Unity Day of Ukraine 2022: interesting facts about the holiday

Every year on January 22, Ukraine celebrates the Day of Unity. This year it will be dedicated to the 103rd anniversary of the unification of the UNR and ZUNR and the proclamation of the historic Act of Unification (“Act of Zluka”). Why is this holiday so important for Ukrainians? What does it symbolize and how is it customary to celebrate it? We will tell you the history and traditions of the holiday, as well as interesting facts about this historic day.

Day of Unity of Ukraine: the history of the holiday

The history of the holiday is the history of the unification of disparate Ukrainian lands into a single state. On January 22, 2018, the Fourth Universal of the Central Rada was signed, which proclaimed the Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR) a single and sovereign power. Ten months later, in November, the West Ukrainian People's Republic (ZUNR) was proclaimed. So during the year two parts of Ukraine were formed, which had to be united into a single whole.

On January 22, 1919, the Act of Unification of the UNR and ZUNR into a "one-stop sovereign people's republic" was solemnly proclaimed on Sophia Square in Kiev. On the square they read the "Universal of sobornost", which contained the following words:

“From now on, the parts of a united Ukraine that have been torn from one another for centuries merge together - the Western Ukrainian People's Republic and the Great Ukraine of the Dnieper. The age-old dreams that the best sons of Ukraine lived and died for have come true. From now on there is a single independent Ukrainian People's Republic.

In honor of such an event, a military parade was held in Kiev on the same day, consisting of cavalry, infantry and artillery. The parade was led by the commandant of the Sich Riflemen Ivan Chmola and one of the most talented commanders of the UNR Yevhen Konovalets. It is interesting that all this took place before the eyes of the Bolshevik army, which greatly impressed the people of Kiev and gave hope that Ukraine is on the verge of a new history.

Unfortunately, this hope was not destined to be fulfilled. In the summer of 1919, the territory of the ZUNR was occupied by Polish troops, and the UNR ceased to exist in November 1920, when it was captured by the Red Army. Nevertheless, the day of the proclamation of the "Act of Evil" forever remained in the history of Ukraine as a symbol of our nation's desire for unity, independence and freedom.

Unity Day of Ukraine: interesting facts

For the first time, the Day of Unity of Ukraine was celebrated 20 years after the event. The celebration took place on 22, 1939 in the city of Khust. At that time it was the capital of Carpathian Ukraine, which was part of Czechoslovakia. More than 30,000 people showed up at the time. people - it was the most massive procession of Ukrainians in the region, which was subordinate to another country.

In the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (Ukrainian SSR), this day was not celebrated. Moreover, the Soviet authorities did their best to eradicate any mention of this holiday. Everyone who tried to remember or talk about him (in newspapers or at public events) was automatically equated with “counter-revolutionaries” and sent to court.

In 1990, the Day of Unity of Ukraine was celebrated for the first time in large numbers. On this day, patriotic Ukrainians took to the streets of their cities and lined up in a "human chain". This uninterrupted chain stretched from Sophia Square in Kiev through Zhytomyr, Rovno, Ternopil and Lvov to Ivano-Frankivsk. More than 3 million people took part in it. Ukrainians, and the event became one of the most massive actions in Central and Eastern Europe. Since then, the “human chain” has become a real symbol of the holiday: every year on January 22, such a chain is “built” in many cities of the country.

Officially, the Day of Unity of Ukraine began to be celebrated since 1999 by the Decree of President Leonid Kuchma. In 2011, President Viktor Yanukovych tried to combine this holiday with another holiday, Ukraine's Freedom Day (celebrated since November 22, 2005 in honor of the start of the Orange Revolution). So for several years the Day of Unity became the Day of Unity and Freedom. Only in 2014, President Petro Poroshenko, by his Decree, again separated these two holidays.

In 2019, in honor of the centenary of the proclamation of the Act of Unification, the National Bank of Ukraine issued a 5 hryvnia commemorative coin into circulation. The coin was called "100 years of the Act of Unification - the unity of the Ukrainian lands" and was issued with a circulation of 40 thousand copies. things. On the reverse, the words from the “Universal of Sobornostnost”, which we cited at the beginning of the text, are minted.

In Fastov, Kiev region, the “Museum on Wheels” functions today - this is an old railway car in which (according to historians) On December 1, 1918, representatives of the UNR and ZUNR signed a preliminary agreement on association. The exposition of the museum has many historical photographs and newspaper clippings that are dedicated to the signing of the Zluka Act. In the design of the car, museum workers tried to convey the pre-revolutionary interior. The Museum on Wheels is open on Fridays from 13:00 to 15:00.

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