Belz

Belz. Map: III-5. City (2019 pop 2,267) on the Solokiia River in Sokal raion, Lviv oblast. Belz was first mentioned in the chronicles under 1030, when it was an appanage of the Principality of Galicia-Volhynia. As a fortified town, Belz withstood several Polish sieges. In 1388 it was captured by the Poles, and in 1462–1772 it was the center of Belz voivodeship. With the first partition of Poland Belz came under Austrian rule in 1772. Incorporated into the Western Ukrainian National Republic in 1918, Belz was an arena of several battles between the Western Ukrainian and Polish armies in the first half of 1919. In 1919–39, together with the rest of Galicia, Belz was under Polish control. In 1939, at the outset of the Second World War, the town was occupied by the German army and became part of the Generalgouvernement. In 1944 Belz was taken by the Red army and belonged to Poland until 1951 when, according to a treaty between Poland and the USSR, it was incorporated into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.

[This article was originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 1 (1984).]