Lwów Voivodeship

For the medieval / early modern voivodeship of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the capital in Lviv, see Ruthenian Voivodeship.

Lwów Voivodeship (Template:Lang-pl) was an administrative unit of interwar Poland (1918–1939). According to Nazis and Soviets it ceased to exist in September 1939, following German and Soviet aggression on Poland (see: Polish September Campaign). The Polish underground administration existed till August 1944.

Województwo lwowskie
(Coat of Arms)

Administrative division, 1938

Population

Its capital, biggest and most important city was Lwów (now: Lviv in Ukraine). 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%, which was the same as national average and, at the same time, the lowest percentage in Polish Eastern Borderlands.

Location and area

Voivodeship's area was 28 402 square kilometers. It was located in southeastern 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). On January 1, 1937 forested was 23.3% of the Voivodeship (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-east Poland and the third biggest city of the whole country (after Warsaw and Łódź). 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).

Counties of the Voivodeship:

• Bobrka county (area 891 km² pop. 97 100),
• Brzozów county (area 684 km² pop. 83 200),
• Dobromil county (area 994 km² pop. 94 000),
• Drohobycz county (area 1,499 km² pop. 194 400),
• Gródek Jagielloński county (area 889 km² pop. 85 000),
• Jarosław county (area 1,337 km² pop. 148 000),
• Jaworów county (area 977 km² pop. 86 800),
• Kolbuszowa county (area 873 km² pop. 69 600),
• Krosno county (area 934 km² pop. 113 400),
• Lesko county (area 1,832 km² pop. 111 600),
• Lubaczów county (area 1,146 km² 87 300),
• city of Lwów county (powiat lwowski grodzki - area 67 km², pop. 312 200),
• Lwów county (area 1,276 km² pop. 142 800),
• Łańcut county (area 889 km² pop. 97 700),
• Mościska county (area 755 km² pop. 89 500),
• Nisko county (area 973 km² pop. 64 200),
• Przemyśl county (area 1,002 km² pop. 162 500),
• Przeworsk county (area 415 km² pop. 61 400),
• Rawa Ruska county (area 1,401 km² pop. 122 100),
• Rudki county (area 670 km² pop. 79 200),
• Rzeszów county (area 1,270 km² pop. 185 100),
• Sambor county (area 1,133 km² pop. 133 800),
• Sanok county (area 1,282 km² pop. 114 200),
• Sokal county (area 1,324 km² pop. 109 100),
• Tarnobrzeg county (area 949 km² pop. 72 200),
• Turka county (area 1,829 km² pop. 114 400),
• Żółkiew county (area 1,111 km² pop. 95 500).

Railroads and industry

In general opinion, interwar Poland was unofficially divided into two parts - Poland "A" (better developed) and Poland "B" (less developed). Lwów Voivodeship was located on the boundary line of these. Its industry was scarce, with virtually only two centers - the city of Lwów itself and rich in oil southern region of Boryslaw and Drohobycz. But, other than this, the area was overpopulated, backward and marred by unemployment.

Starting in mid-1930s, Polish government decided to open massive public project works, 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. Unfortunately, the COP was never finished, because of German and Soviet aggression in 1939.

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 other (Lesko, Lubaczow, 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.

Voivodes

• Kazimierz Grabowski 23 April 1921 – 30 June 1924
• Stanisław Zimny 10 March 1924 – 4 December 1924
• Paweł Garapich 30 December 1924 – 28 July 1927
• Piotr Dunin-Borkowski 28 July 1927 – 30 April 1928
• Wojciech Agenor Gołuchowski 9 July 1928 – 29 August 1930
• Bronisław Nakoniecznikoff-Klukowski 29 August 1930 – 6 July 1931
• Józef Rożniecki 22 July 1931 – 30 January 1933
• Władysław Belina-Prażmowski 31 January 1933 – 14 April 1937
• Alfred Biłyk 16 April 1937 – 17 September 1939
• Władysław Zych
• Adam Ostrowski 15 March 1944 – 1 August 1944

September 1939 and its aftermath

In late September 1939, following German and Soviet aggression on Poland and Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Lwów Voivodeship was divided by the two victorious sides. The city of Lwów was occupied by the Soviets and, together with eastern part of the Voivodeship, was incorporated into Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, since 1941 in General Gouvernment (the Polish underground administration existed there till August 1944). In 1945, when eastern borders of Poland were established, western part of former Lwów Voivodeship (to the San river) was organized into freshly created Rzeszów Voivodeship—currently, the 1999-reorganized Subcarpathian Voivodeship.

The remaining eastern part became Ukraine's Lviv Oblast.

References

• Maly rocznik statystyczny 1939, Nakladem Glownego Urzedu Statystycznego, Warszawa 1939 (Concise Statistical Year-Book of Poland, Warsaw 1939).