Carpatho-Ukraine in the Twentieth Century: A Political and Legal History (Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute Sources and Documents) [Hardcover]

Vincent Shandor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1998 | Series: Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute Sources and Documents

Carpatho-Ukraine in the Twentieth Century offers political memoirs and commentary by Vincent Shandor, an elder statesman who served as head of the Carpatho-Ukrainian Representation to the Prague Federal government during the period preceding and at the beginning of World War II. From his unique first-person perspective, Shandor analyzes the shifting political and legal status of Carpatho-Ukraine from the twilight of the Habsburg Empire through the region's two decades as Czechoslovak "Subcarpathian Ruthenia" and onto the wartime reoccupation by Hungary and the region's ultimate incorporation into the Ukrainian SSR. Significant both as scholarly critique and as autobiography, Shandor's work presents materials never before available in English about events leading up to and during World War II. It will be valuable to all those interested in the twentieth-century development of Central Europe.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This volume is a welcome contribution to the history of this ancient Ukrainian Rus' land located south of the Carpathain mountains. Written by an individual who played an important role as the representative of this land in Czechoslovak government circles during the years leading up to World War II, this book offers new documentary evidence on the incorporation of this land in the Czechoslovak republic, its geopolitical importance, Hungarian, Polish, and German maneuvering in the region, the eventual dependence, and the region's incorporation into the Ukrainian SSR in 1945...The book is very welcome, not only for its insights into the workings of the internal machinery of Czechoslovakia in the interwar period and especially in 1938, but as a lesson for statesmen of today who in a highly fractious world have to deal with similar problems in the Balkans and various countries of Africa that continue to suffer the legacy of their imperialist past. (Peter J. Potichnyj Slavic Review )

Product Details

• Hardcover: 344 pages
• Publisher: Ukrainian Research Institute of Harvard University (May 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0916458865
• ISBN-13: 978-0916458867
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,645,329 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A major work on a little-known region of Europe, January 12, 1999

By 

F. Orion Pozo "Orion Pozo" (Raleigh, NC USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Carpatho-Ukraine in the Twentieth Century: A Political and Legal History (Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute Sources and Documents) (Hardcover)

Shandor tells the modern history of a section of Ukraine now known as the Zakarpatskaya Oblast. This is the fascinating story of a country that has been a part of five different nations in the 20th Century and whose people today live in six different countries. It was a part of the Hungarian Empire until the end of the First World War. After the war it was promised autonomy as Subcarpathian Ruthenia, the third part of Czechoslovakia, but this was never realized until the break-up of this country in 1938-39. Then for three days in March of 1939 it was the independent country of Carpatho-Ukraine, until the Hungarian Army crossed the border to reclaim it. In 1945 the Czechs and Russians agreed to make it part of the Ukraine without consulting its people. Shandor was the Ruthenian delegate in Prague between the two wars and has quite a tale to tell. Occasionally, the reader is swamped with names and details mentioned to prove Shandor's point of view. The presentation could have been more balanced, but overall it is fascinating reading.