Ukraine during World War I

Towards the latter 19th century, both the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires attempted to exert their influence on the adjacent territory on the tide of rising national awareness of the period as borders did not undermine the ethnic composition of Europe.

[citation needed] Western Ukraine was a major standoff for the Balkans and the Slavic Orthodox population it harboured.

Russia supported the Pan-Slavic movement, motivated by ethnic and religious loyalties and a rivalry with Austria dating back to the Crimean War.

Recent events such as the failed Russian-Austrian treaty and a century-old dream of a warm water port also motivated St.

When Russia and Austria partitioned Poland at the end of the 18th century, they inherited largely Eastern-rite Catholic populations.

Russia went to great lengths to revert the population to Orthodoxy, at times forcibly (as took place in Chelm)[2] The final factor was that by 1914, Ukrainian nationalism had matured to a point where it could significantly influence the future of the region.

In Galicia, over twenty thousand Ukrainians who were suspected of being sympathetic to Russian interests were arrested and placed in Austrian concentration camps, both in Talerhof, Styria and in Terezín fortress (now in the Czech Republic).

Many atrocities occurred during the civil war as the Red, White, Polish, Ukrainian, and allied armies marched throughout the country.