For the voivodeship of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the capital in Lwów, see Ruthenian Voivodeship. For the short-lived voivodeship of Poland between 1944 and 1945, see Lwów Voivodeship (1944–1945).
Lwów Voivodeship (Polish: Województwo lwowskie) was an administrative unit of interwar Poland (1918–1939). Because of the Nazi invasion of Poland in accordance with the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, it became occupied by both the Wehrmacht and the Red Army in September 1939. Following the conquest of Poland however, the Polish underground administration existed there until August 1944. Only around half of the Voivodeship was returned to Poland after the war ended. It was split diagonally just east of Przemyśl; with its eastern half, including Lwów itself, ceded to the Ukrainian SSR at the insistence of Joseph Stalin during the Tehran Conference confirmed (as not negotiable) at the Yalta Conference of 1945.[1][2]
Population
Voivodeship's capital, the biggest and its most important city was Lwów. It consisted of 27 powiats (counties), 58 towns and 252 villages. In 1921 it was inhabited by 2,789,000 people. Ten years later, this number rose to 3,126,300 (which made it the most populous of all Polish Voivodeships). In 1931, the population density was 110 per km2. The majority of the population (57%) was Polish, especially in western counties. Ukrainians (mainly in the east and south-east) made up about 33% and Jews (mainly in towns) - around 7%. Also, there were smaller communities of Armenians, Germans and other nationalities. In 1931, the illiteracy rate of the Voivodeship's population was 23.1%, about the same as national average and, at the same time, the lowest in the Polish Eastern Borderlands.[3]
According to the census of 1921 the Lwów Voivodeship was inhabited by 2,718,014 people, of whom by nationality 56.6% were Polish, 35.9% were Ruthenian (Ukrainian), 7.0% were Jewish and 0.5% were German and all others. By religion 46.5% were Roman Catholic, 41.5% were Uniate or Orthodox, 0.5% were Protestant and 11.5% were Jewish.[4]
In 1931 the voivodeship had 3,127,409 inhabitants, of whom by mother tongue 57.7% spoke Polish, 34.1% spoke Ukrainian and Ruthenian, 7.5% spoke Yiddish or Hebrew, 0.4% spoke German and 0.3% spoke other languages. By religion, 46.3% were Roman Catholic, 42% were Greek Catholic or Orthodox, 0.4% were Protestant, 11% were Jewish and 0.3% others.
The results of the 1931 census (questions about mother tongue and about religion) are presented in the table below:
Ukrainian/Ruthenian and Greek Catholic/Orthodox majority minority counties are highlighted with yellow.
Comparison of Polish and Ukrainian population of Lwów Voivodeship according to the 1931 census[5][6]
The Voivodeship's area was 28,402 square kilometres (10,966 sq mi). It was located in southern Poland, bordering Czechoslovakia to the south, Kraków Voivodeship to the west, Lublin Voivodeship to the north and Volhynian Voivodeship, Stanisławów Voivodeship and Tarnopol Voivodeship to the east. Landscape was hilly (in the north) and mountainous (in the south, along the Czechoslovakian border, with numerous spas located there, such as Slawsko). Forest covered 23.3% of the Voivodeship area (January 1, 1937 statistics; with the national average of 22.2%).
Cities and counties
Lwów, the voivodeship's capital, was by far its biggest city, with the population of 318,000 (as of 1939). It was also the biggest city in south-eastern Poland and the third biggest city in the country (after Warsaw and Łódź), before Kraków (259,000). Other important centers in the voivodeship were: Przemyśl (in 1931 pop. 51,000), Borysław (pop. 41,500), Drohobycz (pop. 32,300), Rzeszów (pop. 27,000), Jarosław (pop. 22,200), Sambor (pop. 22,000), Sanok (pop. 14,300) and Gródek Jagielloński (pop. 12,900).
Starting in the mid-1930s, the Polish government decided to start a massive public works project, known as Centralny Okreg Przemyslowy (COP). The project covered western counties of the Voivodeship, where several factories were constructed (a steel mill in newly created city of Stalowa Wola, an aircraft engine and artillery factory in Rzeszów, as well as an armament factory in Sanok). This was a huge boost for overpopulated rural areas, where unemployment was high. The project was still incomplete at the beginning of the Second World War.
The railroad network was well-developed only in the area of Lwów, as the city itself was an important hub with as many as eight lines coming from it. Apart from this, some counties (like Kolbuszowa, Brzozów or Jaworów) lacked rail connections, while others (Lesko, Lubaczów, Rudki, Stary Sambor) were greatly underdeveloped. Other rail hubs were Rawa Ruska, Rzeszów, Rozwadów, Sambor, Drohobycz, Przeworsk, Chodorów, and Przemyśl.
As for January 1, 1938, total length of railroads within Voivodeship's boundaries was 1,534 kilometers, which was 5.4 km. per 100 km2.
Following the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and the subsequent Russo-German conquest of Poland, the voivodeship was divided by the victors in late September 1939. The western part of the voivodeship was annexed by Germany and added to the General Government, while the eastern part (including the city of Lwów) was incorporated into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. After July 1941, Lwów and the eastern part were occupied by Germany and also added to the General Government; the Polish underground administration existed there until August 1944. In 1945, when Poland's current borders were established, the western part of former Lwów Voivodeship (to the San river) was organized into the newly created Rzeszów Voivodeship; this territory has been part of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship since 1999.
^"Województwo lwowskie. 1920-1939". KALENDARIUM. Grodek Jagiellonski. Archived from the original on March 8, 2012. Retrieved March 1, 2017 – via Internet Archive.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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