Volhynia

Volhynia (, , ; also called Volynia) comprises the historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Pripyat and Western Buh -- to the north of Galicia and of Podolia. The area has one of the oldest Slavic settlements in Europe. Part of historical Volhynia now forms the Volyn, Rivne, and parts of Zhitomir and Ternopil Oblast of Ukraine, as well as parts of Poland (see Chełm). Other major cities include Lutsk, Kovel, Kremenets, and Novohrad-Volynskyi.

History

The ancient city of Halych first appears in history in 981 when taken over by Kievan Rus. Volhynia's early history coincides with that of the duchies or principalities of Halych and Volodymyr-Volynsky. These two successor states of Kievan Rus formed Halych-Volhynia between the 12th and the 14th centuries.

After the third Partition of Poland in 1795 Volhynia became a province (gubernia) of Russian Empire. By the end of the 19th century Volhynia had over 200,000 German settlers (colonists), most of whom immigrated from Congress Poland. A small number of Czech settlers also arrived. Although the economically the area was developing rather quickly, upon the eve of the First World War, it was still the most rural province in Western Russia.

In 1921 after the end of the Polish-Soviet war, the treaty known as the Peace of Riga divided Volhynia between Poland and the USSR. Poland took the larger part and established a Volhynian Voivodship. (See the map at Voivodships of Poland). Most of eastern Volhynia became part of the Zhitomir Oblast.

In 1935-1938 Stalin had the Poles of Eastern Volhynia deported -- the first ethnic deportation in the history of the Soviet Union -- see Polish minority in Soviet Union.

In 1939 the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact transferred all of Volhynia territory to the Soviet Union. In the course of the Nazi-Soviet population transfers which followed this German-Soviet reconciliation, the German minority population of Volhynia migrated to Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany. The Nazi authorities later evacuated them. Most of the Jewish and Polish minorities became victims of the ethnic cleansing by Nazis and the UPA. Between 1942 and 1944, there were many massacres of Poles, committed by the Ukrainians. Volhynia remained a part of Soviet Union after the end of World War II. Most of the remaining Poles were expatriated to Poland in 1945. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Volhynia is part of independent Ukraine.

External links

Polish historical regions | Ukrainian historical regions | Russian and Soviet Germans | Regions of Ukraine

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History

See also

External links