rld War the town was seized by Austria-Hungary on August 29, 1915. The town sustained a small amount of damage. During more than a year of Austro-Hungarian occupation Lutsk became an important military centre with the headquarters of the IV Army under Archduke Josef Ferdinand stationed there. A plague of epidemic typhus decimated the city's inhabitants.
On June 4, 1916 four Russian armies under general Aleksei Brusilov started what later became known as the Brusilov Offensive. After up to three days of heavy artillery barrage, the Battle of Lutsk began. On June 7, 1916 the Russian forces reconquered the city. After the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1917 the city was seized by Germany on February 7, 1918. On February 22, 1918 the town was transferred by the withdrawing German army to the forces loyal to Symon Petlura. On May 16, 1919 it was captured by Polish forces under General Aleksander Karnicki.
After World War I Lutsk was designated by the newly-reborn nation of Poland as the capital of the Volhynian Voivodeship. It was connected by railroad to Lviv (then Lw�w) and Przemy?l and several factories were built both in the city and on its outskirts. The 13th Kresowy Light Artillery Regiment was stationed in the city centre. In 1938 the construction of a large modern radio transmitter began in the city (see Polish Radio Lutsk). As of January 1, 1939 ?utsk had 39,000 inhabitants (approximately 17,500 Jews and 13,500 Poles). The powiat formed around the town had 316,970 inhabitants, including 59% Ukrainians, 19.5% Poles, 14% Jews and approximately 23,000 Czechs and Germans.
In 1939 as a result of the Invasion of Poland and the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact Lutsk, along with the rest of western Volyn, was annexed by the Soviet Union. Most of the factories (including the almost-finished radio station) were dismantled and sent to Russia. Approximately 7,000 of the city's inhabitants (mostly Poles) were sent to Kazakhstan and 1,550 were arrested
