Podkarpatska Rus'

This unsigned historical account traces the political fate of the
Uhro-Rusyns — the Rusyns of the former Kingdom of Hungary — from their
World War I bid for self-determination through the creation, brief
autonomy, and 1945 illegal annexation of Sub-Carpathian Ruthenia
(Podkarpatska Rus') by the Soviet Union. It centers on Gregory Zatkovich,
the Pittsburgh lawyer who represented the American Rusyn National Council,
met with President Woodrow Wilson in 1918, carried an American Rusyn
plebiscite to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, and became the first
Governor of the new autonomous province before resigning in 1921 over
Czechoslovakia's failure to honor the autonomy it had promised.

The account closes with the full text of Articles 10 through 13 of the
Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919), the international instrument that
obligated Czechoslovakia to grant the Ruthene territory south of the
Carpathians its own legislative Diet and the fullest self-government
compatible with the unity of the Czechoslovak state — the promise whose
non-fulfillment runs through the rest of the region's twentieth-century
history. See the companion document, "Declaration of Common Aims of the
Independent Mid-European Nations," for the October 1918 Philadelphia
declaration that preceded these events.

Prior to the First World War, the northeast part of the Hungarian Empire
was inhabited by a Slavic people who some called "Uhro-Rusyns" (Rusyns
inhabiting Hungary). They were predominantly members of the Byzantine Rite
Catholic Church. During the First World War, the Uhro-Rusyns were under the
domination of Hungary, and, therefore, they could not make known to the
world that they desired to throw off alien domination and have a
government of their own choosing.

Knowing the above fact, the American Rusyns organized the American National
Council of Uhro-Rusyns on July 23, 1918. The council appointed Gregory
Zatkovich, a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania lawyer, as its representative, and on
October 21, 1918 he conferred with President Woodrow Wilson. Following this
conference President Wilson publicly recognized the Uhro-Rusyns as a
separate nation subject to alien domination and as such would be entitled
to the right of "self-determination."

On October 23, 1918, the "Declaration of Common Aims of the Independent
Mid-European Nations" was signed in Independence Hall, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, by the twelve representatives of the nations constituting the
Mid-European Union, namely: Czecho-Slovaks, Poles, Yugoslavs, Ukrainians,
Uhro-Rusyns, Lithuanians, Roumanians, Italian-Irredentists, Unredeemed
Greeks, Albanians, Zionists, and Armenians.

In order to concretely ascertain the opinion of the American Rusyns as to
the form of government they would recommend to their European brethren, a
plebiscite was held. The result thereof was overwhelmingly (67 percent) in
favor of a union between Czecho-Slovakia and the Uhro-Rusyns on a
federative basis.

Zatkovich and Julius G. Gardos, President of the American Council of
Uhro-Rusyns, went to Paris, and on February 22, 1919 they presented the
result of the above plebiscite to André Tardieu, President of the powerful
Committee of Five. Assured by him that the Allied Powers would approve the
proposed federation if the Rusyns in the former Hungarian Empire expressed
a desire for such a federation, Zatkovich and Gardos went personally to
their European brethren and fully informed them of all the foregoing.

On May 8, 1919, the Central National Rusyn Council, at Uzhhorod,
unanimously voted for a union of the Uhro-Rusyns with Czechoslovakia on a
federation basis. On August 7, 1919, the Czechoslovak government authorized
the creation of a "Directorium" comprised of five members with authority to
organize the newly created State. President Thomas G. Masaryk made the
appointments and designated Gregory Zatkovich to be President of said
Directorium.

On September 10, 1919, the Saint-Germain-en-Laye Treaty was signed by the
Principal and Allied Powers and Czecho-Slovakia. Under the terms of this
Treaty, Czecho-Slovakia undertook to constitute the Ruthene territory south
of the Carpathians as an autonomous unit and to accord to it the fullest
degree of self-government compatible with the unity of the Czecho-Slovak
State. (See the full text below.)

The Directorium functioned until March 2, 1920, when all the members
resigned. On April 26, 1920, Gregory Zatkovich was appointed by President
Masaryk as the first Governor of Sub-Carpathian Ruthenia. He resigned on
April 17, 1921. The reason for his resignation was the failure of the
Czecho-Slovak government to fully accord to Sub-Carpathian Ruthenia the
autonomous rights granted it in the Saint-Germain-en-Laye Treaty. After the
death and interment of his daughter Joan, age 3½, accompanied by his wife
Leona C. and their son Gregory P., age 5, he returned to Pittsburgh, and
resumed the practice of his legal profession.

The Second Governor of Sub-Carpathian Ruthenia was Anthony Beskid. The
Third Governor was Constantine Hrabar.

During the Second World War, Sub-Carpathian Ruthenia was occupied by
Hungary. Shortly after the termination of the Second World War, namely on
June 29, 1945, the Czecho-Slovak government, contrary to International Law,
violated the terms of the Saint-Germain-en-Laye Treaty, and ceded
Sub-Carpathian Ruthenia to the Soviet Union, and such has been its status
to the present day, despite numerous protests against this illegal
seizure. Its present international status, stated in a USA State Department
letter addressed to Stephen M. Tkatch, President of the American Rusyn
National Council, is as follows:

"On June 29, 1945, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union signed an
agreement which acknowledged the incorporation of Sub-Carpathian
Ruthenia into the USSR. The United States was not a party to this
treaty."

Said letter is dated November 4, 1960.

Note: The official name of the above small country, designated by the
above mentioned Directorium, is Podkarpatska Rus' (Sub-Carpathian
Ruthenia), in abbreviated form Karpatska Rus' (Carpathian Ruthenia). It is
at times loosely called Rusynia, Ruthenia, Carpathian Russia, and
Carpathian Ukraine.

Note: With the consent and approval of the USA State Department,
President Thomas G. Masaryk, and the Central National Rusyn Council at
Uzhhorod, Gregory Zatkovich continued to be an American citizen while
holding the office of President of the Directorium and Governor.

Treaty Between the Principal Allied and Associated Powers and Czechoslovakia

Signed at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, September 10, 1919

Chapter 2.

Article 10. Czecho-Slovakia undertakes to constitute the Ruthene
territory south of the Carpathians within frontiers delimited by the
Principal Allied and Associated Powers as an autonomous unit within the
Czecho-Slovak State, and to accord to it the fullest degree of
self-government compatible with the unity of the Czecho-Slovak State.

Article 11. The Ruthene territory south of the Carpathians shall
possess a special Diet. This Diet shall have the power of legislation in
all linguistic, scholastic and religious questions, in matters of local
administration, and in other questions which the laws of the Czecho-Slovak
State may assign to it. The Governor of the Ruthene territory shall be
appointed by the President of the Czecho-Slovak Republic and shall be
responsible for the Ruthene Diet.

Article 12. Czecho-Slovakia agrees that officials in the Ruthene
territory will be chosen as far as possible from the inhabitants of this
territory.

Article 13. Czecho-Slovakia guarantees to the Ruthene territory
equitable representation in the legislative assembly of the Czecho-Slovak
Republic, to which Assembly it will send deputies elected according to the
Constitution of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. These deputies will not,
however, have the right of voting in the Czecho-Slovak Diet upon
legislative questions of the same kind as those assigned to the Ruthenian
Diet.

Colophon

Text reproduced from the Collections of the Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress, as captured 2026-08-05 from
http://www.carpatho-rusyn.org/fame/pod.htm ("Famous and Prominent Persons
of Rusyn Descent" section, Carpatho-Rusyn Knowledge Base). No author is
named on the source page; the account and the State Department letter it
quotes date the material to no earlier than 1960. As a work assembled from
US government archival and diplomatic material, and incorporating the
public 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, it carries no third-party
restrictive notice. Paragraph breaks and the treaty's article numbering
follow the source; minor formatting (bolding of article numbers, a
blockquote for the quoted State Department letter) added for readability.

Prepared for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, with
AI-assisted research and preservation.

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