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Carpatho-Ukraine Карпатська Україна | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 December 1938 – 15 March 1939 (1938-12-30 –1939-03-15) | |||||||||
| Anthem: Державний Гімн України Derzhavnyi Himn Ukrainy "State Anthem of Ukraine"[1] | |||||||||
 | |||||||||
| Status |
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| Capital and largest city | Khust | ||||||||
| Official languages | Ukrainian,Hungarian | ||||||||
| Government |
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| President | |||||||||
• 1939 | Avgustyn Voloshyn | ||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||
• 1938–1939 | Avgustyn Voloshyn | ||||||||
• 1939 | Julian Revay | ||||||||
| Legislature | Soim | ||||||||
| Historical era | Interwar period | ||||||||
| 30 December 1938 | |||||||||
| 15 March 1939 | |||||||||
| 15 March 1939 | |||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
| 1939 | 13,352 km2 (5,155 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1939 | 796,400 | ||||||||
| Currency | Czechoslovak koruna | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Ukraine | ||||||||
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Carpatho-Ukraine orCarpathian Ukraine (Ukrainian:Карпа́тська Украї́на,romanized: Karpatska Ukraina,IPA:[kɐrˈpɑtsʲkɐʊkrɐˈjinɐ]) was anautonomous region within theSecond Czechoslovak Republic andshort-lived state. It was created in December 1938 and renamed fromSubcarpathian Rus', whose full administrative and political autonomy had been confirmed by constitutional law of 22 November 1938.[2]
20 years earlier, by the 1920Treaty of Trianon, the region, which had historically belonged toHungary, had been detached from theKingdom of Hungary and attached to newly createdCzechoslovakia. SubsequentlyHungary had sought revision of theTreaty of Trianon and the restoration of her historical borders.
On 2 November 1938 theFirst Vienna Award separated territories fromCzechoslovakia, including southernCarpathian Rus', that were mostlyHungarian-populated and returned them toHungary.
After the breakup of theSecond Czechoslovak Republic, Carpatho-Ukraine on 15 March 1939 proclaimed itself an independent republic, headed by PresidentAvgustyn Voloshyn, who appealed toHitler for recognition and support.
Nazi Germany did not reply, and the short-lived state wasinvaded by theKingdom of Hungary, crushing all local resistance by 18 March 1939.[1]
The region remained under Hungarian control until theend of World War II in Europe, after which it was occupied and annexed by theSoviet Union. The territory is now administered as the UkrainianZakarpattia Oblast.
Soon after the implementation of theMunich Agreement, signed on 30 September 1938, by whichCzechoslovakia lost much of its border region toNazi Germany, a series of political reforms were initiated, leading to the creation of aSecond Czechoslovak Republic, comprising three autonomous political entities, including anautonomous Slovakia and an autonomous Subcarpathian Rus' (in theRusyn language,Підкарпатьска Русь).
The first local government of autonomous Subcarpathian Rus', appointed on 11 October 1938, was headed by Prime MinisterAndrej Bródy. There ensued a crisis involving two factions, pro-Rusyn and pro-Ukrainian, leading to the resignation of Bródy's government on 26 October. The new regional government, headed byAvgustyn Voloshyn, adopted a pro-Ukrainian orientation and changed the region's name from "Subcarpathian Rus'" to "Carpathian Ukraine".[3]
On 22 November 1938 the Second Czechoslovak Republic adopted a "Constitutional Law on the Autonomy of Subcarpathian Rus'" (in theCzech language,Ústavní zákon o autonomii Podkarpatské Rusi), officially reaffirming theself-determination rights of the "Rusyn people" (preamble) and confirming the full administrative and political autonomy of Subcarpathian Rus', with its own assembly and government. This was seen as showing the central government's support for the pro-Rusyn faction.
On 30 December 1938 the regional government issued a provisional decree changing the region's name to "Carpathian Ukraine". That led to a peculiar terminological duality: in the Second Czechoslovak Republic's constitutional system, the region continued to be known as Subcarpathian Rus', whereas the region itself used the name "Carpathian Ukraine".[4][3]
In late September 1938, Hungary was ready to mobilize between 200,000 and 350,000 men on the Czechoslovak borders in case the Czechoslovak question could not be solved on diplomatic level, in favor of the Hungarian territorial claims. After theMunich Agreement the Hungarian Army had remained poised threateningly on the Czechoslovak border. They reportedly had artillery ammunition for only 36 hours of operations, and were clearly engaged in a bluff, but it was a bluff the Germans had encouraged, and one that they would have been obliged to support militarily if the much larger, better trained and better equippedCzechoslovak Army chose to fight. The Czechoslovak army had built 2,000 small concrete emplacements along the border in places where rivers did not serve as natural obstacles.
The Hungarian minister of the interior,Miklós Kozma, had been born in Subcarpathia, and in mid-1938 his ministry armed theRongyos Gárda ('Ragged Guard'), which began to infiltrate guerrillas along the southern borders of Czechoslovakia, into Slovakia and Subcarpathia. The situation was now verging on open war, which might set the whole of Europe ablaze again. The appendix of theMunich Agreement stated that Czechoslovakia and Hungary should settle their disputes by mutual negotiation, which however failed to achieve agreement.
Between 25 October and 1 November 1938, Poland and Hungary conducted coordinated guerrilla operations in Carpathian Rus, with the objective of eliminating thesich (military camp) that had been established by the German-backedOrganization of Ukrainian Nationalists outside the Rusyn capital,Uzhhorod. Poland had felt its southeasternKresy threatened by thesich, while Hungary wished to regain Carpathian Rus, which Hungary had lost after World War I. Poland and Hungary hoped that the eventual restoration of their historic common boundary (which would indeed occur in March 1939) would satisfy the purposes of both countries.[5]
The Hungarian and Czechoslovak governments accepted the German-and-Italian-brokeredFirst Vienna Award, of 2 November 1938 (France and the United Kingdom having declined to participate in the negotiations).
The agreed border line returned 11,927 square km. to Hungary. A census in mid-December found 1,041,401 inhabitants in the reannexed territory, of whom 879,007 (84.4%) were Hungarians and 123,864 (11.9%) were Slovaks.[6]
On 8 November 1938, the Slovak National Unity Party received 97.5 percent of the Slovak votes, and a one-party state was instituted. Slovak autonomy was formalized by the Prague parliament on 19 November, and to symbolize this new Slovak assertiveness, the country's name was then altered to Czecho-Slovakia. Carpatho-Ukraine was also given autonomy.
The Arbitration of Vienna fully satisfied nobody, and there followed 22 border clashes between2 November 1938 and12 January 1939, during which five Czechoslovaks were killed and six were wounded. The Slovak national militiaHlinka Guard participated in these clashes. The ineffectiveness of the Prague government in protecting their interests stirred Slovak and Ukrainian nationalism further. On 6 January 1939 Czechoslovak troops ordered by generalLev Prchala performed a surprise attack on the city ofMunkács (nowMukacheve), in which theCarpathian Sich were as well involved, but the Rongyos Gárda with the help of the local police pushed them back. After this incidentDöme Sztójay, the Hungarian ambassador in Berlin transferred a message to the German government in case of the German occupation of the Czech lands and the declaration of Slovak independence Hungary will occupy the rest of Carpathian Ruthenia, regardless of German approval. On March 11, the German ambassador in Budapest outlined in the German Government's response if Hungary will maintain and uphold the economic contracts with Germany, respect the rights of the local Germans and would not persecute the members of the Voloshyn Cabinet, then in case of the proclamation of an independent Carpatho-Ukraine would be acquiescent regarding the Hungarian plans.[7]
Slovak and Ukrainian nationalism grew more intense. On 10 March, theHlinka Guard andVolksdeutsche demonstrated, demanding independence from Czecho-Slovakia.[citation needed] In the evening of 13 March, Slovak leaderJozef Tiso and Ďurčanský metAdolf Hitler,Joachim von Ribbentrop, and GeneralsWalther von Brauchitsch andWilhelm Keitel in Berlin.
Hitler made it absolutely clear: Slovakia could either declare independence immediately and associate itself with the Reich, or he would allow the Hungarians to take over the country – whom Ribbentrop reported were massing at the border.[citation needed] During the afternoon and night of 14 March, the Slovak parliament proclaimed independence from Czecho-Slovakia, and at 05:00 on 15 March 1939, Hitler declared the unrest in Czecho-Slovakia to be a threat to German national security. He sent his troops intoBohemia andMoravia, meeting virtually no resistance.
Following theSlovak proclamation of independence on March 14 and theNazis' seizure of Czech lands on 15 March, Carpatho-Ukraine declared its independence as the Republic of Carpatho-Ukraine,[8] with the ReverendAvgustyn Voloshyn as head of state.[citation needed]. Voloshin was now supported by the population of Subcarpathia. The First Constitutional Law of Carpatho-Ukraine of 15 March 1939 defined the new country as follows:[9]
The proclaimed Carpatho-Ukrainian government was headed by PresidentAvgustyn Voloshyn,[9] Prime MinisterJulian Révaý, Minister of DefenceStepan Klochurak, and Minister of Internal Affairs Yuriy Perevuznyk.[citation needed] The head of theSoim was Avhustyn Shtephan, his deputies were Fedir Révaý and Stepan Rosokha.[citation needed] The Slovak declaration of independence caused law and order to break down immediately. The Hungarians had learned that the Germans would not object to a Hungarian takeover of Carpatho-Ukraine on the same day.
<onlyinclude>
| Hungarian invasion of Carpatho-Ukraine | ||||||||||
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| Part of theprelude to World War II | ||||||||||
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| Belligerents | ||||||||||
| (since 16 March) | ||||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | ||||||||||
| Units involved | ||||||||||
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| Strength | ||||||||||
| Casualties and losses | ||||||||||
| 1,500 killed and wounded[14] | ||||||||||
| 27,000Ukrainian civilians killed 75,000 fled toUkrainian SSR (~60,000 of them died inGulag camps) 60,000 deported toHungary orThird Reich for forced labour[15]: | ||||||||||
TheHungarian invasion of Carpatho-Ukraine was a 1939 military conflict between theKingdom of Hungary andCarpatho-Ukraine. During the invasion a series of clashes took place between theHungarian and Polish troops against the paramilitary formations of theCarpathian Sich of Carpathian Ukraine and some Czech troops who remained in the region after the Czechoslovak army was disbanded. The war ended withthe occupation and subsequent annexation of the territory of Transcarpathian Ukraine (Subcarpathian Rus') to the Kingdom of Hungary.[16]
This territory was later invaded by theSoviet Union and integrated into itsUkrainian SSR.
After the collapse of theAustro-Hungarian Empire, Transcarpathia became part ofCzechoslovakia. Finally, the status of the territory was confirmed by theTreaty of Trianon in 1920. The Treaty of Trianon deprived Hungary of 71.5% of its territory before the war. The country was divided amongst the states bordering the then Kingdom of Hungary. Hungary was forbidden to use aircraft, tanks, and heavy artillery. The maximum number of the Hungarian army, which could be formed only of volunteers, should not exceed 35 thousand people. The navy, including the ships of the Danube Flotilla, was handed over to the Allies.
The political situation in Transcarpathia during the Interwar period was difficult.Ukrainophiles, led byAugustyn Voloshyn wanted autonomy within the Czechoslovak Republic,Russophiles, represented by theAutonomous Agrarian Union ofAndriy Brody and theRussian National Autonomous Party of Stepan Fentsyk, which focused on the Italian fascists, supported autonomy within Hungary, the United Hungarian Party (about 10% of the vote) demanded a return to Hungary, and the Communists (up to 25% of the vote) wanted to joinSoviet Ukraine. Thus, in the 1935 elections, 63% of the votes went to supporters of full autonomy, accession to Hungary or Soviet Ukraine, and only 25% to supporters of Czechoslovakia. All Czech parties in Carpathian Ruthenia opposed autonomy.
In the 1930s, Hungary began to openly ignore the terms of the Treaty of Trianon and put the economy on a military footing. In early autumn 1938, Hungary, taking advantage of the Sudeten crisis, also began territorial encroachments on Czechoslovakia. According to the provisions of theMunich Agreement signed by four major powers (Great Britain,Nazi Germany,Kingdom of Italy and theFrench Third Republic) on September 30, 1938, the Czechoslovak government was required to resolve the issue of belonging of theUpper Hungary with the Kingdom of Hungary within three months. It was these lands that Hungary lost in 1920 under theTreaty of Trianon.
Bilateral Czechoslovak-Hungarian talks took place from October 9 to 13 inKomárno, but ended in vain. On October 11, the authorities of the Czechoslovak "autonomous land" ofSubcarpathian Rus' gained self-government,[17] and on October 20, a resolution supported aplebiscite on the territory's membership in the Kingdom of Hungary. However, five days later, Subcarpathian Prime Minister Andriy Brody, representing pro-Hungarian circles,[18][19] was arrested inPrague, and was replaced by Foreign MinisterAugustyn Voloshyn, who agreed to consider only the transfer of territories to the Kingdom of Hungary. with a predominantly Hungarian population, and rejected the idea of a plebiscite.
| Parties | 1924 | 1925[20] | 1929 | 1935[21] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Communist | 39.4% | 30.8% | 15.2% | 25.6% | ||
| Russophiles | AZS | 8.3% | 11.7% | 18.3% | 14.9% | |
| KTP | 7.9% | 6.3% | 3.6% | |||
| RNP | 1.1% | 1.3% | 9.3% | |||
| Hungarians | MNP | 11.1% | 11.8% | 11.4% | 11% | |
| Others | 2.3% | 0.4% | – | – | ||
| Ukrainophiles | SDRPnPR | 8.3% | 7.4% | 8.6% | 9.6% | |
| RKhP | 4.4% | 3% | 3.4% | 2.4% | ||
| Czechoslovaks | RSZML | 5.9% | 13.9% | 29.1% | 19.6% | |
| Others | 0.5% | – | 2.8% | 2.8% | ||
The head of the Hungarian delegation at the talks in Komárno, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of HungaryKálmán Kánya, asked the signatories of the Munich Agreement to act as judges on the issue of delimitation. As theUnited Kingdom and theFrench Republic withdrew, German Foreign MinisterJoachim von Ribbentrop and Italian Foreign MinisterGaleazzo Ciano became arbitrators. On October 29, theCzechoslovak Republic and theKingdom of Hungary formally proposed to Italy and Germany that an arbitration be held, agreeing in advance with its results.[clarification needed]
At the arbitration held on November 2, 1938, inVienna, the Czechoslovak delegation, among others, prepared to present their views, as well as the representatives of Carpathian Ukraine (Avgustyn Voloshyn) and of Slovakia (Jozef Tiso), but at the initiative of Ribbentrop they were not given the floor, because autonomy, which they represented could not be considered as a third party.[clarification needed] By the First Vienna Award, the Kingdom of Hungary was given territories with an area of 11,927 km2, including the Carpatho-Ukrainian territory (1,537 km2). Between 57% and 84% of their population were Hungarians, according to Czechoslovak and Hungarian statistics, respectively.[22]
Carpathian Ukraine then lost its two main cities (Uzhgorod andMukachevo) as well as all fertile lands. On November 12, they were officially incorporated into the Kingdom of Hungary by a resolution of the country's[clarification needed] parliament. However, the decisions of the First Vienna Award did not satisfy the acquiring country, Hungary did not resign[clarification needed] on the restoration of her old borders.[22]
The Hungarian government intensified negotiations with theSecond Polish Republic, which had long incited theKingdom of Hungary to seizeSubcarpathian Rus' by force. Negotiations with the Kingdom of Italy also continued, butGaleazzo Ciano recommended abandoning plans to occupy Subcarpathia; in addition,Hitler, dissatisfied with the rapprochement of the Kingdom of Hungary and the Republic of Poland, also warned the Hungarian government against such actions.[23]
However, despite all these warnings, preparations for theinvasion continued. The mobilized 6th Hungarian Corps was concentrated on the border. At the same time, theKingdom of Hungary and theRepublic of Poland isolated Carpathian Ukraine from the outside world, restrictingtelephone,telegraph andpostal communications, and began an economic blockade. Hungarian and Polish saboteurs were thrown across the border. Fighting broke out between units of the Czech army and saboteurs, and Czech spies managed to reveal the affiliation of Polish troops.[citation needed]
On November 9, 1938, in connection with the increasing number of Hungarian-Polish sabotage cases, the government ofCarpatho-Ukraine, based on theUkrainian National Union [uk] (UNO) political party, established the Carpathian Sich People's Defense Organization (ONOKS), although the first Sich detachments appeared in the early 1930s as ordinary fire-fighting and cultural-educational societies, similar to those formed in neighboring Eastern Galicia. The leading role in ONOKS was played by OUN members who came to Transcarpathia from other regions of Ukraine, as well as from emigration.[18]
Dmytro Klympush, a former officer of the Austro-Hungarian army, was appointed as commander-in-chief of the Sich, and Ivan Roman, a former officer of the Czechoslovak army, was appointed as deputy commander. In December, the autonomous government of Voloshin and the Czechoslovak General Staff reached an agreement on conducting military training of the Sich, and they received the weapons of the local national guard, the Domobranstva. At that time, there were about 2,000 trained Sich soldiers, or so-called full members of the Carpathian Sich. In general, Sich had about 2-3 thousand soldiers and about the same number of reservists.[24]
On November 18, 1938, preparations for the invasion were completed, and it was scheduled for November 20. However,Nazi Germany intervened. The Germans believed that theCzechoslovak Republic would be able to resist, and the Wehrmacht, which was in the process ofdemobilization, would not be able to help the Hungarians, and therefore the Hungarians were "advised" not to take any action because of the unpredictability of their results. The military intervention was canceled, but the Kingdom of Hungary did not abandon its plans for Podkarpackie.[23]
On January 6, 1939, preparations for the invasion resumed, and General Bidza was appointed as commander of the operation. On January 19, 1939, the new Minister of Internal Affairs ofCarpatho-Ukraine, GeneralLev Prchala, appointed by the President of the Czechoslovak RepublicEmil Hácha without the consent of the autonomous leadership, arrived inKhust, then the capital of the Carpathian Autonomy.[25]
The Prime Minister of Carpatho-Ukraine,Augustyn Voloshyn, receivedLev Prchala only as a general in the federal army. The general was denied cooperation and a note was sent to the government of the Czechoslovak Republic, while Prchala himself told Voloshyn that he did not expect to face such difficulties and promised to personally ask the government to dismiss him as minister.[25]
In response to these actions, the Carpatho-Ukrainian government removed the representative of Carpatho-Ukraine,Julian Revay, from the Czechoslovak government and reaffirmed General Prhala's authority as commander of the Czechoslovak army in Carpatho-Ukraine; in addition, in his hands concentrated the management of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Finance and Communications of Carpatho-Ukraine.[25]
TheKingdom of Hungary soon joined theanti-Comintern pact, andHitler decided on the possibility of Hungarian occupation ofCarpatho-Ukraine, subject to the interests ofNazi Germany.[citation needed]
The capture ofCarpatho-Ukraine by Hungarian troops was originally planned to begin on March 12, 1939, the day of the elections to the localSoim, but the German government rejected the idea, saying it would announce the start of the occupation.[26]
The Hungarians concentrated 12 divisions of the VI Army on the border, and on the night of March 13–14, the Hungarian army began advancing deep into the territory of Carpatho-Ukraine with small forces.[27]
At 2:00 a.m., units of the Carpathian Sich (then a 5,000-strong paramilitary organization[17]) received weapons from the Khust gendarmerie (41rifles and 90pistols) to defend against the Hungarians on the orders of Prime MinisterAugustyn Voloshyn.[28]
At around 4 a.m.,Ivan Roman, the deputy commander of the Carpathian Sich, received a call from Czech officers demanding that the weapons be returned to thewarehouse. The commandant, referring to the decree of Augustin Voloshyn, flatly refused. In response, GeneralLev Prchala ordered units of the 45th Regiment stationed inKhust to seize weapons by force.[28]
At 6:00 a.m., Czech troops, numbering 200 soldiers, armed with six light tanks (LT vz.35), four armored vehicles (OA vz.30),heavy guns,machine guns andmortars, attacked the main Sich buildings: Kish, "Sich Hotel ", The main team, "Women's Sect" and "Flying Variety". The leadership of autonomous Carpatho-Ukraine appealed to the Czechs to cease fire, but no response was received.[28] The Sich began seizing weapons depots, office buildings, and disarming patrols. Armed clashes between the Sich and Czechoslovak troops lasted more than 8 hours.Barricades appeared on the streets of Khust, and constant street fights broke out.[28]
At the same time,Prime Minister Voloshyn tried to resolve the conflict. Several attempts to call the central government were unsuccessful - Prague did not respond. After a telephone conversation between Prime MinisterAugustyn Voloshyn (who strongly opposed an armed attack by Czechoslovak troops on Sich units) and GeneralLev Prchala, a truce was established in the streets: Czechoslovakia returned to thebarracks and the Carpathian Sich disarmed.[26]
According to various sources, the losses of the Sich ranged from 40 to 150 killed and about 50 wounded, the losses of the Czechoslovaks - from 7 to 20soldiers andgendarmes killed. During the confrontation between Sich and the Czechoslovaks, Hungarian troops occupied three villages nearMukachevo.[25]
On the morning of March 14, 1939, the commander of the eastern group of troops, General Lev Prchal, believing that the invasion of Hungarian troops had not been authorized byBerlin, ordered the beginning of the defense. However, after the declaration of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, he ordered on March 16 the evacuation of Czechoslovak troops and civil servants from the territory of Subcarpathian Ukraine.[29] The evacuation took place in three directions: in the west - to the Slovak Republic, in the north - to the Republic of Poland and in the southeast - to the Kingdom of Romania.[23] The last Czechoslovak troops left Khust in March 17.[12]
In these circumstances, on March 15, 1939,Augustyn Voloshyn proclaimed the independence ofCarpatho-Ukraine by radio and sent a telegram toAdolf Hitler in Berlin, asking him to take the country under the protectorate of Nazi Germany. In response, the German government refused to support him and advised him not to resist Hungarian troops.[30] On the same day, the Hungarian government sent a parliamentarian toKhust with a proposal to disarm and peacefully join the Kingdom of Hungary. Voloshyn refused, saying that "Carpatho-Ukraine is a peaceful state and wants to live in peace with its neighbors, but if necessary will repel any aggressor." Mobilization was announced in Transcarpathia.[25]
In the evening of March 15, Hungarian troops launched a general offensive in four directions:Uzhhorod -Perechyn -Uzhok;Uzhhorod -Svaliava -Lavochne;Mukachevo -Irshava -Kushnytsia;Korolevo -Khust -Yasinya -Volove.
The Carpathian Sich recruited volunteers, mostly demobilized Czechoslovak army soldiers from the local population, and, with 10,000 to 12,000 poorly armed soldiers, tried to resist. The Hungarians struck the main blow along theUzhhorod-Perechyn line, trying to cut off Carpathian Ukraine from the Slovak Republic. The Hungarian army encountered strong resistance near the village ofHoronda, wheresotnia "Sich" M. Stoyka held the defense for 16 hours.[25]
Heavy fighting followed the cities ofKhust andVynohradiv, which repeatedly passed from hand to hand. The most bloody was the battle on the outskirts of Khust, on Krasne Pole. According to the Hungarian archives, 230 people from Sich were killed in this battle, and 160 Hungarians.[23] The resistance of the Sich threatened to prolong the fighting, but the Poles came to the aid of the Hungarians, who began their offensive from theUzhok Pass.[25]
On the morning of March 16, a day after the declaration of independence, the government of Carpatho-Ukraine left Khust, heading for the Romanian border, and a few hours later Hungarian troops stormed the capital of Carpatho-Ukraine. The 24th Hungarian Border Guard Battalion and the 12th Scooter Battalion took part in the storming of the city,aircraft andanti-tank guns were also actively used. The Hungarians were opposed by more than 3,000 Sich soldiers, who were armed with 12 units of armored vehicles previously seized from the Czechoslovaks. Under the pressure of the oppressive forces of the enemy, the Sich were forced to retreat from the city.[25]
On March 17, Hungarian troops capturedRakhiv,Yasinia, andBushtyno. Voloshyn and his immediate entourage reached the Romanian border in the area ofVelykyi Bychkiv viaTiachiv. From the Kingdom of Romania he moved to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and then viaVienna to Nazi-occupiedPrague,[23] where he was appointed rector of the localUkrainian Free University and stayed there until 1945, when he was arrested by Soviet intelligence SMERSH and deported toMoscow on July 19, 1945, where he died, according to the official version - from heart failure. On March 15, 2002, PresidentLeonid Kuchma signed a decree posthumously awarding Voloshyn the title of "Hero of Ukraine" with the Order of the State.
In the evening of March 17[23][27] (according to other sources, March 18), the entire territory ofCarpatho-Ukraine was occupied by Hungarians. On March 18 (after the capture ofVolovets, the last settlement held by the Sich), Hungarian troops ended the occupation of Transcarpathian Ukraine and reached the entire border with theRepublic of Poland and theKingdom of Romania. Organized resistance ceased, but some units of the Carpathian Sich continued to fight in guerrilla units[18] for another three weeks,[30] and in theVolovets andRakhiv regions until January 1940.[25] In March 1939, the General Staff of the Hungarian Army decided to conduct a series of combat operations to cleanse Carpatho-Ukraine of "foreign elements" and to report on their progress every ten days. "Foreign elements", which included Galicians, were taken to the Hungarian-Polish border, and there were handed over to the Poles for execution. Followers ofMiklós Horthy increased the number of troops and gendarmerie in some districts.
On March 18, the commander of the Voliv Sich,Stepan Figura, was shot dead.
The leader of the Khust Sich,Oleksandr Blystiv- "Haidamak", while in the Khust prison, did not have a pencil, so he pierced his finger with a pin and wrote a note with blood:I, Oleksandr Blestiv, 22, from Khust, am going to die for loving my homeland - Ukraine.Combat losses of the parties during the war amounted to:[18]
The total losses of the Sich, according to various sources, ranged from 2 to 6.5 thousand people.[30] The difference is explained by the fact that most of them died not in clashes with regular Hungarian units, but as a result of sweeps and executions of prisoners.[23] The local Hungarian population, armed with weapons left by the Czechoslovaks, also contributed to this: they began to hunt down Sich groups and kill them on the spot.[31]
In addition, Sich soldiers who surrendered to the Poles were shot on the spot, and natives ofEastern Galicia (part of the Polish Republic at the time), who were detained by the Hungarian occupiers in Transcarpathia, were handed over to the Polish border service. Part of the Carpathian Sich fighters, who had retreated to the Kingdom of Romania, were disarmed, looted by the local population and handed over to the Hungarians. The Sich survivors were held in a Hungarian concentration camp in the village of Voryulyuposh near the town ofNyíregyháza.[31] In the first two months after the occupation, 59,377 people from Transcarpathia were deported to work in the Kingdom of Hungary, and 686 people were deported to Germany.[18]
The Carpathian Sich Cross was issued in 1969 by the Central Board of the Carpathian Sich Brotherhood for all soldiers of the Carpathian Sich. Silver cross.
In 2009, theNational Bank of Ukraine issued commemorative coins dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the proclamation ofCarpatho-Ukraine: a ₴2 nickel silver coin and a ₴20 silver coin.
The Chief of General Staff of HungaryHenrik Werth asked for at least a week to prepare for the invasion, but the Royal Council gave him only 12 hours to occupy Carpathian Ruthenia before the declaration of Slovak independence.[1] Responsible for preparation to the assault was appointed chief of Munkacs garrison Lajos Béldi who commanded 1st Mountain Brigade, while Lieutenant GeneralFerenc Szombathelyi (commander of the 8th Corps in Kassa) was placed in charge of the Carpathian Group as an expeditionary force.[1]
The available Hungarian forces consisted of an infantry regiment, two cavalry regiments, three infantry battalions on bicycles, one motorized battalion, two border guard battalions, one artillery battalion and two armored trains. These forces were counting for more than two World War II divisions. They were supported byFiat CR.32 fighter aircraft amounting to one squadron. In addition to regular units, Hungarians were also aided by several irregular formations such as the Rongyos Gárda and black-shirt guards ofIstván Fenczik, who has been accused earlier as aMagyaron by the Voloshyn Cabinet.[1][2]
The Hungarian Border Guard units stationed around Munkács, after throwing back the attacking Czecho-Slovak units on14 March 1939, pressed forward in turn, and took the town of Őrhegyalja (today Pidhoriany as part ofMukachevo).
On 15 March 1939, theHungarian Army regular troops invaded Carpatho-Ukraine and by nightfall reached Szolyva. The Carpatho-Ukrainian irregular troops, theCarpathian Sich, without additional support, were quickly routed.[3] The greatest battle between the Hungarian army and several hundred Ukrainian soldiers (armed with light machine guns, rifles, hand grenades and pistols) took place nearKhust.[3] About 230 Ukrainians died in the battle.[3]
Czecho-Slovak resistance in Carpatho-Ukraine was negligible, and the advancing Hungarian troops did not have to face a well-organized and centralized resistance. The Hungarian Army also had the advantage of theFirst Vienna Award, which made it possible for the Hungarians to take possession of the area where the Czechs had built permanent fortifications to defend against Hungary.
On 16 March 1939, Hungary formally annexed the territory. Prime Minister Yulian Révaý had resisted the Hungarians until then. In the night to 17 March, the last Czecho-Slovak troops leftKhust and retreated to Romanian borders. They and the one-day president of Carpatho-Ukraine, Voloshyn, fled to Romania.
TheRoyal Hungarian Army continued their advance, pushing forward at top speed, and reached the Polish border on 17 March.[4] Those Sich members who came from the province ofGalicia as Polish citizens were captured by the Hungarians and handed over to Polish soldiers for illegally crossing the border, while some 500-600 were executed by Polish soldiers.[5] The last resistance in the Carpathian mountains was taken out on 18 March.[3]
The invasion campaign was a success, but it also proved that the Hungarian Army was not yet ready for full war. The handicaps imposed by theTrianon Treaty were clearly visible, but the morale and nationalist spirit of the soldiers and the civilian populations were high[citation needed], which was also important in building a strong national army.
Following theGerman occupation of Hungary in March 1944,Adolf Eichmann oversaw the deportation of almost the entire Hungarian Jewish population; few survivedthe Holocaust. At the conclusion of theBattle of the Dukla Pass on28 October 1944, theSoviet Union had driven the Germans and Hungarians back and occupied Carpathian Ruthenia and the rest of western Ukraine. Control of Carpathian Ruthenia thus "nominally" reverted to Czechoslovakia. The delegation of theCzechoslovak government-in-exile, led by minister František Němec, arrived inKhust to establish the provisional Czechoslovak administration, according to the treaties between the Soviet and Czechoslovak government that year.
However, after just a few weeks, for reasons that remain unclear, theRed Army and thePeople's Commissariat for Internal Affairs started to obstruct the delegation's work and finally a puppet "National Committee of Transcarpatho-Ukraine" was set up inMukachevo under the protection of the Red Army. On 26 November this committee, led by Ivan Ivanovich Turyanitsa, aRusyn who had deserted from theCzechoslovak army,[citation needed] proclaimed the "will of Ukrainian people" to separate from Czechoslovakia and to join theUkrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. After two months of conflict and unsuccessful negotiations the Czechoslovak government delegation departed Khust on1 February 1945, leaving Carpatho-Ukraine under Soviet control.
The Soviet Union exerted pressure on Czechoslovakia, and on 29 June 1945, the two countries signed a treaty, officially ceding Carpatho-Ruthenia to the USSR. In 1946, the area became part of the Ukrainian SSR as theZakarpattia Oblast.
TheSoim of Carpatho-Ukraine was established on 12 February 1939 by the Czechoslovak constitutional act of22 November 1938. It consisted of 32 representatives with 29 Ukrainians and three of national minorities. There was only a single session of the parliament that took place on15 March 1939 in Khust.
At the session the parliament approved the proclamation of the sovereignty of Carpatho-Ukraine, adopted its Constitution, elected the president, and confirmed the new government of Julian Révaý. The head of the Soim becameAugustin Štefan with his deputies,Fedir Révaý andStepan Rosokha. The presidium of the Soim emigrated out of the country following the invasion of Carpatho-Ukraine by theHungarian Armed Forces.
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