Duchy of Bukovina | ||||||||||
Herzogtum Bukowina (German) Ducatul Bucovinei (Romanian) Герцогство Буковина (Ukrainian) |
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Military district of the Habsburg Empire (1775–1787) Kreis within Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria (1787–1849) Kronland of the Austrian Empire (1849–1867) and Cisleithanian Austria-Hungary (1867–1918) |
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Duchy of Bukovina within Austria-Hungary
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Capital | Czernowitz (Cernăuți / Chernivtsi) | |||||||||
Languages | German, Romanian, Ukrainian, Polish | |||||||||
Government |
Military district (1775–1787) Kreis (1787–1849) Kronland (1849–1918) |
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History | ||||||||||
• | Annexation of northwestern Moldavia by the Habsburg Monarchy | January 1775 | ||||||||
• | Duchy of Bukovina | March 4, 1849 | ||||||||
• | Declaration of Union with Romania | November 28, 1918 | ||||||||
• | Treaty of Saint Germain | September 10, 1919 | ||||||||
Area | ||||||||||
• | 1910 | 10,442 km² (4,032 sq mi) | ||||||||
Population | ||||||||||
• | 1910 est. | 794,929 | ||||||||
Density | 76.1 /km² (197.2 /sq mi) | |||||||||
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Today part of |
Romania Ukraine |
The Duchy of Bukovina was a constituent land of the Austrian Empire from 1849 and a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria–Hungary from 1867 until 1918.
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 Austrian Empire in 1804, and Austria-Hungary in 1867.
The official German name, die Bukowina, of the province under Austrian rule (1775–1918), was derived from the Polish form Bukowina, which in turn was derived from the Ukrainian word, Буковина (Bukovyna), and 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.
In English, an alternative form is The Bukovina, increasingly an archaism, which, however, is found in older literature.
After the Mongol invasion of Europe, the Bukovina lands since the 14th century had been part of the Principality of Moldavia, with Suceava being the princely capital from 1388 to 1565. In the 16th century, Moldavia came under Ottoman influence, but still retaining its autonomy. During the early 18th century, Moldavia became the target of the Russian Empire's southwards expansion, inaugurated by Tsar Peter the Great during the Pruth River Campaign of 1710-11. In 1769, during the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–74, Moldavia was occupied by Russian troops.