For centuries, the peoples of Transcarpathia were isolated by politics, geography and poverty. Following WW1, as neighbouring states eyed the strategic and material potential of Transcarpathia, the region experienced a cultural renaissance. In 1939, as Europe prepared for war, the battle for control of the region escalated. Against a swell of political and military interventions, the republic of Carpatho-Ukraine was born, sowing the seeds for an independent Ukraine.