The Polish minority in Ukraine officially numbers about 144,130 (according to the 2001 census),Results of the 2001 census with languages spoken (Розподіл населення окремих національностей за іншими мовами, крім рідної, якими володіють), Ukrainian Statistical Bureau (Державний комітет статистики України). Retrieved 21 August 2011. of whom 21,094 (14.6%) speak Polish as their first language. The history of Polish settlement in the current territory of Ukraine dates back to 1030–31. In the Late Middle Ages, following the extinction of the Rurik dynasty in 1323, the Kingdom of Poland expanded eastwards in 1340 to include the lands of Przemyśl and in 1366, Kamianets-Podilskyi (Kamieniec Podolski) as well. The settlement of Poles became common there after the Polish–Lithuanian peace treaty signed in 1366 between Casimir III the Great of Poland, and Liubartas of Lithuania.
History
Early medieval times In early medieval times the western territory of what is now Ukraine (Eastern Galicia) was known as Red Ruthenia. It was settled by tribes of Western Slavs – Lendians. According to the Nestor – Primary Chronicle tribe of Lendians were 'Lachy' (Lechites) and their Duke Wlodzislav took part in dealing with Byzantine empire together with the Rus.Russian text of the chronicle of Nestor in PDF It is first attested in AD 981, when Vladimir the Great of Kievan Rus conquered the Red Ruthenian strongholds in his military campaign on the border with the land of Lendians. Nestor reports in his chronicle that: "Vladimir marched upon the Lyakhs (k Lyakbotri) and took their cities: Peremyshl (modern Przemyśl), Cherven (modern Czermno), and other towns.""Powieść minionych lat", tłum. F. Sielicki, Wrocław – Warszawa – Kraków 1999 ("Primary Chronicle" in Polish translation) In the following century, the area was taken by Boleslav the Brave of Poland in 1018, then won by the Kievan Rus' in 1031 and recaptured by Poland in 1069. From 1080 until 1349 this region was part of Kievan Rus or the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia. During this time Polish settlers helped to economically develop the region and they formed a significant element in the courts of the Galician rulers.Poles in Ukraine. Entry: Encyclopedia of Ukraine, pp. 86–94 Toronto: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Toronto PressA further better neutral reference is needed here.
Following the extinction of the Rurikid dynasty and the end of the Galician-Volhynian kingdom, this region was seized by the Polish Crown, and included in the Polish–Lithuanian peace treaty signed in 1366 by Casimir III of Poland, with Liubartas of Lithuania.A. Buko, "The archaeology of early medieval Poland", Brill, 2008, pp. 307-308H. H. Fisher, "America and the New Poland (1928)", Read Books, 2007, p. 15N. Davies, God's playground: a history of Poland in two volumes, Oxford University Press, 2005, pp. 71, 135 A Roman Catholic Archdiocese was established in the old Galician capital of Halych in 1375, and was transferred to Lviv in 1412. Native nobles (boyars) who refused to declare allegiance to the Polish kingdom were dispossessed of their lands, which were granted to arriving nobles from Poland. Large numbers of settlers came to Galician lands from Lesser Poland; Polish nobles were given land grants, Polish peasants settled in the countryside and Polish, German and Armenian merchants and craftsmen settled in the towns. Over time, many but not all of the remaining native nobility (particularly the wealthy ones with much land) as well as the townspeople assimilated into Polish culture, while the Polish peasant settlers assimilated into the native culture.
In the Ukrainian lands further east, near the Kyiv region, the first Polish settlers were prisoners of war who were captured by Yaroslav the Wise during his war against Poland in 1030–1031 and settled on lands near Kyiv, where they became farmers and assimilated into the local population. More Polish settlers arrived in the 12th century, resulting in the establishment of a Roman Catholic mission in Kyiv.
During the Time of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
To mitigate the depopulation stemming from the Crimean–Nogai slave raids, Polish kings, in particular Stephen Báthory and Sigismund III Vasa, sponsored large-scale Polish colonization of central and eastern Ukrainian regions in the 16th and 17th centuries. Polish magnates were given large tracts of sparsely settled lands, while Polish petty gentry managed the estates and served as soldiers. Serfs were enticed to move into these territories by a temporary 20 year exemption from serfdom. Although most serfs were from western Ukrainian lands, a significant number of Polish serfs from central Poland also settled these estates. The latter tended to assimilate into Ukrainian society and some of them even took part in Cossack uprisings against the landlords. Polish magnates from Ukraine, such as members of the family Potocki and Zolkiewski, played a significant political and social role within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, as did Polonized native magnates such as the family Wisniowiecki. They were amongst the wealthiest nobles in Poland; the Wisniowiecki estate included 38,000 households with a population of 230,000 subjects. In the 16th century, Bratslav and Kyiv areas, which had suffered substantial destruction during the previous century's conflicts, were repopulated by Volhynian Ruthenians and Polish settlers from Lesser Poland.
Polish rule involved expansion of Jesuit schools and large scale construction or ornate castles and estates that included libraries, art collections and archives that in many cases were the equal in importance to those in Poland itself. Prominent Poles from lands that are currently Ukraine include the historian and poet Józef Bartłomiej Zimorowic, Polish baroque poet Kasper Twardowski, and Roman Catholic Bishop of Kyiv, as well as writer, Andrzej Chryzostom Załuski. Also Polish Kings Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, John III Sobieski and Stanisław Leszczyński were born in present-day Western Ukraine.
Following the successful uprising of Bohdan Khmelnytsky against the Polish crown in the mid 17th century, Ukrainian lands east of the Dnipro River, the Cossack Hetmanate, became briefly independent and then became an autonomous part of Russia. In this area, many of the Polish nobles were expelled and Polish political influence was curtailed. Regions west of the river, however, remained part of Poland-Lithuania for approximately another 150 years, retained their Polish orientation and were the stage of ongoing Polish colonization. By the late 18th century, approximately 240,000 people of the Volhynian, Podilian and Kyiv regions, or 11% of the population, were Roman Catholics, most of whom were Poles. Approximately half of this number had arrived in the early 18th century.
Within the Cossack Hetmanate
In the mid seventeenth century the Cossack Hetmanate east of the Dnipro River successfully rebelled against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and after a brief period of independence became an autonomous area under the Russian Empire. In this region some Poles and Polonized Ukrainian nobles who had joined the Cossacks remained and in some cases even obtained high positions in the local administration. Most of the Polish nobles, however, were expelled and their political influence eliminated. Polish influence upon the local Ukrainian culture remained strong until the mid 18th century, however. The Polish language was the administrative language of the Hetmanate and the language of command for the Hetmanate's military forces. The Hetmanate's most prominent schools, the Kyiv Academy and Chernihiv Collegium, used Polish and Latin as languages of instruction.Timothy Snyder. (2002). The Reconstruction of Nations. New Haven: Yale University Press. pg. 116 Polish was taught in schools and Kyiv and Chernihiv hosted Polish printing-houses.
During the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries At the end of the 18th century, resulting from joint Partitions of Poland with Austria-Hungary and the German Empire, Russia absorbed lands west of Kyiv while Austria absorbed the region of eastern Galicia. The Cossack Hetmanate was eliminated and its lands fully integrated within the Russian Empire.
Within the Russian Empire
At the time of the partition, approximately ten percent of the population of the territories annexed by Russia was Polish. Poles included wealthy magnates with large estates, poorer nobles who worked as administrators or soldiers, and peasants. Long after this region ceased being a part of Poland, Poles continued to play an important role in both the province and in the city of Kyiv. Until the failed Polish insurrection of 1830–1831, Polish continued to be the administrative language in education, government and the courts. In 1812 there were over 43,000 Polish noblemen in Kyiv Governorate, compared to only approximately 1,000 "Russian" nobles. Typically the nobles spent their winters in the city of Kyiv, where they held Polish balls and fairs.Michael F. Hamm. (1995). Kyiv: A Portrait, 1800–1917. Princeton: Princeton University Press p. 225 Throughout the Tsarist period Poles wielded considerable influence. Polish landlords owned approximately 46 percent of all private property in Ukraine west of the Dnipro River. Until the mid-18th century Kyiv (Polish Kijów) was Polish in culture,Timothy Snyder. (2003). The Reconstruction of Nations. New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 119–122 although Poles made up no more than ten percent of Kyiv's population and 25% of its voters. During the 1830s Polish was the language of Kyiv's educational system, and until Polish enrollment in Kyiv's university of St. Vladimir was restricted in the 1860s they made up the majority of that school's student body. The Russian government's cancellation of Kyiv city's autonomy and its placement under the rule of bureaucrats appointed from St. Petersburg was largely motivated by fear of Polish insurrection in the city. Warsaw factories and fine Warsaw shops had branches in Kyiv. Józef Zawadzki, founder of Kyiv's stock exchange, served as the city's mayor in the 1890s. In 1909, 9.8 percent of the city of Kyiv's population (44,400 people) were Poles. Kieven Poles tended to be friendly towards the Ukrainian national movement in the city, and some took part in Ukrainian organizations.Michael F. Hamm. (1995). Kyiv: A Portrait, 1800–1917. Princeton: Princeton University Press pp. 54–55 Henryk Józewski, a Pole from Kyiv, served in the government of the Ukrainian People's Republic under his friend Symon Petliura and later as governor of Volhynia under Poland.Timothy Snyder. (2005) Sketches from a Secret War: A Polish Artist's Mission to Liberate Soviet Ukraine. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Polish assimilation