Western Ukraine, takes its roots from the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, a successor of Kievan Rus' formed in 1199 after the weakening of Kievan Rus' and attacks from the Golden Horde. Following the 14th century
Galicia–Volhynia Wars, most of the region was transferred to the
Crown of Poland under
Casimir the Great, who received the lands legally by a downward agreement in 1340 after his nephew's death,
Bolesław-Jerzy II. The eastern
Volhynia and most of
Podolia was added to the territory of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania by
Lubart. The territory of
Bukovina was part of
Moldavia since its formation by voivode
Dragoș, who was departed by the
Kingdom of Hungary, during the 14th century. After the 18th century
partitions of Poland (
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth), the territory was split between the
Habsburg monarchy and the
Russian Empire. The modern south-western part of Western Ukraine became the
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, after 1804 crownland of the
Austrian Empire. Its northern flank with the cities of
Lutsk and
Rivne was acquired in 1795 by Imperial Russia following the third and
final partition of Poland. Throughout its existence
Russian Poland was marred with violence and intimidation, beginning with the
1794 massacres, imperial land-theft and the deportations of the
November and
January Uprisings. By contrast, the
Austrian Partition with its
Sejm of the Land in the cities of
Lviv and
Stanyslaviv (Ivano-Frankivsk) was freer politically perhaps because it had
a lot less to offer economically. Imperial Austria did not persecute Ukrainian organizations. In later years, Austria-Hungary de facto encouraged the existence of Ukrainian political organizations in order to counterbalance the influence of
Polish culture in
Galicia. The southern half of West Ukraine remained under Austrian administration until the collapse of the
House of Habsburg at the end of World War One in 1918. In the
Interbellum most of the territory of today's Western Ukraine belonged to the
Second Polish Republic. Territories such as
Bukovina and
Carpatho-Ukraine belonged to
Romania and
Czechoslovakia, respectively. At the onset of
Operation Barbarossa by Nazi Germany, the region became occupied by Nazi Germany in 1941. The southern half of West Ukraine was incorporated into the
semi-colonial Distrikt Galizien (District of Galicia) created on August 1, 1941 (Document No. 1997-PS of July 17, 1941 by Adolf Hitler) with headquarters in
Chełm Lubelski, bordering district of
General Government to the west. Its northern part (
Volhynia) was assigned to the
Reichskommissariat Ukraine formed in September 1941. Notably, the District of Galicia was a separate administrative unit from the actual
Reichskommissariat Ukraine with capital in
Rivne. They were not connected with each other politically for Nazi Germans. The division was administrative and conditional, in his book "From Putyvl to the Carpathian"
Sydir Kovpak never mentioned about any border-like divisions. Bukovina was controlled by the Nazi-allied Kingdom of Romania.
Post-War After the defeat of Germany in World War II, in May 1945 the Soviet Union incorporated all territories of current Western Ukraine into the Ukrainian SSR.
Recent history During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia attacked Ukrainian military facility near the city of
Lviv, in Western Ukraine with cruise missiles. Later in March Russia performed missile attacks on oil depots in
Lviv,
Dubno and
Lutsk. ==Divisions==