Bukovina (Romanian: Bucovina; Ukrainian: Буковина Bukovyna; Hungarian: Bukovina; German and Polish: Bukowina; see also other languages) is a historical region in Central Europe, divided between Romania and Ukraine, located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains.

Historically part of Moldavia, the territory of what became known as Bukovina was, from 1774 to 1918, an administrative division of the Habsburg Monarchy, the Austrian Empire, and Austria-Hungary. After World War I, Romania established control over Bukovina. In 1940, the northern half of Bukovina was annexed by the Soviet Union, and nowadays is part of Ukraine.

Name

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 became the Austrian Empire in 1804, and Austria-Hungary in 1867.

The official German name of the province under Austrian rule (1775–1918), die Bukowina, was derived from the Polish form Bukowina, which in turn was derived from the common Slavic form of buk, meaning beech tree (бук [buk] as, for example, in Ukrainian or, even, Buche in German). 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, in literary or poetic contexts, the name Țara Fagilor ("the land of beech trees") is sometimes used.

The Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina was the military occupation of the formerly Romanian regions of Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, and Hertza by the Soviet Red Army during June 28 – July 4, 1940. These regions, with a total area of 50,762 km² (19,599 sq mi) and a population of 3,776,309 inhabitants, were subsequently incorporated into the USSR.

The Soviet Union had planned to accomplish the annexation with a full-scale invasion, but the Romanian government, responding to a Soviet ultimatum delivered on June 26, agreed to withdraw from the territories in order to avoid a military conflict. Germany, which had acknowledged the Soviet interest in Bessarabia in a secret protocol to the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, had been made aware prior to the planned ultimatum on June 24, but had not informed the Romanian authorities, nor were they willing to provide support. The fall of France, a guarantor of Romania's borders, on 22 June, is considered an important factor in the Soviet decision to issue the ultimatum.

Bessarabia (Romanian: Basarabia; Russian: Бессарабия Bessarabiya,Turkish: Besarabya; Ukrainian: Бессарабія Bessarabiya), is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. The bulk of Bessarabia is currently part of Moldova, whereas the northernmost regions, as well as the southern regions bordering the Black Sea (Budjak), are part of Ukraine.

In the aftermath of the Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812), and the ensuing Peace of Bucharest, the eastern parts of the Principality of Moldavia, an Ottoman vassal, along with some areas formerly under direct Ottoman rule, were ceded to Imperial Russia. The acquisition was among the Empire's last territorial acquisitions in Europe. The newly acquired territories were organised as the Governorate of Bessarabia, adopting a name previously used for the southern plains, between the Dniester and the Danube rivers. Following the Crimean War, in 1856, the southern areas of Bessarabia were returned to Moldavian rule; Russian rule was restored over the whole of the region in 1878, when Romania, the result of Moldavia's union with Wallachia, was pressured into exchanging those territories for the Dobruja.

Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west.

Bessarabia may also refer to:

See also

Bukovina is a village and municipality (obec) in Blansko District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic.

The municipality covers an area of 2.73 square kilometres (1.05 sq mi), and has a population of 337 (as at 3 July 2006).

Bukovina lies approximately 12 kilometres (7 mi) south-east of Blansko, 17 km (11 mi) north-east of Brno, and 191 km (119 mi) south-east of Prague.

References

Bukovina is a village and municipality in Liptovský Mikuláš District in the Žilina Region of northern Slovakia.

History

In historical records the village was first mentioned in 1297.

Geography

The municipality lies at an altitude of 590 metres and covers an area of 1.906 km². It has a population of about 130 people.

Genealogical resources

The records for genealogical research are available at the state archive "Statny Archiv in Bytca, Slovakia"

See also

External links

Coordinates: 49°08′04″N 19°28′14″E / 49.1344°N 19.4706°E / 49.1344; 19.4706