Pokuttia | |
|---|---|
    | |
 Coat of arms | |
 Pokuttia on the map of Ukraine | |
| Country |  Ukraine |
| Largest city | Kolomyia |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
Pokuttia, also known asPokuttya orPokutia, (Ukrainian:Покуття;Polish:Pokucie;Romanian:Pocuția) is a historical area ofEast-Central Europe, situated between theDniester andCheremosh rivers and theCarpathian Mountains, in the southwestern part of modernUkraine. Although the historic heart of the area wasKolomyia, the namePokuttia (literally 'around the corner') is derived from the town ofKuty, which literally means 'angles' or 'corners'. The region is now inhabited mainly byUkrainians.
Pokuttia had been a part of theKievan Rus' and one of its successor states,Halych-Volhynia during the early medieval period.Casimir III the Great moved to incorporate the region into theKingdom of Poland after the death ofYuri II Boleslav, the lastKing of Ruthenia, in 1340, claiming dynastic rights.[1][2]
Władysław II Jagiełło, needing financial support for his battles against theTeutonic Knights, used the region as a guarantee for a loan which he obtained fromPetru II of Moldavia, who was able to obtain economic rights over the region in 1388. Petru was eager to gain influence in the internal politics of the Kingdom of Poland, supporting the cause of his long-time allies, theJagiellons of theGrand Duchy of Lithuania.Moldavia was thus able to exert a degree of influence on the region, however it remained within the territorial limits of theKingdom of Poland. Eventually, the region became a matter for judicial and military dispute between the two states, because the debt was never repaid in full by Poland.
In 1485, MoldavianprinceStephen the Great, having lost his country's access to theBlack Sea the previous year to theOttomans, was in serious need of alliances. He swore allegiance toCasimir IV Jagiellon, King of Poland in exchange for being allowed to occupy Pokuttia, in what is known as theColomeea oath. Despite the region being underde facto Moldavian control, Poland still claimed sovereignty over it.
From 1490-1492, due to increased oppression on local Ruthenian peasants under Polish rule, a series of rebellions was led by the MoldavianPetru Muha. The rebellion was joined by other Ruthenians, such as Cossacks and Hutsuls. Known as theMuha Rebellion, this series of revolts was indirectly supported by prince Stephen, and it is one of the earliest known examples of Ruthenian revolts against Polish rule. These rebellions saw the capture of various cities in Pokuttia, reaching as far west as Lviv, as well as deteriorating relations between Moldavia and Poland, due to Stephen's indirect support.[3]
Moreover, Casimir's successor,John I Albert of Poland, who had tried several times to displace Stephen due to his unwillingness to form an alliance with him, invadedMoldavia through Pokuttia itself in 1497. After four months of siege, he failed to take the fortress ofSuceava, Moldavia's capital. After abandoning the siege, his army ran into a trap that caused many of his nobles to die at theBattle of the Cosmin Forest.
Following the battle, Pokuttia would remain heavily contested until Poland managed to recapture the region from Moldavia in theBattle of Obertyn in 1531, when Poland'shetmanJan Tarnowski defeated Stephen's sonPetru Rareș. Minor Polish–Moldavian clashes for Pokuttia continued for the next 15 years, until Petru Rareș's death.Throughout the early modern period,Obertyn was Pokuttia's main castle, while Kolomyia was the region's main market town and fair. Following thePartitions of Poland of 1772, Pokuttia fell under theHabsburg Monarchy.
In the wake of theWorld War I and the fall ofAustria-Hungary, it became disputed between Poland and the short-livedWest Ukrainian People's Republic, which had its seat of government inStanyslaviv after it failed to holdLviv. In May 1919, Polish and Romanian forcesoccupied Pokuttia in order to create a corridor between Poland and Romania. In August 1919, the Romanian Army handed eastern Pokuttia over to Poland.[4] After thePolish–Soviet War, it remained in Poland.
In mid-September 1939, during theinvasion of Poland at the start ofWorld War II, the Polishgold reserve was evacuated fromWarsaw and stored by the Polish government inŚniatyn, before it was eventually further evacuated viaRomania to the territory ofPolish-allied France.[5] As a result of the1939 invasion and partition of Poland byNazi Germany and theSoviet Union, the area was initially attached to theUkrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, falling to Nazi control after the start ofOperation Barbarossa until 1944. It was then incorporated into the Soviet controlled Western Ukrainianoblast ofIvano-Frankivsk, roughly corresponding to the southern half of the oblast.
Pokuttia's population still has some Romanian/Moldovan communities to this day. At the 2001 census there were 600 Romanians and Moldovans recorded.
The territory of Pokuttia had been part of the Kingdom of Poland. The nearby Moldavian state appeared by the mid-14th century, eventually expanding its territory all the way to the Black Sea. Bukovina and neighboring regions were the nucleus of the Moldavian principality, with the city of Suceava as its capital from 1388 (after Baia and Siret).[6]
The Romanian language influenced the language spoken by locals, and thePokuttia–Bukovina dialect was formed. It is distinct from other Ukrainian dialects because most of them are influenced by other Slavic languages, while the Pokuttia-Bukovina dialect was formed under the influence of Romance languages. The dialect preserved several archaic endings and soft declension, and certain lexical peculiarities, including Romanianisms. The expansion of ancient Pokuttian phonetic features in the 14th-16th centuries in western Podolia contributed to the formation of a broader group of Dniester dialects.[citation needed]
