Lviv Oblast: Encyclopedia II - Lviv Oblast - History

Lviv Oblast - History

The oblast's strategic position at the heart of central Europe and as the gateway to the Carpathians has caused it to change hands many times over the centuries. It was ruled variously by Great Moravia, Kievan Rus', and by one of its successors, the state of Halych-Volynia (circa 1200 to 1400), then by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (circa 1400 to 1795), the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1795 to 1918), and Poland (1918 to 1939), when it was part of the Lwów Voivodship of the Second Republic of Poland. The region's historically dominant Ukrainian population declared the area to be a part of an independent Western Ukrainian Republic in 1918 but this endured only briefly. Local autonomy was provided in international treaties but later on those were not honoured by the Polish government and the area experienced much ethnic tension between the Polish and Ukrainian population.

The region only became part of the Soviet Union under the terms of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in 1939, when it was annexed to the Ukrainian SSR. It was occupied by Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1944 and remained in Soviet hands after World War II as was arranged during the conferences Teheran and Yalta. Thanks to its historical development, Lviv Oblast is one of the least Russified and Sovietized parts of Ukraine, with much of its Habsburg heritage still visible today.

The region and its capital city take their name from the time of Halych-Volynia, when Danylo, the King of Rus' founded Lviv, naming the city after his son, Lev (Leo). During this time, the general region around Lviv was known as Red Ruthenia (Cherven' Rus').

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki