Sloboda Ukraine

{{Short description|Historical region in Ukraine and Russia}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Sloboda Ukraine | native_name = {{native name|uk|Слобідська Україна}}<br/>{{native name|ru|Слободская Украина}} | settlement_type = Historical region | image_skyline = {{multiple image | border = infobox | total_width = 266 | image_style = border:1 | perrow = 2/2/1 | image1 = Благовіщенський собор у Харкові 23.jpg{{!}}Annunciation Cathedral, Kharkiv | image2 = Sviatohirsk Lavra - 05.jpg{{!}}Holy Mountains Lavra of the Holy Dormition, Sviatohirsk | image3 = Городское поселение город Валуйки.jpg{{!}}Assumption Nicholas Monastery in Valuyki | image4 = Суми Міська ратуша 1.jpg{{!}}Historic city hall and Transfiguration Cathedral, Sumy | image5 = Храм Успіння Пресвятої Богородиці м.Сватове.jpg{{!}}Panorama of Svatove | caption1 = [[Annunciation Cathedral, Kharkiv]] | caption2 = [[Sviatohirsk Lavra]] | caption3 = Monastery, [[Valuyki, Belgorod Oblast|Valuyki]] | caption4 = Historic city hall, [[Sumy]] | caption5 = Panorama of [[Svatove]]}} | image_flag = Slobozhania (flag).png | image_shield = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = Ukraine, Russia | subdivision_type1 = | subdivision_name1 = | subdivision_type2 = Regions | subdivision_name2 = East Ukraine, Central Black Earth Region | parts_type = Parts | parts_style = para | p1 = [[Kharkiv Oblast]] | p2 = [[Luhansk Oblast]] | p3 = [[Sumy Oblast]] | p4 = [[Belgorod Oblast]] | p5 = [[Voronezh Oblast]] | p6 = [[Kursk Oblast]] | p7 = [[Donetsk Oblast]] | image_map = Ukraine-Slobozhanshchyna.png | map_caption = Location of Sloboda Ukraine (yellow) in Ukraine | coordinates = | coordinates_footnotes = | seat = [[Kharkiv]] | seat_type = Capital | established_title = | established_date = | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = | area_total_sq_mi = | area_land_sq_mi = | area_water_sq_mi = | population_as_of = | population_footnotes = | population_total = | population_density_km2 = auto | population_density_sq_mi= | population_demonym = | timezone1 = | utc_offset1 = | timezone1_DST = | utc_offset1_DST = }}

'''Sloboda Ukraine''',{{efn|{{langx|uk|Слобідська Україна|Slobidska Ukraina}}; {{langx|ru|Слободская Украина|Slobodskaya Ukraina}}.}} also known locally as '''''Slobozhanshchyna''''' or '''''Slobozhanshchina''''',{{efn|{{langx|uk|Слобожанщина}}, {{IPA|uk|sloboˈʒɑnʃtʃɪnɐ|IPA}}; {{langx|ru|Слобожанщина}}, {{IPA|ru|sləbɐˈʐanʲɕːɪnə|IPA}}.}} is a historical region in northeastern [[Ukraine]] and southwestern [[Russia]]. It developed from [[Belgorod Razriad]] and flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries on the southwestern frontier of the [[Tsardom of Russia]]. In 1765, it was converted into the [[Kharkov Governorate|Sloboda Ukraine Governorate]].

==Etymology== Its name derives from the term ''[[sloboda (settlement)|sloboda]]'' for a colonial settlement free of tax obligations, and the word ''[[Name of Ukraine|Ukraine]]'' was used to refer to the area inhabited by [[Ukrainian Cossacks]] and settlers. The word ''Ukraine'' is often considered to originally refer to a 'borderland', a view supported by Russian,<ref>Vasmer Etymological Dictionary</ref> Ukrainian, and Western historians such as [[Orest Subtelny]],<ref>Orest Subtelny. Ukraine: A History. University of Toronto Press, 1988</ref> [[Paul Magocsi]],<ref>A History of Ukraine. University of Toronto Press, 1996 {{ISBN|0-8020-0830-5}}</ref> [[Omeljan Pritsak]],<ref>From ''Kievan Rus' to modern Ukraine: Formation of the Ukrainian Nation'' (with Mykhailo Hrushevski and John Stephen Reshetar). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Ukrainian Studies Fund, Harvard University, 1984.</ref> [[Mykhailo Hrushevskyi]],<ref>Грушевський М. Історія України-Руси. Том II. Розділ V. Стор. 4</ref> [[Ivan Ohiyenko]],<ref>[http://litopys.org.ua/ohukr/ohu04.htm Історія української літературної мови. Київ — 2001 (Перше видання Вінніпег — 1949)]</ref> [[Petro Tolochko]],<ref name=":1">Толочко П. П. «От Руси к Украине» («Від Русі до України») 1997</ref> and others. It is supported by the ''[[Encyclopedia of Ukraine]]''<ref>[http://litopys.org.ua/rizne/nazva_eu.htm Енциклопедія українознавства. У 10-х томах. / Головний редактор Володимир Кубійович. — Париж; Нью-Йорк: Молоде життя, 1954—1989.]</ref> and the ''Ukrainian Etymological Dictionary''.<ref>Етимологічний словник української мови: У 7 т. / Редкол. О. С. Мельничук (голов. ред.) та ін. — К.: Наук. думка, 1983 — Т. 6: У — Я / Уклад.: Г. П. Півторак та ін. — 2012. — 568 с. {{ISBN|978-966-00-0197-8}}</ref> Some Ukrainian historians claim the original meaning of the word is 'country', 'region' or 'homeland'.<ref>[http://litopys.org.ua/ukrmova/um123.htm Русанівський, В. М. Українська мова // Енциклопедія «Українська мова». — К., 2000.] (in Ukrainian) [https://web.archive.org/web/20090227175540/http://litopys.org.ua/ukrmova/um123.htm Archived] 27 February 2009 at [[Wayback Machine]]], [http://litopys.org.ua/pivtorak/pivt12.htm Григорій Півторак, Г. «Україна» — це не «окраїна» // Походження українців, росіян, білорусів та їхніх мов] (in Ukrainian) [https://web.archive.org/web/20201116034417/http://litopys.org.ua/pivtorak/pivt12.htm Archived] 16 November 2020 at [[Wayback Machine]]].</ref>

==Geographical extent== The territory of historic Sloboda Ukraine corresponds to parts of the present-day Ukrainian [[oblast]]s (provinces) of [[Kharkiv Oblast|Kharkiv]], [[Sumy Oblast|Sumy]], and [[Luhansk Oblast|Luhansk]], as well as parts of [[Belgorod Oblast|Belgorod]], [[Kursk Oblast|Kursk]], and [[Voronezh Oblast|Voronezh]] oblasts of Russia.<ref name=KUW231114>[http://ukrainianweek.com/History/123906 What Makes Kharkiv Ukrainian], [[The Ukrainian Week]] (23 November 2014)</ref>

==History== ===Early history=== [[File:Sloboda Ukraine 1764.png|thumb|left|Map of Sloboda Ukraine]] Russia gained control over the territory as a result of conquests against the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] during the [[Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars]] in the 16th century.

According to Russian and Ukrainian sources of the 16th–17th centuries, the region was initially part of the Russian state,<ref>Слюсарский А. Г. Социально-экономическое развитие Слобожанщины XVII— XVIII вв. Харьков. 1964. С. 11</ref> which encouraged the settlement of this territory for defensive purposes.<ref>Слюсарский А. Г. Социально-экономическое развитие Слобожанщины XVII— XVIII вв. Харьков. 1964. С. 29</ref> It was first colonized by the Russians in the first half of the 16th century and became part of a defense line used against the [[Crimean–Nogai slave raids in Eastern Europe|Crimean–Nogai slave raids]].<ref name=Davies44>Brian Davies. Empire and Military Revolution in Eastern Europe: Russia's Turkish Wars in the Eighteenth Century. Bloomsbury Publishing. 2011. P. 44</ref> A second wave of colonization occurred in the 1620s to 1630s, largely in the form of Ukrainian [[Cossack]] regiments, who were allowed to settle there to help protect the territory against the [[Crimean Khanate|Tatars]].<ref name="Brian Davies 2011. P. 45">Brian Davies. Empire and Military Revolution in Eastern Europe: Russia's Turkish Wars in the Eighteenth Century. Bloomsbury Publishing. 2011. P. 45</ref>

The Cossacks who arrived in Sloboda Ukraine were under the sovereignty of Russian tsars and their military chancellery, and were registered in Russian military service.<ref name=Davies44/> Many Ukrainian refugees arrived from Poland-Lithuania after the [[Ostryanyn uprising]] of 1637–1638 and received generous resettlement subsidies from the Russian government.<ref name="Brian Davies 2011. P. 45"/> For decades, Ukrainian Cossacks crossed the border into southern Russia to gather livestock. Still, many of them engaged in banditry, prompting Russia to establish a new garrison town on the Boguchar River to defend the land from Ukrainian bandits.<ref>Brian Davies. Warfare, State and Society on the Black Sea Steppe, 1500–1700. Routledge. 2007. P. 100</ref> Russia also resettled many of the Ukrainian refugees at Valuyki, [[Korocha]], [[Voronezh]], and as far as [[Michurinsk|Kozlov]].<ref>Brian Davies. Warfare, State and Society on the Black Sea Steppe, 1500–1700. Routledge. 2007. P. 101</ref>

[[File:Prelesne 0009.jpg|thumb|Folk architecture in Sloboda Ukraine]]

[[Crimean Tatars]] and [[Nogai Tatars]] traditionally utilized the sparsely inhabited area of the [[Wild Fields]] on the border of Russia, immediately south of [[Severia]], to launch annual raids into Russian territories along the [[Muravsky Trail]] and [[Izyum Trail]].<ref>Слюсарский А. Г. Социально-экономическое развитие Слобожанщины XVII— XVIII вв. Харьков. 1964. С. 30</ref> In 1591, a Tatar raid reached the Moscow region, compelling the Russian government to construct new forts, including [[Belgorod]] and [[Stary Oskol|Oskol]] in 1593, [[Yelets]] in 1592, [[Kromy, Oryol Oblast|Kromy]] in 1595, [[Kursk]] in 1597, and Tsarev-Borisov and [[Valuyki, Belgorod Oblast|Valuyki]] in 1600.<ref>Слюсарский А. Г. Социально-экономическое развитие Слобожанщины XVII— XVIII вв. Харьков. 1964. С. 32</ref> Tsarev-Borisov, named after Tsar [[Boris Godunov|Boris I]], was the oldest settlement in Sloboda Ukraine.<ref>Ісаєв Т. О. Цареборисів: від заснування до утворення Ізюмського слобідського полку // Вісник Харківського національного університету імені В. Н. Каразіна, 2010, No 906, С. 91</ref>

During those raids, regions near [[Ryazan]] and along the [[Oka River]] suffered the most. The conflict intensified with Russian territorial expansion south and east into the lands of modern Sloboda Ukraine and the mid-Volga River. Sometime between the 1580s and 1640s, the ''Belgorod Defense Line'' was constructed in Sloboda Ukraine, featuring several fortifications, moats, and forts, providing security to the region. After several [[Russo-Crimean Wars]], Russian monarchs began to encourage the settlement of the area by [[Cossacks]], who served as a sort of frontier guard force against Tatar raids. [[File:Partition of Ukraine after the Truce of Andrusovo (1667).jpg|thumb|Sloboda Ukraine and the partition of [[Cossack Hetmanate]] after the Truce of Andrusovo in 1667]] Apart from the Cossacks, the settlers included [[peasants]] and townspeople from [[Right-bank Ukraine|right-bank]] and [[left-bank Ukraine]], divided by the [[Treaty of Andrusovo]] in 1667. The name ''Sloboda Ukraine'' derives from the word ''sloboda'', a [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] term meaning "freedom" (or "[[liberty]]"), and also [[sloboda (settlement)|the name of a type of settlement]]. The tsar would free the settlers of a ''sloboda'' from the obligation of paying taxes and fees for a certain period, which proved very enticing for immigrants. By the end of the 18th century, settlers occupied 523 ''Slobodan'' settlements in Sloboda Ukraine.

From 1650 to 1765, the territory referred to as Sloboda Ukraine became increasingly organized according to Cossack military custom, similar to that of the [[Zaporozhian Host]] (to the south) and [[Don Cossacks|Don Host]] (to the east). The relocated Cossacks became known as Sloboda Cossacks. There were five [[regiment (administrative unit)|regimental districts (''polky'')]] of Sloboda Cossacks, named after the towns of their sustained deployment and subdivided into company districts ([[sotnia|''sotni'']]). Regional centers included [[Ostrogozhsk]] (centre of [[Ostrogozhsk Regiment]]), [[Kharkiv]] ([[Kharkiv Regiment]]), [[Okhtyrka]], [[Sumy]], and [[Izyum]], while the Sloboda Ukraine Cossack capital was located in [[Sumy]] until 1743. Starting from 1688, administrative control over Sloboda Ukraine belonged to [[Greater Russia]]n [[prikaz]] of the tsar's government.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Енциклопедія українознавства. Словникова частина (ЕУ-II)|date=1993|volume=1|pages=222-228}}</ref> From 1753 to 1764, the imperial territory of [[Slavo-Serbia]] existed to the south.

=== Russian Empire === [[File:Map of Kharkov Namestnichestvo 1792 (small atlas).jpg|thumb|Kharkov Viceroyalty in 1792]] {{see also|Kharkov Governorate}} The administration of [[Catherine the Great]] disbanded the regiments of Slobozhanshchina and abolished Cossack privileges by the decree of July 28, 1765.<ref name=KUW231114/> The semiautonomous region became a province called [[Sloboda Ukraine Governorate]] (''Slobodsko-Ukrainskaya guberniya'').<ref name=KUW231114/><ref name=Danilevsky>{{cite book | author = Grigory Danilevsky | author-link = Grigory Danilevsky | title = Works | date = 29 May 2014 | volume = 21 | page = 27 | publisher = Directmedia | isbn = 9785446088706 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=jGN4BAAAQBAJ&q=%D0%A5%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B5+%D0%9D%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%BE&pg=PT26 | language = Russian}} St. Petersburg, 1901, First publication: 1865</ref> Saint Petersburg replaced the regimental administrations with Russian [[hussar]] regiments,<ref name=KUW231114/> and granted Cossack higher ranks (''[[starshina]]s'') officership, and nobility (''[[dvoryanstvo]]''). In 1780, the governorate was transformed into the [[Kharkov Viceroyalty]] (''namestnichestvo''), which existed until the end of 1796 when it was again renamed Sloboda Ukrainian Governorate.<ref name=Danilevsky /> Each administrative reform involved territorial changes.

In 1835, the province of Sloboda Ukraine was abolished, ceding most of its territory to the new [[Kharkov Governorate]] and some to [[Voronezh]] and [[Kursk]], which came under the [[Little Russia]]n [[Governorate General|General Governorship]] of [[left-bank Ukraine]].<ref name=KUW231114/>

===Soviet era=== {{see also|Kharkiv Governorate|Kharkiv Oblast}} In November-December 1918, [[Sudzha]] was the seat of the [[Provisional Workers' and Peasants' Government of Ukraine]], before its relocation to [[Belgorod]] outside of Sloboda Ukraine.<ref name=his>{{cite web|url=https://www.historians.in.ua/index.php/en/dyskusiya/1101-hennadii-yefimenko-mify-ta-fakty-pro-pershu-stolytsiu-ukrainy|title=Міфи та факти про «першу столицю України»|language=uk|date=28 March 2014|access-date=11 August 2024}}</ref> From 1919 to 1934, Kharkiv was the capital of Soviet Ukraine, before its relocation to [[Kyiv]] in [[Dnieper Ukraine]].<ref name=his/>

After the establishment of the [[Soviet Union]], Sloboda Ukraine was divided between the [[Ukrainian SSR]] and the [[Russian SFSR]].<ref name="ukrainianweek43727SU"/> In the early 1930s, [[Ukrainization]] ended in the parts of Sloboda Ukraine located in the Russian SFSR, leading to a significant decline in the number of people who identified as Ukrainians.<ref name="ukrainianweek43727SU">[http://ukrainianweek.com/History/43727 Unknown Eastern Ukraine], [[The Ukrainian Week]] (14 March 2012)</ref>

====World War II==== During [[World War II]], Polish prisoners-of-war was held in a Soviet POW camp in [[Starobilsk]], and then some 3,900 were mass murdered by the [[NKVD]] in [[Kharkiv]] and secretly buried in [[Piatykhatky, Kharkiv Oblast|Piatykhatky]] in 1940 ([[Katyn massacre]]). From 1941/1942 to 1943, the region was occupied by Germany. At [[Drobytsky Yar]], German occupiers mass murdered an estimated 16,000 to 30,000 people, mostly Jews. In January 1944, the 1st Reserve Infantry Regiment of the 1st Corps of the [[Polish Armed Forces in the East|Polish Armed Forces]] was stationed in Sumy, and soon the Main Formation Staff of the [[First Polish Army (1944–1945)|First Polish Army]] was established in Sumy.<ref name=hs>{{cite book|last=Stańczyk|first=Henryk|year=2021|title=Gorzki smak zwycięstwa. Polski bilans II wojny światowej|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=[[Museum of Independence|Muzeum Niepodległości]], [[Museum of the Polish Peasant Movement|Muzeum Historii Polskiego Ruchu Ludowego]]|pages=105, 107|chapter=Wojsko Polskie na froncie wschodnim 1943–1945|isbn=978-83-66640-32-0}}</ref> In 1944, about 30,000 Polish soldiers were stationed and underwent military training in Sumy before rejoining the fight against Germany.<ref name=hs/>

==Cities and towns== [[File:Краєвид на Сумську вулицю у Харкові.jpg|thumb|[[Kharkiv]]]] [[File:Спасо-Преображенский собор в Сумах, вид с воздуха DJI 0022242.jpg|thumb|[[Sumy]]]] Cities and towns in the Ukrainian part: {{div col|colwidth=14em}} *[[Bakhmut]] *[[Balakliia]] *[[Bilopillia]] *[[Bohodukhiv]] *[[Chuhuiv]] *[[Derhachi]] *[[Izium]] *[[Kharkiv]] *[[Kramatorsk]] *[[Kreminna]] *[[Kupiansk]] *[[Lebedyn]] *[[Liubotyn]] *[[Lyman, Ukraine|Lyman]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://maidan.org.ua/en/2014/06/krasnyj-lyman-ukrajinskyj-pivnich-donbasu/|title=Krasny Lyman – Ukrainian North Of Donbas|date=13 June 2014|access-date=22 February 2026}}</ref> *[[Merefa]] *[[Mykolaivka, Donetsk Oblast|Mykolaivka]] *[[Okhtyrka]] *[[Pivdenne, Kharkiv Oblast|Pivdenne]] *[[Siversk]] *[[Slobozhanske, Chuhuiv Raion, Kharkiv Oblast|Slobozhanske]] *[[Sloviansk]] *[[Soledar]] *[[Starobilsk]] *[[Sumy]] *[[Svatove]] *[[Sviatohirsk]] *[[Trostianets]] *[[Valky]] *[[Vorozhba]] *[[Vovchansk]] *[[Zmiiv]] {{div col end}} Cities and towns in the Russian part: {{div col|colwidth=14em}} *[[Alexeyevka, Belgorod Oblast|Alexeyevka]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://esu.com.ua/article-76697|title=Олексіївка|language=uk|access-date=22 February 2026}}</ref> *[[Biryuch]] *[[Boguchar]] *[[Grayvoron]] *[[Ostrogozhsk]] *[[Rossosh, Rossoshansky District, Voronezh Oblast|Rossosh]] *[[Shebekino]] *[[Sudzha]] *[[Valuyki, Belgorod Oblast|Valuyki]] {{div col end}}

==See also== *[[Slobozhan dialect]]

==Notes== {{Notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

==External links== * [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pagesSLSlobodaIT.htm Sloboda] in the [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com Encyclopedia of Ukraine] * [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30069?hook=404453 The autonomous hetman state and Sloboda Ukraine] in the [http://www.britannica.com/ Encyclopædia Britannica]

==Further reading== * [[Bibliography of Russian history]] * [[Bibliography of Ukrainian history]] * [[List of Slavic studies journals]]

[[Category:Sloboda Ukraine| ]] [[Category:Cossack Hetmanate]] [[Category:Historical regions in Ukraine]] [[Category:Historical regions in Russia]] [[Category:Ukrainian diaspora in Russia]]