ZUNR AND NATIONAL LIBERATION MOVEMENT IN ZAKARPATTIA, 1918-1919

Based on the memories of the participants and archival documents, the article investigates the origins of the Ukrainian national liberation movement in Zakarpattia after the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed. The author highlights attempts of the Government of the Western Ukrainian People's Republic (ZUNR) to establish military and political control over the region within the conciliatory program framework on the eve of the Paris Peace Conference. The influence of foreign policy factors (relations with Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Romania) on the policy of the ZUNR government in the Zakarpattia issue is analyzed. The activities of the Hutsul Republic (January – June 1919), the holding of the Khust Congress (January 21, 1919) and the Congress in Stanislavov (April 29 – May 1, 1919) were considered as major episodes of the Ukrainian national liberation movement and state formation in the region. Factors that supported the crystallization of the pro-Ukrainian orientation among the local population of Hungarian Ruthenia are highlighted. As well as the reasons for the defeat in the ZUNR attempts to achieve a real and not a declaratory involvement of Zakarpattia. Keywords ZUNR, UHA, Zakarpattia, Hutsul Republic, Khust Congress.