Volhynia

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Volhynia (Ukrainian: Волинь, Volyn’, Polish: Wołyń, Russian: Волынь, Volyn’; Yiddish: װאָהלין, Vohlin; also called Volynia) comprises the historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Prypiat and Western Bug -- 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 Zhytomyr and Ternopil Oblast of Ukraine, as well as parts of Poland (see Chełm). Other major cities include Lutsk, Kovel, Kremenets, and Novohrad-Volynskyi. Many Jewish shtetls like Trochenbrod and Lozisht were once an integral part of the region.^[1]

1 History
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

The ancient city of Halych first appears in history in 981 when taken over by Vladimir the Great of 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.

Pochayiv Lavra, the spiritual heart of the Orthodox in Volhynia

After the disintegration of the Grand Duchy of Halych-Volhynia (also called Galich-Vladimir Rus) circa 1340, the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of 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 the 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 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.

Mezhyrich Abbey in Ostroh was endowed by Princes Ostrogski in the 15th century

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 Voivodeship. (See the map at Voivodeships 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 has been part of independent Ukraine.