Western
Ukraine

Ukraine or West
Ukraine

Ukraine (Ukrainian: Західна
Україна) is a geographical and historical relative term used in
reference to the western territories of Ukraine. It includes several
actual historical regions such as Transcarpathia,
Halychyna

Halychyna including
Pokuttia, Volhynia, northern
Bukovina

Bukovina as well as western Podolia. Less
often it includes territories of eastern Volhynia, Podolia, and small
portion of northern Bessarabia (eastern part of
Chernivtsi

Chernivtsi Oblast).
Important cities are Buchach, Chernivtsi, Drohobych,
Halych
.jpg/500px-Halych_(13).jpg)
Halych (hence -
Halychyna), Ivano-Frankivsk, Khotyn, Lutsk, Lviv, Mukacheve, Rivne,
Ternopil,
Uzhhorod

Uzhhorod and others. Western
Ukraine

Ukraine is not an
administrative category within Ukraine.
It is defined mainly in the context of European history pertaining to
the 20th-century wars and the ensuing period of annexations. The
current oblast administration borders are almost perfectly aligned
with the administrative divisions of the
Second Polish Republic
.svg/250px-Flag_of_Poland_(1928-1980).svg.png)
Second Polish Republic and
other adjacent countries that were annexed by the
Soviet Union
.jpg/460px-Soviet_Union-1964-stamp-Chapayev_(film).jpg)
Soviet Union during
World War II. At the onset of
World War II

World War II the whole territory was
incorporated into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
(УРСР),[1][2][3][4] following elections which are acknowledged as
staged and specifically for the purpose to manufactured public consent
for the transfer of land from occupied Poland to the
Soviet Union
.jpg/460px-Soviet_Union-1964-stamp-Chapayev_(film).jpg)
Soviet Union as
of October 22, 1939.[5] Its historical background makes Western
Ukraine

Ukraine uniquely different from the rest of the country, and
contributes to its distinctive character of today.[6]
Contents
1 History
1.1
Interbellum

Interbellum and World War II
1.2 Administrative and historic divisions
2 Cultural characteristics
2.1 Differences with rest of Ukraine
3 Demographics
3.1 Religion
4 See also
5 Notes and references
History[edit]
See also:
General Government
.svg/250px-Flag_of_the_German_Reich_(1935–1945).svg.png)
General Government of Galicia and Bukovina
Unlike the rest of Ukraine, most of Western
Ukraine

Ukraine was never part of
the Russian empire.[4] It is the only territory in
Ukraine

Ukraine whose
administrative units are named after its own historic regions often
going back centuries, instead of their administrative centers which
are used conventionally throughout the rest of the country. The modern
south-western part of Western
Ukraine

Ukraine became a province of
Austria-Hungary
.svg/250px-Flag_of_Austria-Hungary_(1869-1918).svg.png)
Austria-Hungary after the partitions of Poland. Its northern flank
with the cities of
Lutsk

Lutsk and
Rivne

Rivne was acquired in 1795 by Imperial
Russia

Russia following the third and final partition of Poland. Throughout
its existence Russian Poland was marred with violence and
intimidation, beginning with the 1794 massacres, imperial land-theft
and the deportations of the November and January Uprisings.[7] By
contrast, the
Austrian Partition

Austrian Partition with its
Sejm of the Land

Sejm of the Land in the
cities of
Lviv

Lviv and Stanislavov (Ivano-Frankivsk) was freer politically
perhaps because it had a lot less to offer economically.[8] Imperial
Austria did not persecute Ukrainian organizations.[4] In later years,
Austria-Hungary
.svg/250px-Flag_of_Austria-Hungary_(1869-1918).svg.png)
Austria-Hungary de facto encouraged the existence of Ukrainian
political organizations in order to counterbalance the influence of
Polish culture

Polish culture in Galicia. The southern half of West
Ukraine

Ukraine remained
under Austrian administration until the collapse of the House of
Habsburg at the end of World War One in 1918.[4]
Further information on West Ukraine's sociopolitical background:
Austrian Partition

Austrian Partition and
Polish culture

Polish culture in the Interbellum
Interbellum

Interbellum and World War II[edit]
Following the defeat of
Ukrainian People's Republic

Ukrainian People's Republic (1918) in the
Ukrainian–Soviet War
.jpg)
Ukrainian–Soviet War of 1921, Western
Ukraine

Ukraine was partitioned by the
Treaty of Riga

Treaty of Riga between Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and the Soviet
Russia

Russia acting on behalf of the Soviet
Belarus

Belarus and the Ukrainian Soviet
Socialist Republic with capital in Kharkiv. The
Soviet Union
.jpg/460px-Soviet_Union-1964-stamp-Chapayev_(film).jpg)
Soviet Union gained
control over the entire territory of the short-lived Ukrainian
People's Republic east of the border with Poland.[9] In the
Interbellum

Interbellum most of the territory of today's Western
Ukraine

Ukraine belonged
to the Second Polish Republic. Territories such as
Bukovina

Bukovina and
Carpatho-
Ukraine

Ukraine belonged to Romania and Czechoslovakia, respectively.
See also: Soviet annexation of Eastern Galicia,
Volhynia

Volhynia and Northern
Bukovina

Bukovina and Soviet invasion of Poland
At the onset of
Operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa by Nazi Germany, the region
became part of the
Third Reich

Third Reich in 1941. The southern half of West
Ukraine

Ukraine was incorporated into the semi-colonial Distrikt Galizien
(District of Galicia) created on August 1, 1941 (Document No. 1997-PS
of July 17, 1941 by Adolf Hitler) with headquarters in Chełm
Lubelski, bordering district of
General Government
.svg/250px-Flag_of_the_German_Reich_(1935–1945).svg.png)
General Government to the west. Its
northern part (Volhynia) was assigned to the Reichskommissariat
Ukraine

Ukraine formed in September 1941. Notably, the District of Galicia was
a separate administrative unit from the actual Reichskommissariat
Ukraine

Ukraine with capital in Rivne. They were not connected with each other
politically.[10]
Bukovina

Bukovina was controlled by the pro-Nazi Kingdom of
Romania. After the defeat of Germany in World War II, in May 1945 the
Soviet Union
.jpg/460px-Soviet_Union-1964-stamp-Chapayev_(film).jpg)
Soviet Union incorporated all territories of current Western Ukraine
into the Ukrainian SSR.[9]
Western
Ukraine

Ukraine includes such lands as
Zakarpattia

Zakarpattia (Kárpátalja),
Volyn,
Halychyna

Halychyna (Prykarpattia, Pokuttia), Bukovyna, Polissia, and
Podillia. Note that sometimes Khmelnytsky region is considered a part
of the central
Ukraine

Ukraine as it is mostly lies within the western
Podillya.
The history of Western
Ukraine

Ukraine is closely associated with the history
of the following lands:
Easternmost Bukovina, historical region of Central Europe in official
use since 1775, controlled by
Kingdom of Romania

Kingdom of Romania after World War I and
mostly ceded to the USSR by the Paris Peace Treaties, 1947.
Eastern Galicia

Eastern Galicia (Ukrainian: Halychyna), once a small kingdom with
Lodomeria (1914), province of the Austrian Empire until the
dissolution of
Austria-Hungary
.svg/250px-Flag_of_Austria-Hungary_(1869-1918).svg.png)
Austria-Hungary in 1918. See also: crownland of the
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
Red Ruthenia

Red Ruthenia since medieval times in the area known today as Eastern
Galicia.
West
Ukrainian People's Republic

Ukrainian People's Republic declared in late 1918 until early
1919 and claiming half of Galicia with mostly Polish city dwellers
(historical sense).
Carpatho-
Ukraine

Ukraine region within
Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia (1939) under Hungarian
control until the Nazi occupation of Hungary in 1944.
General Government
.svg/250px-Flag_of_the_German_Reich_(1935–1945).svg.png)
General Government of Galicia and
Bukovina

Bukovina captured from
Austria-Hungary
.svg/250px-Flag_of_Austria-Hungary_(1869-1918).svg.png)
Austria-Hungary during World War I.
Ținutul Suceava

Ținutul Suceava (Kingdom of Romania)
Volhynia, historic region straddling Poland, Ukraine, and
Belarus

Belarus to
the north. The alternate name for the region today is Lodomeria after
the city of Volodymyr-Volynsky. See also: Polish unofficial term Kresy
(Borderlands, 1918–1939) that includes the
West Belarus

West Belarus as well as
Volhynia.
Zakarpattia

Zakarpattia or Carpathian Ruthenia presently in the
Zakarpattia

Zakarpattia Oblast
of western Ukraine.
Administrative and historic divisions[edit]
Administrative region
Area
(km2)
Population
(2001 Census)
Population
Estimate
(Jan 2012)
Chernivtsi

Chernivtsi Oblast
8,097
922,817
Ivano-Frankivsk

Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast
13,927
1,409,760
1,380,128
Khmelnytskyi Oblast
20,629
1,430,775
1,320,171
Lviv

Lviv Oblast
21,831
2,626,543
2,540,938
Rivne

Rivne Oblast
20,051
1,173,304
1,154,256
Ternopil

Ternopil Oblast
13,824
1,142,416
1,080,431
Volyn

Volyn Oblast
20,144
1,060,694
1,038,598
Zakarpattia

Zakarpattia Oblast
12,753
1,258,264
1,250,759
Total
131,256
10,101,756
9,765,281
Cultural characteristics[edit]
Differences with rest of Ukraine[edit]
"Perhaps, if
Ukraine

Ukraine did not have its western regions, with
Lviv

Lviv at
the centre, it would be easy to turn the country into another Belarus.
But Galichina (Halychyna) and Bukovina, which became part of Soviet
Ukraine

Ukraine under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, brought to the country a
rebellious and free spirit."
Andrey Kurkov

Andrey Kurkov in an opinion piece about
Euromaidan

Euromaidan on
BBC News

BBC News Online
(28 January 2014)[11]
Ukrainian is the dominant language in the region. Back in the schools
of the
Ukrainian SSR

Ukrainian SSR learning Russian was mandatory; currently, in
modern Ukraine, in schools with Ukrainian as the language of
instruction, classes in Russian and in other minority languages are
offered.[4][12]
In terms of religion, the majority of adherents share the Byzantine
Rite of
Christianity

Christianity as in the rest of Ukraine, but due to the region
escaping the 1920s and 1930s Soviet persecution, a notably greater
church adherence and belief in religion's role in society is present.
Due to the complex post-independence religious confrontation of
several church groups and their adherents, the historical influence
played a key role in shaping the present loyalty of Western Ukraine's
faithful. In Galician provinces, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
has the strongest following in the country, and the largest share of
property and faithful. In the remaining regions: Volhynia, Bukovina
and Transcarpathia the Orthodoxy is prevalent. Outside of Western
Ukraine

Ukraine the greatest in terms of Church property, clergy, and
according to some estimates, faithful, is the Ukrainian Orthodox
Church (Moscow Patriarchate). In the listed regions (and in particular
among the Orthodox faithful in Galicia), this position is notably
weaker, as the main rivals, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv
Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, have a
far greater influence.
Noticeable cultural differences in the region (compared with the rest
of
Ukraine

Ukraine especially Southern
Ukraine

Ukraine and Eastern Ukraine) are more
"negative views"[clarification needed] on the Russian language[13][14]
and on Joseph Stalin[15] and more "positive views"[clarification
needed] on Ukrainian nationalism.[16] Calculating the yes-votes as a
percentage of the total electorate reveals that a higher percentage of
all (possible) voters in Western
Ukraine

Ukraine supported Ukrainian
independence in the 1991 Ukrainian independence referendum than in the
rest of the country.[17][18]
Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) geographic division
of
Ukraine

Ukraine used in their polls.
In a poll conducted by
Kyiv International Institute of Sociology in
the first half of February 2014 0.7% of polled in West Ukraine
believed "
Ukraine

Ukraine and
Russia

Russia must unite into a single state",
nationwide this percentage was 12.5.[19]
During elections voters of Western oblasts (provinces) vote mostly for
parties (Our Ukraine, Batkivshchyna)[20] and presidential candidates
(Viktor Yuschenko, Yulia Tymoshenko) with a pro-Western and state
reform platform.[21][22][23] Of the regions of Western Ukraine,
Galicia tends to be the most pro-Western and pro-nationalist area.
Volhynia's politics are similar, though not as nationalist or as
pro-Western as Galicia's. Bukovina-Chernvisti's electoral politics are
more mixed and tempered by the region's significant Romanian minority.
Finally, Zakarpattia's electoral politics tend to more competitive,
similar to a Central Ukrainian oblast. This is due to the region's
distinct historical and cultural identity as well as the significant
Hungarian and Romanian minorities. The
United Centre

United Centre party led by
Mukacheve

Mukacheve native
Viktor Baloha

Viktor Baloha fares well in
Zakarpattia

Zakarpattia at Ukraine's
regional elections.
Demographics[edit]
Religion[edit]
Religion in western
Ukraine

Ukraine (2016)[24]
Eastern Orthodoxy (57.0%)
Greek Catholicism (29.9%)
Simply
Christianity

Christianity (4.8%)
Protestantism

Protestantism (3.6%)
Roman Catholicism (1.4%)
Judaism

Judaism (0.2%)
Non believers (3.1%)
According to a 2016 survey of religion in
Ukraine

Ukraine held by the Razumkov
Center, approximately 91% of the population of western Ukraine
declared to be believers, while 0.9% declared to non-believers, and
0.2% declared to atheists.
Of the total population, 96.7% declared to be
Christians

Christians (57.0%
Eastern Orthodox, 29.9% members of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic
Church, 4.8% simply Christians, 3.6% members of various Protestant
churches, and 1.4%
Latin Rite

Latin Rite Catholics), by far more than in all
other regions of Ukraine, while 0.2% were Jews. Non-believers and
other believers not identifying with any of the listed major religious
institutions constituted about 3.1% of the population.[24]
See also[edit]
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Western Ukraine.
Galicia (Eastern Europe)
Eastern Ukraine
Central Ukraine
Southern Ukraine
West Belarus
Notes and references[edit]
^ Jan T. Gross (2002). "Western Ukraine". Revolution from Abroad: The
Soviet Conquest of Poland's Western Ukraine. Princeton University
Press. pp. 48 / 99 / 114. ISBN 0691096031. Retrieved
February 27, 2013.
^ Myron Weiner, Sharon Stanton Russell (June 1, 2001). "Western
Ukraine". Demography and National Security. Berghahn Books.
pp. 313 / 322. ISBN 157181339X. Retrieved February 27,
2013.
^ Philipp Ther, Ana Siljak (2001). "Forced Migration from Poland's
Former Eastern Territories". Redrawing Nations. Rowman &
Littlefield. pp. 136–. ISBN 0742510948. Retrieved February
27, 2013.
^ a b c d e
Serhy Yekelchyk Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation, Oxford
University Press (2007), ISBN 978-0-19-530546-3
^ Alfred J. Rieber (2013). Forced Migration in Central and Eastern
Europe, 1939-1950. Routledge. p. 30. ISBN 1135274827.
Retrieved 27 January 2014.
^ Rudolph Joseph Rummel (1996). Lethal Politics: Soviet Genocides and
Mass Murders Since 1917 (Google Books preview). Transaction
Publishers. p. 129. ISBN 1412827507. Retrieved 28 January
2014.
^
Norman Davies

Norman Davies (2005), "Part 2. Rossiya: The Russian Partition",
God's Playground. A History of Poland: Volume II: 1795 to the Present,
Oxford University Press, pp. 60–82, ISBN 0199253404,
retrieved January 27, 2014
^ David Crowley, National Style and Nation-state: Design in Poland
from the Vernacular Revival to the International Style (Google Print),
Manchester University Press ND, 1992, p. 12,
ISBN 0-7190-3727-1
^ a b Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States: 1999,
Routledge, 1999, ISBN 1857430581 (page 849)
^ Arne Bewersdorf. "Hans-Adolf Asbach. Eine Nachkriegskarriere" (PDF).
Band 19 Essay 5 (in German). Demokratische Geschichte.
pp. 1–42. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
^ Viewpoint: Ukrainian writer
Andrey Kurkov

Andrey Kurkov on the protests, BBC News
(28 January 2014)
^ The Educational System of Ukraine, Nordic Recognition Network, April
2009.
^ The language question, the results of recent research in 2012,
RATING (25 May 2012)
^
http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/poll-over-half-of-ukrainians-against-granting-official-status-to-russian-language-318212.html
^ (in Ukrainian) Ставлення населення України
до постаті Йосипа Сталіна Attitude population
Ukraine

Ukraine to the figure of Joseph Stalin, Kyiv International Institute
of Sociology (1 March 2013)
^ Who’s Afraid of Ukrainian History? by Timothy D. Snyder, The New
York Review of Books (21 September 2010)
^ Ukrainian Nationalism in the 1990s: A Minority Faith by Andrew
Wilson, Cambridge University Press, 1996, ISBN 0521574579 (page
128)
^ Ivan Katchanovski. (2009). Terrorists or National Heroes? Politics
of the OUN and the UPA in
Ukraine

Ukraine Paper prepared for presentation at
the Annual Conference of the Canadian Political Science Association,
Montreal, June 1–3, 2010
^ How relations between
Ukraine

Ukraine and
Russia

Russia should look like? Public
opinion polls’ results,
Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (4
March 2014)
^ Центральна виборча комісія України -
WWW відображення ІАС "Вибори народних
депутатів України 2012"
CEC substitues Tymoshenko, Lutsenko in voting papers
^ Communist and Post-Communist Parties in Europe by Uwe Backes and
Patrick Moreau, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2008,
ISBN 978-3-525-36912-8 (page 396)
^
Ukraine

Ukraine right-wing politics: is the genie out of the bottle?,
openDemocracy.net (3 January 2011)
^ Eight Reasons Why Ukraine’s Party of Regions Will Win the 2012
Elections by Taras Kuzio,
The Jamestown Foundation (17 October 2012)
UKRAINE: Yushchenko needs Tymoshenko as ally again by Taras Kuzio,
Oxford Analytica

Oxford Analytica (5 October 2007)
^ a b РЕЛІГІЯ, ЦЕРКВА, СУСПІЛЬСТВО І
ДЕРЖАВА: ДВА РОКИ ПІСЛЯ МАЙДАНУ (Religion,
Church, Society and State: Two Years after Maidan), 2016 report by
Razumkov Center

Razumkov Center in collaboration with the All-Ukrainian Council of
Churches. pp. 27-29.
Coordinates: 49°54′36″N 27°07′48″E / 49.9100°N
27.1300°E / 49.9100; 27.1300
Authority control