Editing History of Ukraine (section)

==== World War II and the Nazi Occupation ====
{{Main|Republic of Carpatho-Ukraine|Reichskommissariat Ukraine|The Holocaust in Ukraine}}

[[File:Act_of_Subcarpathian_Rus_Autonomy_1938.png|thumb|left|Constitutional Law on the Autonomy of Carpatho-Ukraine]]
In October 1938, following the [[Munich Agreement]], [[Carpatho-Ukraine]], also known as Subcarpathian Ruthenia, gained autonomy within [[Second Czechoslovak Republic|Czechoslovakia]]. This allowed the formation of a local government led by [[Avhustyn Voloshyn]]. However, this period of autonomy was brief.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Rychlík|first1=Jan|last2=Rychlíková|first2=Magdaléna|title=Podkarpatská Rus v dějinách Československa 1918–1946|year=2016|location=Praha|publisher=Vyšehrad|isbn=9788074297694 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jIJuDwAAQBAJ}}</ref>

In March 1939, as Czechoslovakia disintegrated under pressure from [[Nazi Germany]], Carpathian Ukraine declared independence as the [[Republic of Carpatho-Ukraine]]. The government envisioned this small, mountainous region as the nucleus of a future independent Ukrainian state. This independence was short-lived. Within days, [[Hungary|Hungarian]] forces, supported by Nazi Germany, invaded and occupied the region. The occupation was brutal, and many Ukrainian leaders were arrested or executed. Carpathian Ukraine remained under Hungarian control.<ref name="2660044karpatskoiukraini">{{cite web|title = Today is the 80th anniversary of the proclamation of Carpatho-Ukraine|url = https://ukrinform.ua/rubric-society/2660044-sogodni-80ricca-z-dna-progolosenna-karpatskoi-ukraini.html|work = [[Ukrinform]]|language = uk|date = 15 March 2019|access-date = 24 March 2019|df = dmy-all}}</ref>

On 1 September 1939, [[World War II]] began with [[Invasion of Poland|Nazi Germany’s invasion]] of western [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]]. Sixteen days later, the [[Soviet Union]] [[Soviet invasion of Poland|invaded eastern Poland]] under the terms of the [[Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact]], dividing [[Eastern Europe]] into spheres of influence between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. The eastern part of Poland, which included Western Ukraine ([[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]] and [[Volhynia]]), was annexed into the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic]]. As Soviet forces occupied these territories, they quickly implemented [[Sovietization]] policies, repressing nationalist movements and religious institutions, which fueled local resentment.<ref>{{Cite web |title=German-Soviet Pact |url=https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/german-soviet-pact |access-date=27 July 2022 |website=encyclopedia.ushmm.org |quote=...paved the way for the joint invasion and occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that September.}}</ref>

On 22 June 1941, Nazi Germany and [[Axis powers|its allies]] launched [[Operation Barbarossa]], invading the Soviet Union. Ukraine became one of the main battlegrounds during the conflict, as Nazi forces occupied large parts of the country, including major cities such as [[Kyiv]], [[Odesa]], and [[Lviv]]. The [[German-occupied Europe|German occupation]], while initially seen by some as a potential liberation from the oppressive Soviet regime, quickly turned brutal. [[Nazi ideology]] viewed Ukraine as a critical part of its plan for [[Lebensraum]] (living space) and exploitation of resources.<ref name="Mineau180">{{Cite book |last=André Mineau |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZLcDEUZfW4EC |title=Operation Barbarossa: Ideology and Ethics Against Human Dignity |publisher=Rodopi |year=2004 |isbn=978-9042016330 |page=180 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name="Baranowski141">{{Cite book |first=Shelley |last=Baranowski |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iA-NZ_RgP5kC&q=continental+Lebensraum |title=Nazi Empire: German Colonialism and Imperialism from Bismarck to Hitler |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0521857390 |page=141 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Jeremy Noakes |date=30 March 2011 |title=BBC – History – World Wars: Hitler and ''Lebensraum'' in the East |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/hitler_lebensraum_01.shtml}}</ref><ref name="USHMM">{{Cite web |title=Lebensraum |url=https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/lebensraum |access-date=9 March 2019 |website=encyclopedia.ushmm.org |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Ukrayins'ka Povstans'ka Armiya (poster).jpg|thumb|UPA propaganda poster. The OUN/UPA's formal greeting is written in Ukrainian on two of horizontal lines ''Glory to Ukraine – Glory to (her) Heroes''. The soldier is standing on the banners of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.]]
Around 4.5 to 6 million [[Ukrainians]] fought in the Soviet [[Red Army]] against Nazi Germany, contributing significantly to the eventual Soviet victory. At the same time, Ukraine became a center of [[Soviet partisans|partisan resistance]]. Some Ukrainians collaborated with the [[Germans]], hoping to secure independence, while others joined the resistance movement. The [[Ukrainian Insurgent Army]] (UPA), formed by the [[Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists]] (OUN), fought for an independent Ukraine, engaging in conflict with both the Nazis and the Soviet forces. This dual struggle was motivated by a desire to free Ukraine from foreign domination, but the complexity of alliances and enmities made this a multi-sided war.<ref>Leonid D. Grenkevich. The Soviet Partisan Movement, 1941–1944: A Critical Historiographical Analysis.Routledge. 2013. p.325</ref>

Meanwhile, some factions within the [[Ukrainian nationalism|Ukrainian nationalist]] movement, such as the [[Ukrainian National Democratic Alliance]] (UNDA), sought autonomy within a pro-Polish framework before the war. However, Polish policies of forced assimilation marginalized these efforts, leading to growing tensions between [[Polish people|Poles]] and Ukrainians. During the German occupation, these tensions escalated into violent ethnic conflicts in [[Volhynia]] and [[Eastern Galicia]], known as the [[Volhynia genocide]]. The [[Ukrainian Insurgent Army]] (UPA) and Polish underground forces, including the [[Armia Krajowa]], engaged in a simultaneous campaign of mutual violence during 1943–1944. The UPA targeted Polish civilians in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia, resulting in the deaths of up to 100,000 Poles, while Polish forces carried out attacks on Ukrainian civilians, killing up to 25,000 Ukrainians. These events, driven by competing nationalist ambitions, caused immense suffering on both sides and remain a deeply painful chapter in Ukrainian-Polish history.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.volhyniamassacre.eu/spory-o-wolyn/polish-ukrainian-historical-disputes-over-the-volhynian-massacres |title=Mariusz Zajączkowski: ''1943 Volhynia massacre'' |access-date=9 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413132510/http://www.volhyniamassacre.eu/spory-o-wolyn/polish-ukrainian-historical-disputes-over-the-volhynian-massacres |archive-date=13 April 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The [[Nazi occupation of Ukraine]] was marked by extreme brutality, especially towards [[Jews]]. Around 1.5 million Jews were murdered during the [[Holocaust in Ukraine]], with atrocities such as the [[Babi Yar massacre]], where tens of thousands of Jews were executed near Kyiv. The occupation also saw widespread repression of other groups, including [[Romani people|Roma]], communists, and Ukrainian nationalists.<ref>{{cite book | title = The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich | date = 2011 | publisher = William Shirer | isbn = 978-1-4516-5168-3 | page = 939}}</ref>

By 1943, following the [[Battle of Stalingrad]], the tide of the war began to turn in favor of the Soviet Union. Soviet forces began to push the Germans out of Ukraine, and by 1944, the entire country was back under Soviet control. However, Soviet "liberation" did not bring freedom for many Ukrainians. The Soviet government imposed harsh reprisals against those suspected of collaboration with the Nazis or support for Ukrainian independence. The [[NKVD]] (Soviet secret police) conducted mass arrests, deportations, and executions. Small groups of UPA partisans continued their armed resistance against the Soviet regime well into the late 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in Western Ukraine, though the Soviet authorities eventually crushed this insurgency.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kyivpost.com/article/opinion/op-ed/ukrainian-insurgent-army-myths-and-facts-314313.html|title=Ukrainian Insurgent Army: Myths and facts - Oct. 12, 2012|website=KyivPost|date=12 October 2012 }}</ref>

[[File:ZakapratskaUkraina1944.png|thumb|left|Front page of the Zakarpattia Ukraine newspaper with manifest of unification with [[Soviet Ukraine]], 1944]]
Carpathian Ukraine, during the [[Carpathian Ruthenia during World War II|Hungarian occupation]], faced significant repression, particularly against its Jewish and Ukrainian populations. Thousands of Jews from the region were deported to [[Nazi concentration camps]], and many Ukrainian nationalists were imprisoned or killed. In 1944, the Soviet Red Army "liberated" Carpathian Ukraine from Hungarian and German forces.<ref>{{cite journal|title=A kárpátaljai magyar és német polgári lakosság tömeges elhurcolása szovjet hadifogságba|journal=Orpheus Noster|date=2012|volume=4|issue=2|pages=46–47|trans-title=The deportation of masses of Hungarian and German civilians from Subcarpathia to Soviet prisoner of war camps|url=https://www.academia.edu/11885029|publisher=Károli Gáspár Református Egyetem|location=Budapest|language=hu}}</ref>

In addition to the annexation of Galicia and Volhynia, several other territories were incorporated into the Ukrainian SSR as a result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and subsequent wartime events. These included [[Bukovina|Northern Bukovina]], [[Carpathian Ruthenia|Carpathian Ukraine]] (Transcarpathia), and parts of [[Bessarabia|Northern and South Bessarabia]], regions with a predominantly Ukrainian population.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bukovyna |url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CB%5CU%5CBukovyna.htm |publisher=[[Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine]] |access-date=22 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513152453/http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CB%5CU%5CBukovyna.htm |archive-date=13 May 2021}}</ref><ref name="Kafkadesk-2021">{{Cite web|title=On this Day, in 1945: Carpathian Ruthenia was annexed by the Soviet Union |date=29 June 1992 |publisher=Kafkadesk |url=https://kafkadesk.org/2021/06/29/on-this-day-in-1945-carpathian-ruthenia-was-annexed-by-the-soviet-union/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726185851/https://kafkadesk.org/2021/06/29/on-this-day-in-1945-carpathian-ruthenia-was-annexed-by-the-soviet-union/ |archive-date=26 July 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref>