La Rutenia subcarpatica. Dal Regno d’Ungheria all’Ucraina sovietica: il dominio ungherese (1867-1918)

Abstract

A quintessential borderland, Subcarpathian Ruthenia (today part of Ukraine, as the Zakarpattia Oblast) has long stood at the crossroads of major historical upheavals, often little known outside the historiography of Eastern Europe. From the Early Middle Ages, marked by the arrival of Slavic populations and subsequently of the Magyars, to the present day, shaped by the consequences of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, the region has been traversed by peoples, languages, religions, and cultures, but also by armies, occupations, violences and deportations, all of which have contributed to making this territory one of the most distinctive in Europe. In this first section – part of a broader study devoted to the historical trajectory of Subcarpathian Ruthenia (known in Hungarian simply as Kárpátalja) – following a brief introductory overview, the aim is to reconstruct the historical context of the region between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Particular attention will be given to the period following the Compromise of 1867, when Subcarpathian Ruthenia was incorporated into the reborn Kingdom of Hungary, the Magyarization campaign launched by the governments in Budapest, and the outbreak of the First World War, during which the region became the scene of fierce clashes between the Central Powers and Tsarist Russia. This introductory study is therefore proposed as the first part of a larger one as well dedicated to successive moments in the history of the region.