96th Anniversary of the Day of Unity in Ukraine

The Day of Unity marks an important historical event in the history of the Ukrainian people, when Central-Eastern and Western Ukraine, which had been separated for centuries, became united. On 22 January 1918, Ukraine’s first government, the Central Council, proclaimed that the Ukrainian People’s Republic was an independent, free and sovereign State of the Ukrainian people. Over the same period, as a result of the split of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Western Ukrainian People's Republic was formed in the Western Ukraine, with its capital in Lviv. On the same date one year later another significant event took place in Kyiv’s St.Sophia Square – the merger of the Ukrainian People Republic and the West Ukrainian People Republic into a unified state. The two republics signed the Act of Union to form a single state, comprising of all Ukrainian lands previously belonging to the Russian Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The agreement was aimed at creating a unified Ukrainian state, a movement long awaited by the intelligentsia on both sides. «The territory of Ukraine, divided over the centuries, including Galicia, Bukovyna, Carpathian Ruthenia, and Dnieper Ukraine will now become a great-united Ukraine. Dreams, for which the best sons of Ukraine fought and died for, have come true», - was written in the text of the universal made by the Directorate of the Ukrainian People's Republic. Many historians consider this date to mark the beginning of the existence of a modern Ukrainian state. Despite the fact that later on the Ukrainian state failed to assert its independence in the following struggles with outside forces, the union of 22 January remains one of the most significant symbolic acts for the national consciousness, since it symbolizes Ukrainians’ centuries long aspirations for building an independent national state. It is for this reason the date is marked by the Ukrainian nation as an important holiday, symbolizing the territorial and spiritual unity of Ukraine. To mark the 71st anniversary of the signing of the Act of Union in 1990, over 300,000 Ukrainians created a human chain (approx. 482 km) from the capital Kyiv to the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on 21 January 1990. The chain, the largest public demonstration in Ukraine since the beginning of glasnost, was organized by the People's Movement of Ukraine. Also, for the first time since the period of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, the blue and yellow national flag was raised. On 21 January 1999, President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma issued a decree, creating a state holiday the “Day of Unity of Ukraine”, which is to be celebrated every year on 22 January. This year the Ukrainian people celebrate the 96th anniversary of the Day of Unity.