Most of the territory that is now modern Ukraine was part of the Russian empire throughout the 19th century. Ukraine enjoyed a brief period of independence between 1917 and 1920, during which time there were several issuances of banknotes denominated in karbovanets. Ukraine was then absorbed into the Soviet Union. There was a second period of karbovanet paper money, from 1942 to 1945, when Germany occupied Ukraine during World War II. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990, Ukraine was once again independent and entered a third period of karbovanet paper money from 1992 to 1996. In 1996, following a period of hyperinflation, karbovanets were discontinued and hryvnia was adopted as the national currency.