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Volhynia (Wołyń in Polish; Волинь, Volyn’ in Ukrainian; also called Volynia, Volyň in Czech) is the historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Pripyat and Western Bug. The area has one of the oldest Slavic settlements in Europe. Part of historical Volhynia is now known as the Volyn region of Ukraine.
History
An ancient city of Halicz (Halych) was first mentioned in 981 when taken over Kievan Rus'. Volhynia’s early history coincides with that of the duchies or principalities of Halych (Galicia) and Volodymyr Volynskyi (Włodzimierz Wołyński). These two successors of the Kievan Rus' formed Halych-Volynia between the 12th and the 14th century.
After the disintegration (c.1340) of the Grand Duchy of Halych-Volodymyr, also called Galich-Vladimir Rus', the region was divided between Poland (Western Volhynia) and Lithuania (Eastern Volhynia). After 1569 Volhynia was a province of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. During those times in province settled down Poles and Jews. Roman and Greek catholic churches were established in the province.
After the Partitions of Poland in 1795 it became a province of Tsarist Russia. The first agricultural colonies of Mennonites are recorded by 1783. By the end of the 19th century Volhynia had over 200,000 German settlers, most of whom moved from Congress Poland. There was also a small number Czech settlers.
In 1921 after the end of the Polish-Soviet war, according to the treaty known as the Peace of Riga western Volhynia was returned to Poland as the Wolhynian Voivodship. See the map at Voivodships of Poland.
In 1935-1938 Poles from Eastern Volhynia were deported in action of the first ethnic deportation in history of the Soviet Union. (see Polish minority in Soviet Union).
In 1939 all of Volhynia was annexed to the Soviet Union by the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact; the possession of which was confirmed as a result of World War II. German minority was tranferred to Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany subsequently to German-Soviet reconciliation. They were later subject of evacuation by Nazi authorities.
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