Historical Glossary
A glossary of terms pertaining to Ukrainian history mentioned in the English-language articles in this encyclopaedia.
Bukovyna – a territory which was a crown land in the Austrian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and is now divided between Ukraine and Romania. more
Directory of the Ukrainian People’s Republic [Dyrektoriia Ukrainskoi Narodnoi Respubliky; named after the Directoire, the French revolutionary government of 1795-1799] – a body established in November 1918 by a coalition of Ukrainian political parties and other organisations to lead an uprising against the government of Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyi. It subsequently exercised the powers of head of state in the restored Ukrainian People’s Republic. more
Displaced persons camps – sites in Germany, Austria and other countries of Western Europe where displaced persons and refugees, mainly from Eastern Europe, were accommodated in the years immediately following the Second World War. more
Dontsov, Dmytro – a political theorist and writer whose ideology had a major influence on the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists in the 1930s. more
Drahomanov, Mykhailo (1841-1895) – a Ukrainian historian, ethnographer and political thinker. He became a leading member of the Kyiv Hromada, a secret society which played a key role in the Ukrainian national revival in Russian-ruled Ukraine. In 1876 he emigrated to Geneva and became the Hromada’s spokesman in Western Europe. more
Famine of 1932-33 (Holodomor) – a famine in Soviet Ukraine, engineered by the regime of Joseph Stalin, as a result of which several million Ukrainians died (estimates vary from around three million to ten million). more
Galicia [Halychyna] – a historical region named after the Ukrainian town of Halych. Its core area corresponds broadly to the present Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil regions of western Ukraine and surrounding areas. The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, a crown land in the Austrian Empire and subsequently the Austrian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, included both the ethnically Ukrainian historical Galicia and an ethnically Polish area to the west. This led to the use of the name Eastern Galicia to denote the Ukrainian part of the crown land.
Galicia Division [Dyviziia "Halychyna"] – a Ukrainian military formation within the German armed forces in the Second World War. more
Generalgouvernement [General Governorate, Heneralna hubernia] – a territorial entity, initially covering an area in central Poland, occupied in 1939-1945 by Nazi Germany. In 1941, after the German invasion of the USSR, it was expanded to include the predominantly Ukrainian pre-war Polish provinces of Lviv, Stanislaviv and Ternopil, which became the Galicia District. more
Government in exile of the Ukrainian People’s Republic (UNR) 1920-1948 [Uriad Ukrainskoi Narodnoi Respubliky v ekzyli] – an émigré institution which engaged in activities aimed at the restoration of an independent Ukrainian state after the government of the UNR was forced into exile in November 1920. It was composed primarily of pre-exile UNR activists, based initially in Tarnów in Poland, and then mainly in Warsaw, Prague and Paris. Following the German invasion of France in 1940, it was largely inactive until the end of the Second World War. After the war it was succeeded by the Ukrainian National Council (UNRada) and its Executive Board.
Hetman – the title used by heads of the Ukrainian Cossack state (the Hetman State) which existed from 1648 to 1782. The title was revived by Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyi, head of the Ukrainian State from April to December 1918. more
Hetmanite movement – an émigré Ukrainian monarchist movement led by Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyi. more
Hrushevsky, Mykhailo (1866-1934) – an eminent Ukrainian historian who was also a key figure in the Ukrainian national revival of the early 20th century. more
Khmelnytskyi, Bohdan (c.1595-1657) – hetman of the Zaporozhian Cossacks from 1648. He led the Cossack war against Poland which resulted in the creation of the Hetman State of 1648-1782. more
Kyivan Rus [Kyivska Rus] – a mediaeval Eastern Slav state, centred on the city of Kyiv. It arose in the 9th century and was destroyed as a result of the Mongol invasion of Europe in the 13th century. At the height of its expansion it covered much of the territory of present-day Ukraine, Belarus and European Russia. more
Lviv (Underground) Ukrainian University [Lvivskyi (taiemnyi) ukrainskyi universytet] – a clandestine higher education institution established in 1921 in Lviv after the Polish authorities had abolished all Ukrainian teaching posts at Lviv University. It ceased operating in 1925. more
Mazepa, Ivan (1639-1709) – hetman of Ukraine from 1687 who led an unsuccessful attempt to unite all Ukrainian territories in a single state. After his death he became a symbol of Ukrainian independence. more
Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists [Orhanizatsiia Ukrainskykh Natsionalistiv] – a covert political movement founded in 1929 with the aim of achieving the establishment of an independent Ukrainian state. In 1940 it split into what became the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (“Banderite”), or OUN-B, and the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (“Melnykite”). In 1954 a further split took place within the OUN-B and led to the creation of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists Abroad. more
Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists ("Banderite") [Orhanizatsiia Ukrainskykh Natsionalistiv ("banderivska")] – one of two organisations into which the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists became divided after a split in its ranks occured in 1940; colloquially named after its leader at the time, Stepan Bandera. After a further split in the “Banderite” organisation in 1954, part of its membership formed the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists Abroad.
Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists ("Melnykite") [Orhanizatsiia Ukrainskykh Natsionalistiv ("melnykivska")] – one of two organisations into which the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists became divided after a split in its ranks occured in 1940; colloquially named after its leader at the time, Andrii Melnyk.
Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists Abroad [Orhanizatsiia Ukrainskykh Natsionalistiv za kordonom] – an organisation which was established in 1956, as a result of a split which occured in 1954 in the ranks of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (“Banderite”).
Orlyk, Pylyp (1672-1742) – the closest adviser to Hetman Ivan Mazepa, with whom he fled from Ukraine in 1709 after the defeat at the Battle of Poltava. In exile he sought international support for the liberation of Ukraine from Russian rule. more
Pacification – a campaign of repression conducted in 1930 by the Polish authorities against Ukrainians in Galicia. more
Paris Peace Conference – an international conference held in Paris, France, between January 1919 and January 1920 to negotiate peace treaties between the victorious and the defeated nations in the First World War. It was attended by delegates from the Ukrainian People’s Republic and the Western Ukrainian People’s Republic who lobbied for recognition of Ukrainian independence. more
Revolutionary Ukrainian Party [Revoliutsiina ukrainska partiia] – the first Ukrainian political party in Russian-ruled Ukraine, founded clandestinely in 1900 in Kharkiv. In December 1905 it was reorganised into the Ukrainian Social Democratic Workers' Party.
Shevchenko Scientific Society [Naukove Tovarystvo im. Shevchenka] – a Ukrainian scholarly society dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences, founded in 1873 in Lviv. It was dissolved by the Soviet authorities in January 1940, re-established in 1947 outside Ukraine, and restored in Ukraine in 1989. more
Shevchenko, Taras (1814-1861) – a Ukrainian poet whose work had a major impact on the growth of Ukrainian national consciousness. He was a key figure in the development of modern Ukrainian literature and the Ukrainian language. more
Skoropadskyi, Pavlo (1873-1945) – head (with the title "Hetman") of the Ukrainian State from April to December 1918, and subsequently leader of an émigré Ukrainian monarchist movement. more
Subcarpathian Ruthenia [Pidkarpatska Rus] – a part of historically Ukrainian ethnic territory which formed a province of Czechoslovakia in 1920-1938. more
Ukrainian Central Rada [Ukrainska Tsentralna Rada] – a body established in March 1917 in Kyiv, consisting of representatives of various Ukrainian political parties and other organisations, which evolved into the parliament of the Ukrainian People’s Republic. It was dissolved in April 1918 when the government of Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyi took power. more
Ukrainian Free University [Ukrainskyi Vilnyi Universytet] – an émigré Ukrainian academic institution established in January 1921 in Vienna, Austria, and transferred to Prague, Czechoslovakia, later that year. After the 1945 Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia it was abolished and re-established in Munich, Germany. more
Ukrainian Galician Army [Ukrainska halytska armiia] – the army of the Western Ukrainian People's Republic, established in November 1918. In February 1920 it was absorbed into the Soviet Red Army and became the Red Ukrainian Galician Army. At the end of April 1920 it ceased to exist. more
Ukrainian Information Committee [Ukrainskyi Informatsiinyi Komitet] – an organisation established in Lviv (within the Austro-Hungarian Empire) in November 1912, following the outbreak of the First Balkan War, with the aim of promoting, in Europe, the idea of an independent Ukraine. Its members were mainly political émigrés from Russian-ruled Ukraine, but also included prominent Western Ukrainians, and it had representatives in several other European countries. It existed until August 1914 when it was superseded by the Union for the Liberation of Ukraine.
Ukrainian Insurgent Army [Ukrainska Povstanska Armiia] – a Ukrainian resistance army, organised in 1942-3, which fought mainly against Soviet and German forces in Western Ukraine. It was disbanded in 1949 but some of its units continued operating underground in Soviet Ukraine until the mid-1950s. more
Ukrainian Military Organisation [Ukrainska Viiskova Orhanizatsiia] – an underground revolutionary organisation formed in 1920 in Lviv to continue the armed struggle for an independent Ukraine after the 1917-1920 period of statehood. It was absorbed by the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists which was formed in 1929. more
Ukrainian National Army [Ukrainska Natsionalna Armiia] – the name of a Ukrainian army whose formation began towards the end of the Second World War. It was to incorporate all Ukrainian units in the German armed forces and individual Ukrainians attached to German units, and was to fight against Soviet forces. When the war ended the organisation of the army was still in its early stages. Its nucleus, the Galicia Division, surrendered to the British Army. more
Ukrainian National Council [Ukrainska Natsionalna Rada] – a quasi-parliamentary body, established in 1947-48, comprising representatives of various Ukrainian émigré political parties and organisations which stood for the restoration of an independent Ukrainian state. Together with its Executive Board (Vykonavchyi Orhan) it represented a continuation of the pre-war government in exile of the Ukrainian People’s Republic. The Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists ("Banderite"), which represented a major force among the parties, initially joined the Council but seceded from it in 1950. The Council was dissolved in 1992 after Ukraine became independent. more
Ukrainian National Democratic Alliance [Ukrainske natsionalno-demokratychne obiednannia] – the dominant mainstream Ukrainian political party in Polish-ruled Western Ukraine between the two world wars. It was founded in 1925 and dissolved in 1939. In 1946-7 it was reactivated as an émigré party by a group of its pre-war members. more
Ukrainian National Rada [Ukrainska Natsionalna Rada] – an assembly formed in October 1918 in Lviv, comprising 150 representatives of the population of the ethnic Ukrainian lands of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It proclaimed the establishment of the Western Ukrainian People’s Republic and served as its parliament. more
Ukrainian People’s Republic [Ukrainska Narodna Respublika, UNR; also translated as Ukrainian National Republic] – a Ukrainian state proclaimed in November 1917 on the ethnic Ukrainian lands of the Russian Empire. From 29 April to 14 December 1918, under the government of Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyi, the state was officially known as the "Ukrainian State". From January 1919 the restored UNR incorporated the Western Ukrainian lands of the Western Ukrainian People’s Republic, which were formerly part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In November 1920 the UNR government was forced into exile in Poland. more
Ukrainian Republican Capella [Ukrainska respublikanska kapela] – A choir founded in Kyiv in 1919 and tasked by the UNR government with promoting Ukrainian music abroad. more
Ukrainian Sich Riflemen [Ukrainski sichovi striltsi] – A Ukrainian unit of the Austrian army, organised in Galicia in August 1914. In 1919 it became part of the Ukrainian Galician Army and existed until the end of April 1920. more
Ukrainian Social Democratic Workers' Party [Ukrainska sotsial-demokratychna robitnycha partiia] – a clandestine political party formed in December 1905 in Russian-ruled Ukraine as successor to the Revolutionary Ukrainian Party. After the fall of the Ukrainian People’s Republic it became an émigré party. In 1950 in Germany it united with three other parties to form the Ukrainian Socialist Party. more
Ukrainian State [Ukrainska Derzhava] – the official name of Ukraine from 29 April to 14 December 1918 under the government of Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyi. more
Ukrainian Supreme Liberation Council [Ukrainska holovna vyzvolna rada] – a body formed in 1944 by members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (“Banderite”) to provide political leadership for the UPA’s armed struggle. more
Ukrainian Union of Statist Agrarians [Ukrainskyi soiuz khliborobiv derzhavnykiv; also known as the Ukrainian Union of Agrarians-Statists] – an émigré monarchist organisation founded in Vienna in 1920 and dissolved in 1937. more
Union for the Liberation of Ukraine [Soiuz Vyzvolennia Ukrainy] – a political organisation of Ukrainian émigrés from the Russian Empire which campaigned for an independent Ukrainian state during the First World War (1914-1918). It was based in Vienna, Austria, and was supported by activists from Western Ukraine. more
Volodymyr Monomakh (1053-1125) – the grand prince of Kyivan Rus from 1113 to 1135. more
Vovk, Fedir (1847-1918) – a prominent Ukrainian ethnographer, anthropologist and archaeologist. more
Western Ukraine [Zakhidna Ukraina] – a term used to denote the western part of Ukraine as defined at various times: before the First World War – the Ukrainian lands which were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (as distinct from most of Ukraine which was within the Russian Empire); in 1918-1919 – the territory of the Western Ukrainian People’s Republic; in 1919-1939 – the Ukrainian lands under Polish, Romanian and Czechoslovak rule; during and after the Second World War – the territory annexed to Soviet Ukraine in 1939-1940. Today the term is most frequently used to refer either to the Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil oblasts of Ukraine, or to these plus the Volyn, Rivne, Chernivtsi and Zakarpattia oblasts. more
Western Ukrainian People’s Republic [Zakhidno-Ukrainska Narodna Respublika; also translated as Western Ukrainian National Republic] – a Ukrainian state proclaimed in October 1918 on the ethnically Ukrainian lands of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In January 1919 it united with the Ukrainian People’s Republic (UNR) and became the Western Province of the UNR. In November 1919 its government was forced into exile in Vienna, Austria. more
Yalta Conference – a conference held on 4-11 February 1945 in Yalta in the Crimea, at which the leaders of the USA, the UK and the USSR agreed plans for the reorganisation of Europe after the end of the Second World War. more
Zemstvo – a form of local self-government that existed in the Russian Empire from 1865 to 1917. more