Ruqayyah Snyder
Bukovina is a historical region in Central and Eastern Europe, located on the northern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains. The region is currently divided between Romania and Ukraine, with the Ukrainian part being unofficially referred to as Bukovyna. The name Bukovina came into official use in 1775 when the region was annexed from the Principality of Moldavia to the Austrian Empire, then known as the Habsburg Monarchy. During the Austrian period, Bukovina was characterised by its multiethnic and religious makeup, earning it the nickname Europe in miniature.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Location | Northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains |
| Current Political Division | Divided between Romania and Ukraine |
| Historical Division | Part of the Austrian Empire from 1775 to 1918 |
| Area | 10,422 square kilometers or 10,441 square kilometers |
| Population in 1775 | 60,000 |
| Population in 1910 | Over 800,000 |
| Ethnic Composition in the 19th Century | Romanians, Ukrainians, Germans (10% of all immigrants), Hungarians, Poles, Jews, Armenians, and others |
| German Emigration | Started in the 1880s, with major waves before World War I and during World War II |
| Soviet Annexation | Northern Bukovina was annexed in 1940 |
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What You'll Learn
The name Bukovina
The official German name of the province under Austrian rule was "die Bukowina", derived from the Polish form "Bukowina". Another German name for the region, "das Buchenland", is mostly used in poetry and means "beech land" or "the land of beech trees". In Romanian literary and poetic contexts, the name "Țara Fagilor" ("the land of beech trees") is sometimes used.
In Ukraine, the name "Буковина" (Bukovyna) is unofficial but commonly refers to the Chernivtsi Oblast, as over two-thirds of the oblast is the northern part of Bukovina. In Romania, the term "Northern Bukovina" is sometimes used synonymously with the entire Chernivtsi Oblast of Ukraine, while "Southern Bukovina" refers to the Suceava County of Romania. The territory of Bukovina has historically been ethnically diverse, with various groups immigrating to the region during Austrian rule, including Armenians, Hungarians, Jews, Poles, Romanians, and Ukrainians.
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Annexation by Austria
Bukovina, a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe, was annexed by Austria in 1775. The region was occupied by Austrian troops under Major General Gabriel Spleny during the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774. Austria sought the territory to establish a cordon between the Dniester and Moldova rivers, as well as to serve as a land bridge connecting its recent acquisitions of Galicia and Transylvania.
The name "Bukovina" came into official use in 1775 with the region's annexation from the Principality of Moldavia to the possessions of the Habsburg monarchy, which later became the Austrian Empire in 1804 and then Austria-Hungary in 1867. The region was formally annexed in January 1775 through the Convention of Constantinople, and Austrian rule over Bukovina lasted from 1775 to 1918.
During the Austrian period, Bukovina was characterised by its multinational population, attracting migrants from various ethnic groups in Eastern Europe due to its policies of religious toleration and relaxed feudal obligations. The region's population increased rapidly in the first five years after its annexation by Austria. The official German name of the province under Austrian rule was "die Bukowina," derived from the Polish form "Bukowina" and the common Slavic word "buk," meaning beech tree.
In 1804, the region became part of the newly established Austrian Empire. Bukovina was a constituent land of the Austrian Empire from 1849 and a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary from 1867 until 1918. In 1860, it was briefly amalgamated with Galicia but was later reinstated as a separate province according to the February Patent issued by Emperor Franz Joseph I in 1861.
During World War II, the Soviet Union annexed northern Bukovina in 1940 while the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was in effect. This annexation prompted the emigration of Bukovina Germans, an ethnic minority in the region, to Germany.
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Austrian rule
Bukovina, a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe, was under Austrian rule from 1775 to 1918. The territory was annexed from the Principality of Moldavia to the possessions of the Habsburg monarchy, which became the Austrian Empire in 1804 and Austria-Hungary in 1867. The region was occupied by Austrian troops under Major General Gabriel Spleny during the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-74. Austria sought the territory to establish a cordon between the Dniester and Moldova rivers, as well as a land bridge connecting its recent acquisitions of Galicia and Transylvania.
The official German name of the province under Austrian rule, 'die Bukowina', was derived from the Polish form 'Bukowina', which in turn was derived from the common Slavic word for beech tree. The region was inhabited by many cultures and peoples, including Ruthenians (Ukrainians), Romanians (Moldavians), Hungarian Székelys, Slovaks, Polish peasants, and Germans, Poles, and Jews in the towns. Bukovina's multinational character earned it the nickname "Europe in miniature."
Under Austrian rule, Bukovina was first a closed military district (1775-1786), then the largest district of the Austrian constituent Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria (1787-1849). In 1849, it became a separate Austrian crown land and was declared the Duchy of Bukovina, a nominal duchy within the Austrian Empire. During this time, Bukovina attracted a multinational immigration from all parts of Europe, including Armenians, Hungarians, Jews, Poles, Romanians, and Ukrainians. German colonists also arrived from southwest Germany and the Bohemian Forest.
In the late 19th century, overpopulation in the countryside caused migration, especially to North America, and peasant strikes. By 1914, Bukovina boasted some of the best Ukrainian schools and cultural-educational institutions in the region. However, with the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Bukovina was on the front lines of the Austro-Russian military conflict and was quickly overrun by the tsarist armies. The Austrian rule in Bukovina ended in 1918 with the defeat of the Central Powers and the dismemberment of Austria-Hungary.
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Bukovina Germans
Bukovina is a historical region situated at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe, on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains. It is now divided between Suceava County in northeastern Romania and Chernivtsi Oblast ("Bukovyna") in western Ukraine. The region has been inhabited by many cultures and peoples, including Romanians (Moldavians), Ukrainians (Ruthenians), Hungarians, Jews, Poles, and Armenians.
The Bukovina Germans (known in standard German as 'Buchenlanddeutsche' or 'Bukowinadeutsche'), also referred to as Buchenland Germans or Bukovinian Germans, are a German ethnic group that settled in Bukovina. They are a once-significant ethnic minority, accounting for around 21.2% of the multi-ethnic population of the Duchy of Bukovina, according to the 1910 Imperial Austrian census. However, excluding the German-speaking Jews from this figure, the Germans in Bukovina constituted a smaller minority of approximately 73,000 people (9.2%).
The history of the Bukovina Germans can be traced back to the High Middle Ages when Transylvanian Saxons from the Bistrița area settled in parts of western Moldavia, including present-day Suceava County. During the modern period, German colonists came from three distinct areas: Swabians and Palatines from what is now Baden-Württemberg and Rheinland-Pfalz in southwest Germany, German Bohemians from the Bohemian Forest, and Zipser Germans from southern Bukovina. The major languages of instruction in Bukovina were German, Ukrainian, and Romanian, and four distinct German linguistic groups were represented across the region.
The Bukovina Germans' main demographic presence lasted from the last quarter of the 18th century, when Bukovina was annexed by the Habsburg Empire in 1775, until 1940. During World War II, nearly all Bukovina Germans (approximately 100,000 people) were forcefully resettled into either Nazi Germany or Nazi-occupied regions in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly occupied Poland, under the 'Heim ins Reich' national socialist population transfer policy. This resettlement was facilitated by an agreement between the Soviet Union and Germany, and a similar agreement between Romania and Germany, which allowed ethnic Germans to voluntarily leave for Germany. Many of those resettled in German-occupied lands found themselves refugees again by 1945, fleeing from the advancing Red Army. After the war, several thousand ethnic Germans remained in southern Bukovina, but most emigrated to West Germany before 1989.
Today, a small number of Bukovina Germans still live in the bigger urban settlements of Suceava and Rădăuți in Suceava County, as well as more sparsely throughout other rural settlements in the county. A significant Bukovina German diaspora can be found in Germany, Austria, North America (the US and Canada), and South America (e.g., Argentina).
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Romanian control
Bukovina is a historical region in Central and Eastern Europe, located on the northern slopes of the Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains. The region has been inhabited by various ethnic groups, including Ukrainians (Ruthenians), Romanians (Moldavians), Armenians, Hungarians, Jews, Poles, and Germans. The territory of Bukovina was part of the Principality of Moldavia in the 14th century and became an administrative division of the Habsburg monarchy in 1774 or 1775.
During the interwar period, Romania pursued a policy of Romanianization, which aimed to assimilate the various ethnic groups in Bukovina into Romanian culture and institutions. This included suppressing the Ukrainian language and closing educational and cultural institutions, newspapers, and magazines in the Ukrainian language. Romanian control of Bukovina was recognized internationally in the Treaty of St. Germain in 1919, following the collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918. Romania had sought unification with Bukovina since gaining independence in 1878 due to its historical and cultural significance as the cradle of the Moldavian principality.
The Romanianization of Bukovina led to the closure of German cultural institutions, such as schools, the university, and the provincial theater in the region's capital, Czernowitz (now Chernivtsi). The press, bureaucracy, and public school system were also subjected to Romanianization policies. Despite the presence of various ethnic groups in Bukovina, Romania did little to safeguard the ethnic identity and institutions of its non-Romanian citizens, who constituted about 28% of the total population.
During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied the northern part of Bukovina in 1940, while Romania temporarily regained this territory in 1941 as an ally of Germany. In 1944, Soviet troops retook the northern districts, and Northern Bukovina became part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic under the 1947 peace treaty. The ancient Moldavian capital Suceava and its surrounding area, including famous monasteries, became part of the Romanian People's Republic.
The demographic composition of Bukovina changed significantly under Romanian control, with the Romanian and Ukrainian populations dominating the southern and northern regions, respectively. The representation of other ethnic groups, such as Jews, Germans, Poles, and Hungarians, decreased over time.
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Frequently asked questions
Bukovina is a historical region in Central and Eastern Europe, located on the northern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains, currently divided between Romania and Ukraine.
The name Bukovina means "the land of beech trees" in multiple languages, including German, Polish, Ukrainian, and Romanian.
Bukovina has a rich history, previously being a part of the Principality of Moldavia in the 14th century. It was annexed by the Austrian Empire in 1775 and became a part of the Habsburg Monarchy, remaining under Austrian rule until 1918.
During the Austrian period, Bukovina was characterized by its multiethnic and multicultural population, including Romanians, Ukrainians, Jews, Armenians, Hungarians, and Germans, among others.
World War II led to significant changes in Bukovina, particularly for the German population. Due to agreements between the Soviet Union, Romania, and Germany, many ethnic Germans voluntarily left Bukovina for Germany, becoming refugees.
