Hutsul Republic

Hutsul Republic
Гуцульська республіка
Unrecognized state
1919
Flag
Approximate territory of the Hutsul Republic (red) within today's Zakarpattia Oblast, itself shown within Ukraine below.
Capital		Yasinia
Languages		Ukrainian
Government		Republic
President		Stepan Klochurak
Historical era		World War I
•	Established	8 January 1919
•	Disestablished	11 June 1919
Preceded by Succeeded by Austria-Hungary West Ukrainian People's Republic Czechoslovakia
Today part of		Ukraine

The Hutsul Republic was a short-lived state, formed in the aftermath of World War I. The republic was declared on January 8, 1919, when original plans to unite this area with the Western Ukrainian People's Republic failed and the territory was occupied by Hungarian police.

Czechoslovakia between 1919 and 1938, with Subcarpathian Ruthenia shown in blue.

Creation

On the night of January 7–8, 1919 the local population of Rakhiv rose against the Hungarian gendarme battalion, taking into custody some 500 Hungarian policemen. General Stepan Klochurak was elected prime minister of the republic. He was also active in organizing the armed forces of the republic, which consisted of nearly 1,000 soldiers The army waged a brief war in the adjacent lands of Maramures. In April 1919 most of Carpathian Ruthenia joined Czechoslovakia as an autonomous territory, while its easternmost territory (Hutsul Republic) was de facto a break away state.

Romanian invasion

The state finally failed when it was occupied temporarily by Romanian troops on 11 June 1919. The territory claimed by this state became part of the First Czechoslovak Republic in September 1919. Just for a day, a second Ukrainian state named Carpatho-Ukraine claimed its independence but was occupied for a second time by Hungarian troops between March 1938 and the autumn of 1944. At the conclusion of World War II, the region became the Carpathian Oblast of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.