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2 LUBOML
were parceled out to government functionaries
who had distinguished themselves in administering
the territories. This had a negative effect
on Luboml's economy.
The later construction in Luboml of a railroad
station on the Nadvishliansky line gave a bit of an
economic boost to the town, but Luboml never
regained its former prosperity.
Frequent fires played a considerable role in
Luboml's economic downfall. Almost all the
houses in those early days were made of wood,
and many of them also had straw roofs, so a small
fire often would turn into a major inferno and
cause nearly total destruction.
Just as Luboml shared the economic fortunes
of all Volhynia, so did it share the political
sphere. Having as its neighbors Lithuania, then a
Eastern European great power, to the north, Russia
to the east and south, and Poland to the west,
the province of Volhynia often was pressured by
three powers. More than once, it found itself
handed from one to the other.
This political instability and the changes in
Volhynia's political-territorial status had a strong
influence on local economic lifesometimes favorable,
sometimes not. The worse a town's geographic
position, the more it suffered from such
changes. Such was the case with Luboml.
Lithuania, which from the 14th through the
early 16th century was a dominant power, ruled
over all Volhynia for long periods. A considerable
number of clashes occurred over Volhynia between
Lithuania and Poland or the Russian nobility.
Lithuania stretched to the Black Sea, and for
many years the entire Kiev region found itself
under Lithuania's domain.
After lengthy battles between Lithuania and
Poland, a peace treaty was signed in 1366 between
the Lithuanian Prince Lubart and the Polish
King Casimir the Great. Through that treaty
Casimir acquired Belz, Chelm, and Ludmir, along
with a section of territory west of the Turia
River: Horodle, Trisk, Ratne, Kamien-Koshirsk,
and Volochin. Within this area was Luboml.
Lubart was the Volhynian, or Wladimir,
prince, and ruler of the Chelm principality.
But peace treaties are not forever. When, in
time, one side feels stronger and has hopes of
taking back that which it was forced to give
up, it goes off to war again. This most certainly
was the case centuries ago.
Despite the 1366 Lubart-Casimir peace agreement,
many wars ensued between Lithuania and
Poland over Volhynia, especially over those places
that bordered the two lands. And Luboml was
situated not far from the Lithuanian-Polish border.
We do not know about all those wars and
broken peace agreements. But the peace treaty of
Zygmunt, the son of Kestutys, grand duke of
Lithuania is well known. On October 15, 1432, he
gave Poland part of the border areas belonging to
Volhynia, including Luboml.
And it was not long before war once again
broke out between these two neighboring states.
Already in 1440, just a few years after the Kestutys
treaty, war was ignited between Lithuania and
Poland. The Lithuanian Prince Sangushka in that
year tried forcibly to take back a number of towns.
Among them was Luboml. However, Sangushka
was not successful.'
Military actions between Lithuania and Poland
in and around Volhynia stopped in the
middle of the 16th century. The Lithuanian grand
duchy was already in decline and found itself in
the process of disintegration.
In 1569, a federation was established between
Poland and Lithuania, known as the Lublin Alliance.
Formally, this was a voluntary agreement
between two equal parties. In reality, the union
took the form of a Polish diktat, which exploited
the extreme weakness of the Lithuanian grand
duchy and forced upon Lithuania a series of strict
conditions. One was that Volhynia be transferred
to the Polish kingdom. In an official decree of
May 25, 1569, it was announced that Volhynia
would be ann exed to Poland.'
However, if the bloody conflict between Poland
and Lithuania was settled on the battlefields
of Volhynia, these same regions saw troubles
approach from other directionsprimarily from
their southeastern neighbor.
The rich, black fields of Volhynia aroused the
appetite of the Russians quite a bit. And on many
occasions they attacked the region.
The tragic climax of these attacks came in
1648-49, when bands of Cossacks overran the