administrative center of Khust Raion (distr ...
to establish the provisional Czechoslovak administration, according to the treaties between the
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
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 (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...
started to obstruct the Czechoslovak delegation's work. Communications between Khust and the government center in exile in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
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 Moscow Time (MSK, russian: моско́вское вре́мя) is the time zone for the city of Moscow, Russia, and most of western Russia, including Saint Petersburg. It is the second-westernmost of the eleven time zones of Russia. It has b ...
(2 hours ahead of
Central European Time Central European Time (CET) is a standard time which is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The time offset from UTC can be written as UTC+01:00. It is used in most parts of Europe and in a few North African countries. CET ...
). According to Magdalena Lavrincova, this was perceived by many as a sign of the
totalitarianism Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and regu ...
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 Mukachevo ( uk, Мукачево, ; hu, Munkács; see name section) is a city in the valley of the Latorica river in Zakarpattia Oblast (province), in Western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of Mukachevo Raion (district), the city ...
, there was a meeting of representatives of
Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...
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 The ''Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedia'' ( uk, Українська радянська енциклопедія, ''Ukrayinska radyanska entsyklopediya'') was a multi-purpose encyclopedia of Ukraine, issued in the USSR. First attempt Following th ...
.
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 ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
, 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 Mukachevo ( uk, Мукачево, ; hu, Munkács; see name section) is a city in the valley of the Latorica river in Zakarpattia Oblast (province), in Western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of Mukachevo Raion (district), the city ...
under the protection of the Red Army. On November 26 this committee, led by
Ivan Turyanitsa Ivan Ivanovych Turyanytsia ( uk, Іван Іванович Туряниця; 25 May 1901 – 27 March 1955) was a Czechoslovak, Ukrainian and Soviet politician, who served as the chairman of the People's Council of Zakarpattia Ukraine from 19 ...
(a Rusyn who deserted from the Czechoslovak army) proclaimed the will of Ukrainian people to separate from Czechoslovakia and join
Soviet Ukraine The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
. 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 Uzhhorod ( uk, У́жгород, , ; ) is a city and municipality on the river Uzh in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistant from the Baltic, the Adriatic and the ...
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 Andrey, Andrej or Andrei (in Cyrillic script: Андрей, Андреј or Андрэй) is a form of Andreas/Ἀνδρέας in Slavic languages and Romanian. People with the name include: *Andrei of Polotsk ( – 1399), Lithuanian nobleman *An ...
and Shtefan Fentsyk, were condemned and executed in May 1946.
Avgustyn Voloshyn The Rt Rev. Avgustyn Ivanovych Monsignor Voloshyn ( uk , Авґустин Волошин, Августин Волошин, cs, Augustin Monsignore Vološin, 17 March 1874 – 19 July 1945), also called Augustin Voloshyn, was a Carpatho-Ukrain ...
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 The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered collectively or individually. The terms Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic church or Byzantine Catholic, Byzantine Ca ...
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 , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...
( Moscow Patriarchate), the only accepted religious authority in the region. Cultural institutions were also forbidden, including the
Russophile Russophilia (literally love of Russia or Russians) is admiration and fondness of Russia (including the era of the Soviet Union and/or the Russian Empire), History of Russia, Russian history and Russian culture. The antonym is Anti-Russian se ...
Dukhnovych Society, the
Ukrainophile Ukrainophilia is the love of or identification with Ukraine and Ukrainians; its opposite is Ukrainophobia. The term is used primarily in a political and cultural context. "Ukrainophilia" and "Ukrainophile" are the terms used to denote pro-Ukrainia ...
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 Ukrainian ( uk, украї́нська мо́ва, translit=ukrainska mova, label=native name, ) is an East Slavic language of the Indo-European language family. It is the native language of about 40 million people and the official state lan ...
was the first language of instruction in schools throughout the region, followed by
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
, 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 (), or Rusnaks (), are an East Slavic ethnic group from the Eastern Carpathians in Central Europe. They speak Rusyn, an East Slavic language variety, treated variously as either a distinct langu ...
, Carpatho-Russians,
Rusnaks Rusyns (), also known as Carpatho-Rusyns (), or Rusnaks (), are an East Slavic ethnic group from the Eastern Carpathians in Central Europe. They speak Rusyn, an East Slavic language variety, treated variously as either a distinct langua ...
) to be
Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...
. 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). 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 The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the State Political Directorate, GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= ...
. Collectivisation, including of mountain shepherds, was completed by May 1950.
Central planning A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment, production and the allocation of capital goods takes place according to economy-wide economic plans and production plans. A planned economy may use centralized, decentralized, pa ...
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 Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...
and
citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is native to ...
also failed due to the climate. Most
vineyards A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...
were uprooted twenty years later, during
Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to the country's dissolution in 1991. He served as General Secretary of the Comm ...
'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 Mukachevo ( uk, Мукачево, ; hu, Munkács; see name section) is a city in the valley of the Latorica river in Zakarpattia Oblast (province), in Western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of Mukachevo Raion (district), the city ...
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 ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
adopted a law about referendums that lasted until 2012. Soon after the
August coup August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...
in Moscow (19–22), on 24 August 1991 the
Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...
(Ukrainian parliament) of the
Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
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 The People's Movement of Ukraine ( uk, Народний Рух України, Narodnyi Rukh Ukrayiny) is a Ukrainian political party and first opposition party in Soviet Ukraine. Often it is simply referred to as the Movement ( uk, Рух, R ...
(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. Monuments of Lenin were also removed in other settlements, however this decision was not universally accepted and faced resistance in some instances. In
Tiachiv Tiachiv ( uk, Тячів; rue, Тячово; hu, Técső; yi, טעטש, translit=Tetch) is a city located on the Tisza River in Zakarpattia Oblast (region) in western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Tiachiv Raion (district). Today ...
, 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 The Ukrainian Republican Party ( uk, Українська Республіканська партія; ''Ukrajinska Respublikanska Partija'') was the first registered political party in Ukraine created on November 5, 1990
,
Democratic Party of Ukraine The Democratic Party of Ukraine ( uk, Демократична партія України; ''Demokratychna Partiya Ukrayni'') is a political party in Ukraine registered in 1991. Until 2006 it had a parliamentary representation, but after associa ...
, Hungarian Cultural Federation in Transcarpathia (KMKSZ), Shevchenko Association of Ukrainian Language and the regional branch of
Prosvita Prosvita ( uk, просвіта, 'enlightenment') is a society for preserving and developing Ukrainian culture and education among population that created in the nineteenth century in the Austria-Hungary Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. By the ...
. 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 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 The Komsomol of Ukraine, officially the Leninist Communist League of Youth of Ukraine ( uk, Ле́нінська Комуністи́чна Спі́лка Мо́лоді Украї́ни; russian: Ленинская Коммунистическа ...
(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 ( 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 The Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, commonly known as the Ispolkom (russian: исполком, исполнительный комитет, literally " executive committee") was a self-appointed executive committee of the Petrograd So ...
(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 The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...
(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 Svalyava 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 ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
in 1945. By the end of September 1991 in
Zakarpattia Oblast The Zakarpattia Oblast ( uk, Закарпатська область, Zakarpatska oblast) is an administrative oblast located in western Ukraine, mostly coterminous with the historical region of Carpathian Ruthenia. Its administrative centre is ...
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 Prosvita ( uk, просвіта, 'enlightenment') is a society for preserving and developing Ukrainian culture and education among population that created in the nineteenth century in the Austria-Hungary Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. By the ...
, 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 The Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo is an eparchy (diocese) associated with the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church under an unidentified status and territory located in the west of Ukraine, roughly equivalent with Zakarpatska Oblast. The epar ...
, 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 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 The Zakarpattia Oblast ( uk, Закарпатська область, Zakarpatska oblast) is an administrative oblast located in western Ukraine, mostly coterminous with the historical region of Carpathian Ruthenia. Its administrative centre is ...
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 ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
. A majority 92.59% of voters of Zakarpattia oblast approved the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine. On the same day in Zakarpattia oblast a 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 Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...
, while 19% are followers of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church and 7% are Roman Catholics. Protestants and unaffiliated generic
Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...
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 The Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP; uk, Украї́нська Правосла́вна Це́рква – Ки́ївський Патріарха́т (УПЦ-КП), Ukrainska Pravoslavna Tserkva — Kyivskyi Patr ...
– 42% * 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 ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...
, many of whom may refer to themselves as
Rusyns Rusyns (), also known as Carpatho-Rusyns (), or Rusnaks (), are an East Slavic ethnic group from the Eastern Carpathians in Central Europe. They speak Rusyn, an East Slavic language variety, treated variously as either a distinct langu ...
, ''Rusnak'' or ''Lemko''. Places inhabited by Rusyns also span adjacent regions of the Carpathian Mountains, including regions of present-day
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
,
Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), 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 s ...
,
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning 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 ...
, and
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
. Ruthenian settlements exist in the
Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as 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 throughout the who ...
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 ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...
, although in the most recent census 10,100 people (0.8% of Zakarpattia Oblast's 1.26 million) identified themselves as ethnically 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 Hungarian () is an Uralic language spoken in Hungary and parts of several neighbouring countries. It is the official language of Hungary and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union. Outside Hungary, it is also spoken by Hungarian ...
, 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 ( 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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
had a significant impact on the ethnic Hungarian population of the area: 10,000 fled before the arrival of
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
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 The Hungarians in Ukraine ( hu, Ukrajnai magyarok, uk, угорці в Україні, tr. ''uhortsi v Ukraini'') number 156,600 people according to the Ukrainian census of 2001 and are the third largest national minority in the country. Hung ...
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 Mukachevo ( uk, Мукачево, ; hu, Munkács; see name section) is a city in the valley of the Latorica river in Zakarpattia Oblast (province), in Western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of Mukachevo Raion (district), the city ...
, where they constituted 43% of the prewar population. Most of them perished during the
Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
.


Germans

See
Carpathian Germans Carpathian Germans (german: Karpatendeutsche, Mantaken, hu, kárpátnémetek or ''felvidéki németek'', sk, karpatskí Nemci) are a group of ethnic Germans. The term was coined by the historian Raimund Friedrich Kaindl (1866–1930), originall ...
for more information (mainly Germans from Bohemia,
Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The m ...
and the territories from present-day central and eastern Germany) about their settlement in the 16th to 18th centuries.


Czechs

Czechs The Czechs ( cs, Češi, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, ...
in Carpathian Ruthenia are ethnoculturally distinct from other West Slavic groups like the Slovaks, as they originated from Czech-speaking groups from Bohemia and
Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The m ...
instead of Slovakia.


Romani

There are approximately 25,000 ethnic
Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
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
fall of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
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 Uzhhorod ( uk, У́жгород, , ; ) is a city and municipality on the river Uzh in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistant from the Baltic, the Adriatic and the ...
and
Mukachevo Mukachevo ( uk, Мукачево, ; hu, Munkács; see name section) is a city in the valley of the Latorica river in Zakarpattia Oblast (province), in Western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of Mukachevo Raion (district), the city ...
, 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 The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym '' Vlachs'') are a Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Romanian culture and ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they live primarily in Romania and Moldova. The 2011 Roman ...
live in this region, mostly in northern
Maramureș or Marmaroshchyna ( ro, Maramureș ; uk, Мармарощина, Marmaroshchyna; hu, Máramaros) is a geographical, historical and cultural region in northern Romania and western Ukraine. It is situated in the northeastern Carpathians, alon ...
, around the southern towns of Rahău/
Rakhiv Rakhiv ( uk, Рахів, ; yi, ראַכעוו, hu, Rahó, ro, Rahău, rue, Рахово; see below) is a city located in Zakarpattia Oblast (province) in western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Rakhiv Raion (district). Population: ...
and Teceu Mare/
Tiachiv Tiachiv ( uk, Тячів; rue, Тячово; hu, Técső; yi, טעטש, translit=Tetch) is a city located on the Tisza River in Zakarpattia Oblast (region) in western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Tiachiv Raion (district). Today ...
and close to the border with Romania. However, there also are Romanians in Carpathian Ruthenia living outside Maramureș, mostly in the village of
Poroshkovo Poroshkovo ( uk, Порошково; hu, Poroskő; ro, Poroșcovo) is a village in Uzhhorod Raion of Zakarpattia Oblast in Ukraine. Until 18 July 2020, Poroshkovo was located in Perechyn Raion. The raion was abolished and its territory was m ...
. They are usually called in
Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...
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.


Western views

For urban European readers in the 19th century, Ruthenia was one origin of the 19th century's imaginary "
Ruritania Ruritania is a fictional country, originally located in central Europe as a setting for novels by Anthony Hope, such as ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1894). Nowadays the term connotes a quaint minor European country, or is used as a placeholder name f ...
" the most rural, most rustic and deeply provincial tiny province lost in forested mountains that could be imagined. Conceived sometimes as a kingdom of central Europe, Ruritania was the setting of several novels by
Anthony Hope Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins, better known as Anthony Hope (9 February 1863 – 8 July 1933), was a British novelist and playwright. He was a prolific writer, especially of adventure novels but he is remembered predominantly for only two books: '' T ...
, especially ''
The Prisoner of Zenda ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' is an 1894 adventure novel by Anthony Hope, in which the King of Ruritania is drugged on the eve of his coronation and thus is unable to attend the ceremony. Political forces within the realm are such that, in orde ...
'' (1894). Recently a writer named Vesna Goldsworthy, in ''Inventing Ruritania: the imperialism of the imagination'' (1998) has theorized on the origins of the ideas that underpin Western perceptions of the "Wild East" of Europe, especially of Ruthenian and other rural Slavs in the upper Balkans. The ideas are supposed by this writer to be highly applicable to Transcarpathia, who 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.” The viewpoint does not have wide academic support.


See also

* Black Ruthenia *
Red Ruthenia Red Ruthenia or Red Rus' ( la, Ruthenia Rubra; '; uk, Червона Русь, Chervona Rus'; pl, Ruś Czerwona, Ruś Halicka; russian: Червонная Русь, Chervonnaya Rus'; ro, Rutenia Roșie), is a term used since the Middle Ages fo ...
*
White Ruthenia White Ruthenia ( cu, Бѣла Роусь, Bela Rous'; be, Белая Русь, Biełaja Ruś; pl, Ruś Biała; russian: Белая Русь, Belaya Rus'; ukr, Біла Русь, Bila Rus') alternatively known as Russia Alba, White Rus' or W ...
* Military history of Carpathian Ruthenia during World War II * Ruthenians and Ukrainians in Czechoslovakia (1918–1938) *
Eparchy of Mukačevo and Prešov The Eparchy of Mukachevo and Prešov ( sr, Епархија мукачевско-прешовска) was an Eastern Orthodox diocese (eparchy) of the Serbian Orthodox Church, that existed from 1931 to 1945. It had jurisdiction over regions of Sl ...
*
Alexander Dukhnovych Alexander Vasilyevich Dukhnovych ( rue, Александер Васильєвич Духновiч, ''Aleksander Vasyl’jevyč Duxnovič''; uk, Олександр Васильович Духнович, ''Oleksandr Vasylovych Dukhnovych''; sk, A ...
*
Avgustyn Voloshyn The Rt Rev. Avgustyn Ivanovych Monsignor Voloshyn ( uk , Авґустин Волошин, Августин Волошин, cs, Augustin Monsignore Vološin, 17 March 1874 – 19 July 1945), also called Augustin Voloshyn, was a Carpatho-Ukrain ...
*
Ukrainian dialects In the Ukrainian language there are three major dialectal groups according to territory: ( uk, південно-західне наріччя, translit=pivdenno-zakhidne narichchia), ( uk, південно-східне наріччя, translit ...
* Kárpátalja football team * Magyaron


Notes


References


Sources

* Baerlein, Henri (1938). ''In Czechoslovakia's Hinterland'', Hutchinson. ISBN B00085K1BA * 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!)''. ISBN B0008C9LY6 * Nemec, Frantisek, and Vladimir Moudry (2nd edition, 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''. ISBN B0007JY0OG * * * * * * 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 edition, 2000). ''Ukraine: A History'', University of Toronto Press * Wilson, Andrew (2nd edition, 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. ISBN B0006W7NUW * Nykolaj Beskyd. "Who Was Aleksander Duchnovyc?" Narodny Novynky. Prešov, Slovakia. No. 17. April 28, 1993. Translated by John E. Timo. *
Paul Robert Magocsi Paul Robert Magocsi (born January 26, 1945 in Englewood, New Jersey) is an American professor of history, political science, and Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Toronto. He has been with the university since 1980, and became a F ...
(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


* ttp://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'', ''