Volhynia: Encyclopedia II - Volhynia - History

Volhynia - History

The ancient city of Halicz (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 Volynskyi (Vladimir-Volynsky, Włodzimierz Wołyński). These two successor states of Kievan Rus' formed Halych-Volhynia between the 12th and the 14th centuries.

After the disintegration of the Grand Duchy of Halych-Volodymyr (also called Galich-Vladimir Rus') circa 1340, Poland and Lithuania divided up the region between them, Poland taking Western Volhynia and Lithuania Eastern Volhynia (1352-1366). After 1569 Volhynia formed a province of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. During this period Poles and Jews settled in the area. The Roman and Greek Catholic churches became established in the province, and many Orthodox churches were forcibly annexed by the latter. Records of the first agricultural colonies of Mennonites date from 1783.

After the third Partition of Poland in 1795 Volhynia became a province (gubernia) of Russian Empire. Volhynia suffered tsarist repressions both after November Uprising (1831) and January Uprising (1863). 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 Wolhynian 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 masacres of Poles, commited 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.

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