Political autonomy Soon after the implementation of the
Munich Agreement, signed on 30 September 1938, by which
Czechoslovakia lost much of its border region to
Nazi Germany, a series of political reforms were initiated, leading to the creation of a
Second Czechoslovak Republic, comprising three autonomous political entities, including an
autonomous Slovakia and an autonomous Subcarpathian Rus' (in the
Rusyn language,
Підкарпатьска Русь). The first local government of autonomous Subcarpathian Rus', appointed on 11 October 1938, was headed by Prime Minister
Andrej 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 by
Avgustyn Voloshyn, adopted a pro-Ukrainian orientation and changed the region's name from "Subcarpathian Rus'" to "Carpathian Ukraine". On 22 November 1938 the Second Czechoslovak Republic adopted a "Constitutional Law on the Autonomy of Subcarpathian Rus'" (in the
Czech language,
Ústavní zákon o autonomii Podkarpatské Rusi), officially reaffirming the
self-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".
Political crisis 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 the
Munich 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 equipped
Czechoslovak 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 the
Rongyos 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 the
Munich 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 the
sich (military camp) that had been established by the German-backed
Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists outside the Rusyn capital,
Uzhhorod. Poland had felt its southeastern
Kresy threatened by the
sich, 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. The Hungarian and Czechoslovak governments accepted the German-and-Italian-brokered
First 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. 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 between and , during which five Czechoslovaks were killed and six were wounded. The Slovak national militia
Hlinka 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 general
Lev Prchala performed a surprise attack on the city of
Munkács (now
Mukacheve), in which the
Carpathian Sich were as well involved, but the Rongyos Gárda with the help of the local police pushed them back. After this incident
Döme 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.
Proclamation of Independence Slovak and Ukrainian nationalism grew more intense. On 10 March, the
Hlinka Guard and
Volksdeutsche demonstrated, demanding independence from Czecho-Slovakia. In the evening of 13 March, Slovak leader
Jozef Tiso and Ďurčanský met
Adolf Hitler,
Joachim von Ribbentrop, and Generals
Walther von Brauchitsch and
Wilhelm 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. 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 into
Bohemia and
Moravia, meeting virtually no resistance. Following the
Slovak proclamation of independence on March 14 and the
Nazis' seizure of Czech lands on 15 March, Carpatho-Ukraine declared its independence as the Republic of Carpatho-Ukraine, with the Reverend
Avgustyn Voloshyn as head of state.. 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: • Carpatho-Ukraine is an independent state • The name of the state is: Carpatho-Ukraine • Carpatho-Ukraine is a republic, headed by a president elected by the of Carpatho-Ukraine • The state language of Carpatho-Ukraine is the
Ukrainian language • The colors of the national flag of the Carpatho-Ukraine are blue and yellow, blue on top and yellow on the bottom • The state emblem of Carpatho-Ukraine is as follows: a bear on a red field on the sinister side, four blue and three yellow stripes on the dexter side, as well as the trident of Saint
Volodymyr the Great • The national anthem of Carpatho-Ukraine is
"Ukraine has not perished" • This act comes valid immediately after its promulgation The proclaimed Carpatho-Ukrainian government was headed by President
Avgustyn Voloshyn, The Hungarian Border Guard units stationed around Munkács, after throwing back the attacking Czecho-Slovak units on , pressed forward in turn, and took the town of Őrhegyalja (today Pidhoriany as part of
Mukachevo). On 15 March 1939, the
Hungarian Army regular troops invaded Carpatho-Ukraine and by nightfall reached Szolyva. The Carpatho-Ukrainian irregular troops, the
Carpathian Sich, without additional support, were quickly routed. Those Sich members who came from the province of
Galicia 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. The last resistance in the Carpathian mountains was taken out on 18 March. 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 the
Trianon Treaty were clearly visible, but the morale and nationalist spirit of the soldiers and the civilian populations were high , which was also important in building a strong national army.
World War II and aftermath Following the
German occupation of Hungary in March 1944,
Adolf Eichmann oversaw the deportation of almost the entire Hungarian Jewish population; few survived
the Holocaust. At the conclusion of the
Battle of the Dukla Pass on , the
Soviet 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 the
Czechoslovak government-in-exile, led by minister František Němec, arrived in
Khust 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, the
Red Army and the
People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs started to obstruct the delegation's work and finally a puppet "National Committee of Transcarpatho-Ukraine" was set up in
Mukachevo under the protection of the Red Army. On 26 November this committee, led by Ivan Ivanovich Turyanitsa, a
Rusyn who had deserted from the
Czechoslovak army, proclaimed the "will of Ukrainian people" to separate from Czechoslovakia and to join the
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. After two months of conflict and unsuccessful negotiations the Czechoslovak government delegation departed Khust on , leaving Carpatho-Ukraine under Soviet control. signing a treaty with the soviets on Carpathian Ukraine 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 the
Zakarpattia Oblast. == Parliament ==