One of the most striking stages of the struggle for the independence and unity of the Ukrainian lands was the declaration 85 years ago, on 15 March 1939, by the Seym (supreme legislative body) of Carpathian Ukraine of the independence of the region, the adoption of the Constitution, which introduced the state language – Ukrainian, the blue-yellow flag and the national anthem “Ukraine has not perished”. Augustyn Voloshyn was elected president.
Carpathian Ukraine, separated from the main part of Ukraine by the Carpathians, was occupied by foreign invaders – Hungarians from the time of the decline of Kyivan Rus’ in the 13th century. Despite more than seven centuries of harsh colonization and denationalization, the Ukrainians of Transcarpathia have preserved their identity, language, traditions, and sense of unity with other Ukrainian territories.
Already in 1919, during the proclamation of the Act of Unification of the Ukrainian People’s Republic and the West Ukrainian People’s Republic, representatives of the Ukrainian National Liberation Forces of Transcarpathia declared the unification of Carpathian Ukraine with the Ukrainian People’s Republic and the West Ukrainian People’s Republic in a single Ukrainian state and took part in the conclusion of the Act of Unification in Kyiv on 22 January 1919.
The unfair Versailles system, introduced by the countries that won the First World War, did not support the aspirations of Ukrainians to live in a single independent and united Ukrainian state. Carpathian Ukraine with the rights of autonomy was given to Czechoslovakia.
Therefore, only during the disintegration of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, the Ukrainians of Transcarpathia proclaimed the creation of an independent Carpathian Ukraine.
Authorities and a government were formed. The armed forces of Carpathian Ukraine under the name “Carpathian Sich” were introduced, as well as the police. Judicial bodies were formed.
Ukrainians from all corners of ethnic lands had high hopes for this state entity. They hoped that it would become a centre that would allow them to eventually restore the Ukrainian state.
Voloshin’s government carried out measures aimed at the development of the state. In particular, the work of industry, transport and trade was improved. There was the Ukrainization of the state administration, education system, and publishing. The cultural and artistic life became especially active. Such writers as Oleg Olzhych and Ulas Samchuk came to Khust. The theatre “New Stage” began to work here.
Faced with the threat of aggression from Hitler’s ally, Hungary, thousands of Ukrainians from all corners of ethnic lands went to the defence of Carpathian Ukraine.
Immediately after the declaration of Independence of Carpathian Ukraine, Hungary began military aggression.
Well prepared by the Hungarian General Staff, the military operation to seize the region was carried out in a flash. Hungarians were helped by Polish military groups, carrying out various diversions. “Karpatska Sich” was unable to effectively oppose the well-armed Hungarian army. The Carpathian Expeditionary Corps of Hungary (40,000 honved soldiers), which outnumbered the troops of “Carpathian Sich” by ten times, during 15-22 March 1939, occupied not only 4 regions of the region with Hungarian ethnicity but also occupied the territory of the entire Transcarpathia. Between 5,000 and 6,000 Transcarpathian Sichovyks died during the hostilities.
The invasion of the Hungarian army into Carpathian Ukraine took place with the agreement of Adolf Hitler and Poland. A day before the invasion, the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs announced that he supported Hungary in its actions aimed at “returning Transcarpathia”.
The Poles encouraged the purge of Ukrainians under the guise of liberation from the communist element and called for rapid de-Ukrainization and banning of the term “Ukrainian”. The Hungarian occupiers, together with the Poles, committed mass crimes against prisoners of war, considering the defenders of Carpathian Ukraine, the Sichovyks, exclusively as bandits and terrorists. The prisoners were shot without investigation and trial, the wounded were executed by throwing them into the Tisza River with their hands tied with barbed wire. Some of the prisoners on the border with Poland were handed over to the Polish police and jointly destroyed.
On 18 March, most of the lands of Carpathian Ukraine were occupied by Hungarian troops. However, in the mountainous areas, units of the “Carpathian Sich” continued to fight against the invaders until the end of May 1939.
On 7 July 1939, the Hungarians finally annexed Carpathian Ukraine.
This annexation was accompanied by brutal terror against Ukrainians. Thousands of members of “Karpatska Sich” were either shot or sent to concentration camps and prisons. Ukrainian organizations, in particular “Prosvita”, were destroyed.
The occupation of Carpathian Ukraine by the Hungarian Kingdom lasted from March 1939 to October 1944.
The heroic defence of Carpathian Ukraine by Ukrainians from many corners of ethnic lands turned into a struggle for independence during World War II led by the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (many of whose members died fighting for Transcarpathia) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.
With the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the volunteer unit “Karpatska Sich” was revived, which continues to fight for an independent and united Ukraine in the Ukrainian Donbas as a separate rifle battalion within the Armed Forces.
