Galician Russophilia ( uk, Галицьке русофільство) or Moscophiles ( uk, Москвофіли) were participants in a cultural and political movement largely in the
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria,, ; pl, Królestwo Galicji i Lodomerii, ; uk, Королівство Галичини та Володимирії, Korolivstvo Halychyny ta Volodymyrii; la, Rēgnum Galiciae et Lodomeriae also known as ...
,
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
(currently western
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
). This ideology emphasized that since the
Eastern Slavic people of
Galicia were descendants of the people of
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...
(
Ruthenians
Ruthenian and Ruthene are exonyms of Latin origin, formerly used in Eastern and Central Europe as common ethnonyms for East Slavs, particularly during the late medieval and early modern periods. The Latin term Rutheni was used in medieval sourc ...
), and followers of
Eastern Christianity
Eastern Christianity comprises Christian traditions and church families that originally developed during classical and late antiquity in Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Northeast Africa, the Fertile Crescent and ...
, they were thus a branch of the Russian people. The movement was part of the larger
Pan-Slavism
Pan-Slavism, a movement which crystallized in the mid-19th century, is the political ideology concerned with the advancement of integrity and unity for the Slavic people. Its main impact occurred in the Balkans, where non-Slavic empires had ruled ...
that was developing in the late 19th century. Russophilia was largely a backlash against
Polonisation
Polonization (or Polonisation; pl, polonizacja)In Polish historiography, particularly pre-WWII (e.g., L. Wasilewski. As noted in Смалянчук А. Ф. (Smalyanchuk 2001) Паміж краёвасцю і нацыянальнай ідэя ...
(in Galicia) and
Magyarisation
Magyarization ( , also ''Hungarization'', ''Hungarianization''; hu, magyarosítás), after "Magyar"—the Hungarian autonym—was an assimilation or acculturation process by which non-Hungarian nationals living in Austro-Hungarian Transleithan ...
(in
Carpathian Ruthenia
Carpathian Ruthenia ( rue, Карпатьска Русь, Karpat'ska Rus'; uk, Закарпаття, Zakarpattia; sk, Podkarpatská Rus; hu, Kárpátalja; ro, Transcarpatia; pl, Zakarpacie); cz, Podkarpatská Rus; german: Karpatenukrai ...
) that was largely blamed on the landlords and associated with Roman Catholicism.
Russophilia has survived longer among the
Rusyn minority, especially that in
Carpathian Ruthenia
Carpathian Ruthenia ( rue, Карпатьска Русь, Karpat'ska Rus'; uk, Закарпаття, Zakarpattia; sk, Podkarpatská Rus; hu, Kárpátalja; ro, Transcarpatia; pl, Zakarpacie); cz, Podkarpatská Rus; german: Karpatenukrai ...
and the
Lemkos
Lemkos ( rue, Лeмкы, translit= Lemkŷ; pl, Łemkowie; uk, Лемки, translit=Lemky) are an ethnic group inhabiting the Lemko Region ( rue, Лемковина, translit=Lemkovyna; uk, Лемківщина, translit=Lemkivshchyna) of Car ...
of south-east Poland.
Terminology
The "Russophiles" did not always apply the term to themselves and called themselves Russians, Rusians, Ruthenians or ''
Rusyny'' (Rusyns). Some Russophiles coined such terms as ''Obshche-rossy'' (Common Russians) or ''Starorusyny'' (Old Ruthenians) to stress either the differences within their faction, referring to commonness with all Russians, or their unique stand within the whole of the Russian nation.
The ethnonym ''Ruthenians'' for Ukrainian people had been accepted by both the Russophiles and the Moscophiles for quite a long period of time. The new name ''Ukrainians'' began to be accepted by the Ruthenian Galicians (as opposed to Polonian Galicians) around the 1890s, under the influence of
Mykola Kostomarov
Mykola Ivanovych Kostomarov or Nikolai Ivanovich Kostomarov (russian: Никола́й Ива́нович Костома́ров, ; uk, Микола Іванович Костомаров, ; May 16, 1817, vil. Yurasovka, Voronezh Governorate, R ...
and the
Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius
The Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius ( uk, Кирило-Мефодіївське братство, russian: Кирилло-Мефодиевское братство) was a short-lived secret political society that existed in Kiev (now Kyi ...
in central Ukraine.
Background
After the fall of the westernmost
East Slavic state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
in 1349, most of the area of what is now Western Ukraine came under the control of
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
and
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
, with Poland ruling
Galicia and Hungary controlling
Carpathian Ruthenia
Carpathian Ruthenia ( rue, Карпатьска Русь, Karpat'ska Rus'; uk, Закарпаття, Zakarpattia; sk, Podkarpatská Rus; hu, Kárpátalja; ro, Transcarpatia; pl, Zakarpacie); cz, Podkarpatská Rus; german: Karpatenukrai ...
. The loss of independence began a period of gradual, centuries-long assimilation of much of the native elite into Polish and Hungarian culture. This elite adopted a national orientation in which they saw the native Rus population of Galicia as a branch of the
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
nation who happened to be of the Eastern Christian faith. They believed that the native language was merely a dialect of Polish, comparable to
Mazovian, and that assimilation would be inevitable.
This process of
Polonisation
Polonization (or Polonisation; pl, polonizacja)In Polish historiography, particularly pre-WWII (e.g., L. Wasilewski. As noted in Смалянчук А. Ф. (Smalyanchuk 2001) Паміж краёвасцю і нацыянальнай ідэя ...
was, however, resented by the peasants, the clergy, and small minority of nobles who retained their
East Slavic culture, religion or both. The latter two groups would form the nucleus of native national movements that would emerge with the loosening of Polish and Hungarian control in western Ukraine, which occurred when the entire region came under the control of the
Austrian Habsburgs The term Habsburg Austria may refer to the lands ruled by the Austrian branch of the Habsburgs, or the historical Austria. Depending on the context, it may be defined as:
* The Duchy of Austria, after 1453 the Archduchy of Austria
* The ''Erbland ...
in the course of the
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...
. The
Austrian Emperor
The Emperor of Austria (german: Kaiser von Österreich) was the ruler of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A hereditary imperial title and office proclaimed in 1804 by Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, a member of the Hous ...
emancipated the
serf
Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...
s, introduced compulsory education and raised the status of the Ruthenian priests to that of their Polish and Hungarian counterparts. Furthermore, they mandated that Ukrainian Catholic seminarians receive a formal higher education (previously, priests had been educated informally by their fathers), and organized institutions in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
and
Lviv
Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...
that would serve this function. This led to the appearance, for the first time, of a large educated social class within the Ukrainian population in Galicia. Austrian reforms led to a gradual
social mobilization
Mass mobilization (also known as social mobilization or popular mobilization) refers to mobilization of civilian population as part of contentious politics. Mass mobilization is defined as a process that engages and motivates a wide range of partne ...
of the native inhabitants of Western Ukraine and the emergence of several national ideologies that reflected the natives' East Slavic culture and were opposed to that of Roman Catholic Poland and Hungary. This development was encouraged by the Austrian authorities because it served to undermine Polish or Hungarian control of the area. The cultural movements included:
Russophilia
Russophilia (literally love of Russia or Russians) is admiration and fondness of Russia (including the era of the Soviet Union and/or the Russian Empire), Russian history and Russian culture. The antonym is Russophobia. In the 19th Century, ...
, the idea that Galicia was the westernmost part of Russia and that the natives of Western Ukraine were, like all of the Russian Empire's East Slavic inhabitants, members of one Russian nation; Ruthenianism, the idea that the people of Western Ukraine were a unique East Slavic nation; and
Ukrainophilia
Ukrainophilia is the love of or identification with Ukraine and Ukrainians; its opposite is Ukrainophobia. The term is used primarily in a political and cultural context. "Ukrainophilia" and "Ukrainophile" are the terms used to denote pro-Ukrainia ...
, the idea that the people of western Ukraine were the same as those of neighbouring lands in the Russian Empire but that both were a people different from Russians —
Ukrainians
Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...
.
Initially, there existed a fluidity between all three national orientations, with people changing their allegiance throughout their lives, and until approximately the turn of the 20th century members of all three groups frequently identified themselves by the ethnonym
Ruthenians
Ruthenian and Ruthene are exonyms of Latin origin, formerly used in Eastern and Central Europe as common ethnonyms for East Slavs, particularly during the late medieval and early modern periods. The Latin term Rutheni was used in medieval sourc ...
(''Rusyny''). Initially, the most prominent ideology was Ruthenianism, or ''Rutenstvo''. Its proponents, referred to as "Old Ruthenians", were mainly wealthier or more influential priests and the remnants of the nobility who had not been Polonised, and were quite loyal to the Habsburgs to whom they owed their higher social standing. While emphasizing their separateness from the Poles in terms of religion and background, these people nevertheless maintained an elitist attitude towards the peasantry. They frequently spoke the Polish language among themselves, and tried to promote a version of
Church Slavonic
Church Slavonic (, , literally "Church-Slavonic language"), also known as Church Slavic, New Church Slavonic or New Church Slavic, is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Belarus, Bosnia and Herzeg ...
with elements of the local Ukrainian
vernacular
A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
as well as the
Russian language
Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the First language, native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European langua ...
as a literary language for western Ukraine. This language was never standardized, however. The language actually spoken by the common people was viewed with contempt. Old Ruthenians rejected both
Ukrainophilism and Russophilism. The Ukrainian thinker
Mykhailo Drahomanov
Mykhailo Petrovych Drahomanov ( ukr, Михайло Петрович Драгоманов; 18 September 1841 – 2 July 1895) was a Ukrainian intellectual and public figure. As an academic, Drahomanov was an economist, historian, philosopher, and ...
wrote ironically of them, that "you Galician intellectuals really do think of creating some kind of Uniate Paraguay, with some kind of hierarchical bureaucratic aristocracy, just like you have created an Austro-Ruthenian literary language!" Old Ruthenianism dominated Galicia's cultural scene until the mid-19th century, when it was supplanted by Russophilia; many of the proponents of old Ruthenianism eventually became Russophiles.
Ideology
The time has come . . . to cross our Rubicon and say openly so that everyone can hear it: We cannot be separated by a Chinese wall from our brothers and cannot stand apart from the linguistic, ecclesiastical, and national connection with the entire Russian world!—from
Ivan Naumovich
Ivan Grigorievitch Naumovich ( pl, Iwan Naumowicz, russian: Ива́н Григо́рьевич Наумо́вич, uk, Іва́н Григо́рович Нау́мович; (January 14, 1826 – August 16, 1891), was a priest, member of parliam ...
's ''Glimpse into the future'', considered the most important manifesto of Galician Russophilism
The early Galician Russophile Nikolay Kmicykevich wrote an article in 1834 stating that the Russians were the same people from Western Ukraine to Kamchatka, from the White Sea to the Black Sea, and the language they spoke was the same Russian language. He wrote that the standard Russian language was more acceptable for modern writing and that the popular dialects in Ukraine were corrupted by Polish influence. These ideas were stimulated by the Russian
pan-Slavist
Pan-Slavism, a movement which crystallized in the mid-19th century, is the political ideology concerned with the advancement of integrity and unity for the Slavic people. Its main impact occurred in the Balkans, where non-Slavic empires had ruled ...
Mikhail Pogodin
Mikhail Petrovich Pogodin (russian: Михаи́л Петро́вич Пого́дин; , Moscow, Moscow) was a Russian Imperial historian and journalist who, jointly with Nikolay Ustryalov, dominated the national historiography between the death ...
, who stayed in
Lviv
Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...
(called then ''Lemberg'') in 1835 and 1839–1840 and who during this time influenced the local Ruthenian intelligentsia. No longer seeing themselves as representatives of a small Ruthenian nation of under three million people, weak in comparison to its neighbours, the Russophiles now saw themselves as the westernmost branch of the
Great Russia
Great Russia, sometimes Great Rus' (russian: Великая Русь, , , , , ), is a name formerly applied to the territories of "Russia proper", the land that formed the core of Muscovy and later Russia. This was the land to which the eth ...
n people. A Russian orientation also played into the Russophile's elitist tendencies, because the Russian literary language which they tried to adopt (many continued to use the Polish language in their daily lives) set the Russophile priests and nobles apart from the Ukrainian-speaking peasants. Politically, the Russophiles came to advocate the idea of a union between a Galician Ruthenia and Russia.
One of the most active of the Galician Russophiles was the prominent historian, nobleman
Denis Zubrytsky
Denis Ivanovych Zubrytsky ( uk, Дени́с Іва́нович Зубри́цький, ; 1777 – January 16, 1862), was the first Ukrainian historian in Galicia and a major early figure in the Galician Russophile movement.[Mikhail Pogodin
Mikhail Petrovich Pogodin (russian: Михаи́л Петро́вич Пого́дин; , Moscow, Moscow) was a Russian Imperial historian and journalist who, jointly with Nikolay Ustryalov, dominated the national historiography between the death ...]
, Zubrytsky claimed that his stated purpose was to acquaint his Galician people with Russian history and the Russian language. Indeed, the historiography of the medieval
Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia
, conventional_long_name = Principality of Galicia–VolhyniaKingdom of Galicia–Volhynia
, common_name = Galicia–Volhynia
, status = Vassal state of the Golden Horde (from 1246)
, era = Middle Ages
, year_start = 1199
, year_end = 1349
, ...
was largely begun by Galician Russophiles and served as the basis for their nation-building project (in contrast, the Ukrainophiles at that time focused on the history of the Cossacks). In terms of literature and culture, the Russophiles promoted
Nikolai Gogol
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...
and
Ivan Naumovich
Ivan Grigorievitch Naumovich ( pl, Iwan Naumowicz, russian: Ива́н Григо́рьевич Наумо́вич, uk, Іва́н Григо́рович Нау́мович; (January 14, 1826 – August 16, 1891), was a priest, member of parliam ...
in contrast to Ukrainophile emphasis on
Taras Shevchenko
Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko ( uk, Тарас Григорович Шевченко , pronounced without the middle name; – ), also known as Kobzar Taras, or simply Kobzar (a kobzar is a bard in Ukrainian culture), was a Ukraine, Ukrainian p ...
.
In terms of language, Galician Russophiles were strongly opposed to the adoption of the vernacular Ukrainian language spoken by peasants and instead supported the adoption of standard literary Russian. This opposition was such that they even welcomed the
ban on the Ukrainian language in the Russian Empire in 1876. Reflecting their belief that the people of Ukraine played a special role in the greater Russian nation, the leading Russophile thinker
Ivan Naumovich
Ivan Grigorievitch Naumovich ( pl, Iwan Naumowicz, russian: Ива́н Григо́рьевич Наумо́вич, uk, Іва́н Григо́рович Нау́мович; (January 14, 1826 – August 16, 1891), was a priest, member of parliam ...
declared that the Russian language was derived from "
Little Russia
Little Russia (russian: Малороссия/Малая Россия, Malaya Rossiya/Malorossiya; uk, Малоросія/Мала Росія, Malorosiia/Mala Rosiia), also known in English as Malorussia, Little Rus' (russian: Малая Ру ...
n" and was only being readopted in Galicia. Indeed, Galician Russophiles wrote that one of the reasons for all East Slavs to adopt the Russian language was that the modern Russian language had been created in the 17th and 18th centuries by scholars from Ukraine.
Despite some democratic elements (such as promoting literacy among peasants) Galician Russophilia tended to be anti-democratic and reactionary, placing it at odds with the democratic trends in 19th-century society. For example, the Russophile leader Dennis Zubrytsky defended serfdom both before and after the emancipation of Austrian Galician serfs in 1848.
There were also antisemitic strains in Russophilism. From the 1860s to the 1880s some peasants hoped that the Tsar would come to Galicia and slaughter the Poles and the Jews.
[John Paul Himka. (2001). The Construction of Nationality in Galician Rus: Icarian Flights in Almost All Directions. In ''Intellectuals and the Articulation of the Nation ''. Ronald Grigor Suny, Michael D. Kennedy (Eds.) Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press pp. 133–145] During the
Russian occupation of Galicia in 1914–1915, a Galician Russophile newspaper spread rumours of anti-Russian Jewish uprisings in order to justify antisemitic pogroms by Russian troops, and Russophiles working within the Russian administration united with right-wing Russian elements in urging the Russian government to solve the "Jewish question" by stripping Jews of Russian citizenship, expelling them to Germany and distributing their property (along with that of Poles) among the local Ukrainian (who Moscophiles considered "Russian") people. The latter appeals were ignored by the Russian military, who did not want excessive disruptions to the local economy during the war. Russophiles who had been installed by the Russian authorities as mayors in some towns proceeded to shut down Jewish schools.
Rise and development
![Яків Головацький](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/%D0%AF%D0%BA%D1%96%D0%B2_%D0%93%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%86%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9.JPG)
Western Ukrainian Russophilia appeared in
Carpathian Ruthenia
Carpathian Ruthenia ( rue, Карпатьска Русь, Karpat'ska Rus'; uk, Закарпаття, Zakarpattia; sk, Podkarpatská Rus; hu, Kárpátalja; ro, Transcarpatia; pl, Zakarpacie); cz, Podkarpatská Rus; german: Karpatenukrai ...
at the end of the 18th century. At this time, several people from the region settled in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and obtained high academic positions. The best known of these was Vasilly Kukolnik (father of Russian playwright
Nestor Kukolnik
Nestor Vasilievich Kukolnik (russian: Не́стор Васи́льевич Ку́кольник) (1809–1868) was a Russian playwright and prose writer of Carpatho-Rusyn origin. Immensely popular during the early part of his career, his works wer ...
), a member of an old noble family who had studied in Vienna before coming to Russia. Vasilly's pupils included
Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia
Konstantin Pavlovich (russian: Константи́н Па́влович; ) was a grand duke of Russia and the second son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. He was the heir-presumptive for most of his elder brother Alexand ...
and
Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich of Russia, the future Emperor Nicholas I of Russia. These émigrés, while adopting a sense of Russian patriotism, also maintained their ties to their homeland and tried to use their wealth to introduce Russian literature and culture to their region. When the
Hungarians revolted against the Austrians in 1848, the local
East Slavs
The East Slavs are the most populous subgroup of the Slavs. They speak the East Slavic languages, and formed the majority of the population of the medieval state Kievan Rus', which they claim as their cultural ancestor.John Channon & Robert H ...
, antagonistic toward the
Hungarians
Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...
who had dominated them, were deeply moved by the presence of the seemingly invincible Russian troops sent by Nicholas to help crush the rebellion. At this time, Austria supported the Russophile movement as a counterbalance to Polish and Hungarian interests, and under the leadership of the Russophile nobleman Adolf Dobriansky, the people of Carpathian Ruthenia were granted limited autonomy, although the region reverted to Hungarian control after a few years.
In Galicia, Russophilia emerged as early as the 1830s, when "Society of scholars" was organized in
Przemyśl
Przemyśl (; yi, פשעמישל, Pshemishl; uk, Перемишль, Peremyshl; german: Premissel) is a city in southeastern Poland with 58,721 inhabitants, as of December 2021. In 1999, it became part of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it was pr ...
and was stimulated in part by the presence in
Lviv
Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...
in 1835 and from 1839–1840 of Russian
pan-Slavist
Pan-Slavism, a movement which crystallized in the mid-19th century, is the political ideology concerned with the advancement of integrity and unity for the Slavic people. Its main impact occurred in the Balkans, where non-Slavic empires had ruled ...
Mikhail Pogodin
Mikhail Petrovich Pogodin (russian: Михаи́л Петро́вич Пого́дин; , Moscow, Moscow) was a Russian Imperial historian and journalist who, jointly with Nikolay Ustryalov, dominated the national historiography between the death ...
who became acquainted with the local Ruthenian intelligentsia and became an influence on them. However, the movement did not come to dominate western Ukrainian society until the 1850s–60s. Many proponents of Ruthenianism became disenchanted with Austria and linked themselves with the giant and powerful
Russian state
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
. The relative rise of Russia's power in comparison to that of Austria during the 19th century also played a role in such feelings. Events of the 1860s helped to increase pro-Russian feelings in Galicia. Traditionally, the local Ruthenians had a naive belief that the Habsburg Emperor was on their side and that he would defend them against the Polish nobility. From the late 1850s, Austrian courts often sided with (primarily Polish) nobles in land disputes with peasants, during which forests and pastures that the peasants had traditionally been using were deemed the property of the nobles. This led to significant economic hardship for the peasants. While this was happening, the Russian tsar had emancipated the peasants in Russian-ruled Ukraine. In 1863–1864, an insurrection of Polish nobles in areas that included Russian-ruled Ukraine was brutally crushed by the Tsarist government, which in punishing the Polish rebels provided the Ukrainian peasants with relatively favorable compensation. Many Galicians began to approvingly contrast the Tsar's brutal treatment of the Polish nobles with the Austrians' seemingly taking the Polish side in the Polish-Ukrainian conflict. Many of them came to believe that the plight of the Ukrainians was improving more under the Tsars than it was under the Austrians. In the testimony of one Austrian-Ukrainian peasant, "if there is no justice in Vienna, we will find it in the ''Moskal.''"
During this time, the poet and scholar
Yakiv Holovatsky
Yakiv is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
*Yakiv Barabash (died 1658), Zaporozhian Cossack Otaman (1657–58) who opposed Hetman Ivan Vyhovsky
*Yakiv Hodorozha (born 1993), Ukrainian former competitive figure skater
*Yakiv Holo ...
, a member of "The Ruthenian Trinity", joined the Russophile movement. Soon thereafter, the Russophile priests of the St George Cathedral Circle came to dominate the local hierarchy of the Greek Catholic Church, thereby transforming that Church into an instrument of their cause. Russophiles took over Ruthenian academic institutions (such as the
Stauropegion Institute
The Stauropegion Institute was one of the most important cultural and educational institutions in Galicia (Eastern Europe), Galicia (today western Ukraine) from the end of the 18th century until World War II. For much of its history it was controll ...
, with its printing press and large collection of archives) and the venerable Ruthenian newspaper ''Slovo'' ('The Word'), and under their leadership, it became the most widely circulated newspaper among Western Ukrainians. In 1870, the Russophiles formed a political organization, the Ruthenian Council (''Ruska Rada'') which represented the population of Western Ukraine. From the 1860s until the 1880s Western Ukrainian political, religious, and cultural life came to be dominated by the Russophiles.
Pre-war decline and fall
Within a generation of achieving dominance of Western Ukrainian life, however, the Russophiles were eclipsed by the Ukrainophiles, or so-called Populists (''Narodovtsi''). Originally coming from the same social stratum as the Russophiles (priests and nobles), but joined by the emerging secular intelligentsia, the Ukrainophiles were from a younger generation who unlike their fathers found enthusiasm for
Taras Shevchenko
Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko ( uk, Тарас Григорович Шевченко , pronounced without the middle name; – ), also known as Kobzar Taras, or simply Kobzar (a kobzar is a bard in Ukrainian culture), was a Ukraine, Ukrainian p ...
rather than the Tsars, and embraced the peasantry rather than rejected it. This dedication to the people (the "bottom-up" approach) would prove successful against the Russophiles' elitist "top-down" orientation.
Many factors accounted for the collapse of the Russophile movement. The principal one was likely the Ukrainophiles' incredible capacity for organization. The Populists fanned out throughout the countryside in order to mobilize the masses to their cause. In 1868, the Lviv student
Anatole Vakhnianyn Anatole Vakhnianyn ( uk, Анатоль Вахнянин ; September 19, 1841 – February 11, 1908), was a Ukrainian political and cultural figure, composer, teacher, and journalist.
Biography
Family Background
Vakhnianyn was born in Sieniawa, ...
organized and became the first head of the
Prosvita
Prosvita ( uk, просвіта, 'enlightenment') is a society for preserving and developing Ukrainian culture and education among population that created in the nineteenth century in the Austria-Hungary Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria.
By the ...
organization, whose goal was to organize reading rooms and community theatres which became extremely popular among the peasants. In order to help the impoverished peasants, Ukrainophile activists set up
co-operative
A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...
s that would buy supplies in large quantities, eliminate middlemen, and pass the savings onto the villagers.
Credit union
A credit union, a type of financial institution similar to a commercial bank, is a member-owned nonprofit organization, nonprofit financial cooperative. Credit unions generally provide services to members similar to retail banks, including depo ...
s were created, providing inexpensive loans to farmers and eliminating the reliance on non-Ukrainian moneylenders. Russophiles belatedly tried to imitate such strategies but could not catch up. By 1914, Prosvita had 3,000 reading rooms while the Russophile version, the Kachkovsky Society (founded in 1874), had only 300. The Ukrainian co-operative union had 900 members, while the rival Russophile one had only 106. Prevented from publishing in the mainstream western Ukrainian newspapers by the Russophiles who controlled them, the Populists created their own. In 1880, ''Dilo'' ('Deed') was founded as a rival to the Russophile ''Slovo'' ("Word"), and due to the rising literacy of the Ukrainian population, its circulation surpassed that of its older rival.
A second important factor for the success of the
Ukrainophiles
Ukrainophilia is the love of or identification with Ukraine and Ukrainians; its opposite is Ukrainophobia. The term is used primarily in a political and cultural context. "Ukrainophilia" and "Ukrainophile" are the terms used to denote pro-Ukrain ...
was the exile from
Dnieper Ukraine
The term Dnieper Ukraine
(: "over Dnieper land"), usually refers to territory on either side of the middle course of the Dnieper River. The Ukrainian name derives from ''nad‑'' (prefix: "above, over") + ''Dnipró'' ("Dnieper") + ''‑shchyna'' ...
of a large number of well-educated and talented eastern Ukrainian writers and scholars, such as the writer
Panteleimon Kulish
Panteleimon Oleksandrovych Kulish (also spelled ''Panteleymon'' or ''Pantelejmon Kuliš'', uk, Пантелеймон Олександрович Куліш, August 7, 1819 – February 14, 1897) was a Ukrainian writer, critic, poet, folklori ...
, the former professor of
Kiev's University of St. Vladimir, economist and philosopher
Mykhailo Drahomanov
Mykhailo Petrovych Drahomanov ( ukr, Михайло Петрович Драгоманов; 18 September 1841 – 2 July 1895) was a Ukrainian intellectual and public figure. As an academic, Drahomanov was an economist, historian, philosopher, and ...
, and especially the historian
Mykhailo Hrushevsky
Mykhailo Serhiiovych Hrushevsky ( uk, Михайло Сергійович Грушевський, Chełm, – Kislovodsk, 24 November 1934) was a Ukrainian academician, politician, historian and statesman who was one of the most important figure ...
, who headed a newly established department at the
University of Lviv
The University of Lviv ( uk, Львівський університет, Lvivskyi universytet; pl, Uniwersytet Lwowski; german: Universität Lemberg, briefly known as the ''Theresianum'' in the early 19th century), presently the Ivan Franko Na ...
. Many of these figures settled or lived for a time in Lviv. In contrast, no prominent Russian intellectuals came to Galicia in order to help the local Russophile cause. This phenomenon led to the ironic observation of Drahomanov that the
Ukrainophiles
Ukrainophilia is the love of or identification with Ukraine and Ukrainians; its opposite is Ukrainophobia. The term is used primarily in a political and cultural context. "Ukrainophilia" and "Ukrainophile" are the terms used to denote pro-Ukrain ...
were actually more in touch with contemporary Russian cultural and intellectual trends than were the Russophiles despite the latter group's love for Russia. Moreover, while educated Ukrainophiles were coming to Galicia from the Russian Empire, local Russophiles in Galicia experienced a "brain drain" as many of them left western Ukraine for positions in Russia. Many of the classics teachers needed as a result of Russian educational reforms promoted by
Dmitry Tolstoy
Count Dmitry Andreyevich Tolstoy (russian: Дми́трий Андре́евич Толсто́й; , Moscow – , Saint Petersburg) was a Russian Politician, statesman, a member of the State Council of Imperial Russia (1866). He belonged to t ...
in the 19th century were Galicians. From among the local intelligentsia,
Ivan Franko
Ivan Yakovych Franko (Ukrainian: Іван Якович Франко, pronounced ˈwɑn ˈjɑkowɪtʃ frɐnˈkɔ 27 August 1856 – 28 May 1916) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, social and literary critic, journalist, interpreter, economist, ...
showed the literary potential of the vernacular Ukrainian language. The local declining number of Russophiles could not compete with the talent of these Ukrainophile cultural figures and scholars. Possibly as a result of the Polish-Ruthenian agreement of 1890 which allowed Ukrainian culture and education in Galicia, Ukrainian language students rose sharply in number. Hrushevsky envisioned Galicia as a refuge for the Ukrainian national movement and the Galician Ruthenians as Ukrainians of the 20th century. The 1890 agreement was crucial in helping Ukrainian national identity flourish in Galicia earlier than it did in the Russian Empire's territories where it was suppressed.
Other factors helped Ukrainophilia triumph over Russophilia in Galicia: the Polish-dominated high society of Galicia was deeply anti-Russian in response to the Russian suppression of Polish uprisings, hence, the Galician Polish gentry set an anti-Russian tone for polite society while remaining sympathetic to the Ukrainophile movement.
Help for the
Ukrainophile cause from eastern Ukraine also took the form of generous financial assistance from wealthy Ukrainian landowners. Due to restrictions against Ukrainian printing and the Ukrainian language imposed by the tsarist government in eastern Ukraine, eastern Ukrainian noble or Cossacks officer families who had not become Russified sent money to Galicia in order to sponsor Ukrainophile cultural activities there. These people, enjoying gentry status, were generally much wealthier than the priests and priests' sons who dominated the local Galician movements. The amount sent by these private individuals from Russian-ruled Ukraine to Ukrainophile causes likely equalled the subsidies sent by the Russian government to Galician Russophiles.
For example, Yelyzaveta Myloradovich, a noblewoman from Poltava, donated 20,000 Austrian crowns to the
Shevchenko Scientific Society
The Shevchenko Scientific Society () is a Ukrainian scientific society devoted to the promotion of scholarly research and publication that was founded in 1873.
Unlike the government-funded National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the society ...
.
The Austrian government also contributed significantly to the Ukrainophiles' victory. Initially, Austria had supported Russophilia as a counterbalance to the Poles and Hungarians. During the latter part of the 19th century, as Austria-Hungary and Russia became rivals, the Austrian authorities became alarmed by the Russophiles' activities. To maintain the loyalty of the Ukrainian population, the Austrian authorities made concessions to Ukrainian causes, such as expanding the Ukrainian educational system, and in 1893 made the Ukrainophile version of the vernacular Ukrainian language the language of instruction. Doing so effectively shut the Russophiles out of the educational system. During the 1880s the Austrians put many Russophiles on trial for treason or espionage. These trials were widely publicized, and served to discredit the Russophiles among the Ukrainian people, most of whom continued to be loyal to the
Austrian Emperor
The Emperor of Austria (german: Kaiser von Österreich) was the ruler of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A hereditary imperial title and office proclaimed in 1804 by Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, a member of the Hous ...
. One of the prosecutors was
Kost Levitsky, who later became an important Ukrainian politician. The Austrians also deported an editor of the Russophile newspaper ''Slovo'' and deposed the Russophile head of the
Greek Catholic Church The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered collectively or individually.
The terms Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic church or Byzantine Catholic, Byzantine Ca ...
, Metropolitan
Joseph Sembratovych
Joseph Sembratovych ( uk, Йосиф Сембратович, pl, Josyf Sembratowycz; 8 November 1821, Krynica-Zdrój – 23 October 1900) was the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church from 1870 until his resignation ...
.
In 1899,
Count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
Andrey Sheptytsky
Andrey Sheptytsky, OSBM (; uk, Митрополит Андрей Шептицький; 29 July 1865 – 1 November 1944) was the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church from 1901 until his death in 1944. His tenure spann ...
became new
head
A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...
of the
Greek Catholic Church The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered collectively or individually.
The terms Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic church or Byzantine Catholic, Byzantine Ca ...
. A Polonised nobleman from an old Ukrainian family, he adopted the
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian ( uk, украї́нська мо́ва, translit=ukrainska mova, label=native name, ) is an East Slavic language of the Indo-European language family. It is the native language of about 40 million people and the official state langu ...
and a Ukrainophile orientation. Although Sheptytsky did not interfere in priests' personal activities and writings, he slowly purged the Church's hierarchy of Russophiles. Despite drawing some Ukrainophiles' criticism for the slow progression of his changes, under Sheptytsky's leadership the Church gradually ceased being a bastion of Russophilism and instead became a staunchly Ukrainophile one.
Lacking support within their community and from the Austrian government, the remaining Russophiles turned to outsiders for support and became more radical in their politics. They founded the
Russian National Party, called for complete identification with Russia and promoted the conversion of the western Ukrainian people to Orthodoxy. The Russophiles now largely depended on financing from the Russian government and Russian private sponsors (the Galician-Russian Benevolent Society was established in Saint Petersburg in 1908) and from ultraconservative Galician Polish aristocrats. The Polish ultraconservatives had become alarmed by the social mobilization of the Ukrainian peasants and sought to use the Russophile movement as a way of dividing the Ukrainian community. They were also united with the Russophiles in opposition to a proposed alliance between Ukrainophiles and politically moderate Poles. Polish support provided the Russophiles with some advantages during elections, some advantages for Russophile priests in obtaining parishes, and tolerance towards Russophile political activities.
[John Paul Himka. (1999). ''Religion and Nationality in Western Ukraine.'' Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, pg. 142–143] The Russophiles also attempted, with some limited success, to exploit the differences between Ukrainian
petty gentry and peasants. The gentry were somewhat more likely to support Russophilia than were peasants. A noble candidate in the elections of 1911, Ivan Kulchytsky, declared "now we have recovered our sight and shall not allow the bastards to trick us with Ukraine…. You should know that from now on we do not give a damn for Ukraine and have returned to the historical road. From now on we are Russians."
[AndriyZayarnyuk. (2011)]
The Greek Catholic Rustic Gentry and the Ukrainian National Movement in Habsburg-ruled Galicia
Journal of Ukrainian Studies, vol. 35–35, pp.91–102
Help from Russian and Polish patrons largely failed to prevent the Russophile decline. By the early 20th century, the Russophiles became a minority in Galicia. Within the Church, they were nicknamed "bisons," in scholar Himka's words an "ancient, shaggy species on the verge of extinction." Of nineteen Ukrainian periodicals published in Galicia in 1899, sixteen were Ukrainophile in orientation, only two were Russophile in orientation and one was neutral.
In the 1907 elections to the Viennese parliament, the Ukrainophiles won 22 seats while the Russophiles won five. But the Russophiles, due to Polish interference, won elections to the Galician parliament the same year by taking 11 seats, the Ukrainophiles 10. In 1913, 30 Ukrainophile and only 1 Russophile delegate were sent to the Galician Diet. There were certain regional patterns in the support for Russophilism, in that it was most popular in the extreme western parts of eastern Galicia, particularly in the
Lemko
Lemkos ( rue, Лeмкы, translit= Lemkŷ; pl, Łemkowie; uk, Лемки, translit=Lemky) are an ethnic group inhabiting the Lemko Region ( rue, Лемковина, translit=Lemkovyna; uk, Лемківщина, translit=Lemkivshchyna) of Car ...
region of centred on the city of
Przemyśl
Przemyśl (; yi, פשעמישל, Pshemishl; uk, Перемишль, Peremyshl; german: Premissel) is a city in southeastern Poland with 58,721 inhabitants, as of December 2021. In 1999, it became part of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it was pr ...
. This region, closest to Polish ethnographic territory, may have been most receptive to Russophilia's radical differentiation of Ukrainians/Ruthenians from Poles.
World War I and afterwards
Immediately before the outbreak of World War I, the Austrian and Hungarian governments held numerous treason trials of those suspected of Russophile subversion. When the Austrians were driven from Galicia in August 1914, they avenged themselves upon suspected Russophiles and their families. Russophiles were punished for allegedly seeking to separate Galicia,
Northern Bukovina
Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter Berger ...
and parts of northern Hungary from Austria-Hungary and attaching them to Russia, of seeking volunteers for the Russian army, and of organizing a pro-Russian paramilitary group known as the ''Russkie Druzhiny'' – a Russophile counterpart to the Ukrainophile pro-Austrian
Ukrainian Sich Riflemen
Legion of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen (german: Ukrainische Sitschower Schützen; uk, Українські cічові стрільці (УСС), translit=Ukraïnski sichovi stril’tsi (USS)) was a Ukrainian unit within the Austro-Hungarian Army d ...
. Hundreds of suspected Russophiles were shot, and thirty thousand were sent to the
Talerhof
Thalerhof (also transliterated as Talerhof from Cyrillic-based East Slavic texts) was a concentration camp created by the Austro-Hungarian authorities active from 1914 to 1917, in a valley in foothills of the Alps, near Graz, the main city of t ...
concentration camp, where approximately three thousand died of exposure. The camp was closed by
Blessed Emperor Charles I of Austria, 6 months into his reign.
[ World Academy of Carpatho-Rusyn Culture website, citing ''Encyclopedia of Rusyn History and Culture'']
![Talerhof1914 1917](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Talerhof1914_1917.jpg)
The Russian administration of Galicia lasted from August 1914 until June 1915. Russian
Grand Duke Nicholas Nicholas Romanov may refer to:
* Nicholas I of Russia (1796–1855), third son of Paul I & Tsaritsa Maria Fedorovna; younger brother of Alexander I, ascended 1825
* Nicholas Alexandrovich, Tsesarevich of Russia (1843–1865), eldest son of Emperor ...
issued a manifesto proclaiming that the people of Galicia were brothers who had "languished for centuries under a foreign yoke" and urged them to "raise the banner of United Russia." During this time, with the help of local Russophiles, the Russian administration, aware that the Ukrainophiles were loyal to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and that they had organized the Ukrainian legion of the Austro-Hungarian army, engaged in a harsh persecution of the
Ukrainophile
Ukrainophilia is the love of or identification with Ukraine and Ukrainians; its opposite is Ukrainophobia. The term is used primarily in a political and cultural context. "Ukrainophilia" and "Ukrainophile" are the terms used to denote pro-Ukrainia ...
leaders and their ideology. Ukrainian schools were forcibly converted to Russian-language instruction,
[Magosci 1996, p 465.] reading rooms, newspapers, co-operatives and credit unions were closed, and hundreds of community leaders were arrested and exiled under suspicion of collaboration. The popular head of the
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
, native_name_lang = uk
, caption_background =
, image = StGeorgeCathedral Lviv.JPG
, imagewidth =
, type = Particular church (sui iuris)
, alt =
, caption = St. George's C ...
,
Metropolitan
Metropolitan may refer to:
* Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories
* Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England
* Metropolitan county, a typ ...
Andrey Sheptytsky
Andrey Sheptytsky, OSBM (; uk, Митрополит Андрей Шептицький; 29 July 1865 – 1 November 1944) was the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church from 1901 until his death in 1944. His tenure spann ...
was arrested and exiled to Russia. Although
Nicholas II
Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...
issued a decree forbidding forceful conversion from Uniatism to Orthodoxy, except in cases where 75% of the parishioners approved, the ultimate goal was the liquidation of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.
In addition to its head, hundreds of priests were exiled to Russia and replaced by Orthodox priests, who urged the parishioners to convert to Orthodoxy. The behaviour of the Russian authorities was so heavy-handed that it was denounced as a "European scandal" in the Russian
Duma
A duma (russian: дума) is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions.
The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were for ...
by the Russian statesman
Pavel Milyukov
Pavel Nikolayevich Milyukov ( rus, Па́вел Никола́евич Милюко́в, p=mʲɪlʲʊˈkof; 31 March 1943) was a Russian historian and liberal politician. Milyukov was the founder, leader, and the most prominent member of the Con ...
. The Russians were aided in their suppression of Ukrainian culture by local Russophiles and by Polish anti-Ukrainian figures such as Lviv professor
Stanisław Grabski
Stanisław Grabski (; 5 April 1871 – 6 May 1949) was a Polish economist and politician associated with the National Democracy political camp. As the top Polish negotiator during the Peace of Riga talks in 1921, Grabski greatly influenced the f ...
. Such actions angered most of the local Ukrainian population.
When Austria regained Galicia in
June 1915, most of the remaining Galician Russophiles and their families retreated alongside the Russian army in fear of reprisals. Approximately 25,000
of them were resettled near
Rostov-on-Don
Rostov-on-Don ( rus, Ростов-на-Дону, r=Rostov-na-Donu, p=rɐˈstof nə dɐˈnu) is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East Eu ...
. Among those that did not leave, the Austrians arrested and sentenced to death approximately thirty noted Russophiles, including two members of parliament,
Dmytro Markov Dmytro ( uk, Дмитро́, Dmytró, ) is a Ukrainian name, derived from the Greek Demetrios. Nicknames of the name Dmytro include: Dima, Dimochka, Dimula, Dimusha, Dimusya, Metro (particularly in Canada), Mitya, Mitenka, Mityai, Mityaychik, Mityu ...
and Volodymyr Kurylovich (their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment and they were released in 1917)., as well as
Metodyj Trochanovskij
Metodyj Trochanovskij (Методий Трохановский; May 5, 1885, Binczarowa - February 15, 1948, Wroclaw) was a Lemko activist and teacher.
Biography
Metodyj Trochanovskij was born in Binczarowa, Poland, when it was part of the King ...
.
Kost Levitsky, a prominent
Ukrainophile
Ukrainophilia is the love of or identification with Ukraine and Ukrainians; its opposite is Ukrainophobia. The term is used primarily in a political and cultural context. "Ukrainophilia" and "Ukrainophile" are the terms used to denote pro-Ukrainia ...
leader and the future president of the
West Ukrainian National Republic
The West Ukrainian People's Republic (WUPR) or West Ukrainian National Republic (WUNR), known for part of its existence as the Western Oblast of the Ukrainian People's Republic, was a short-lived polity that controlled most of Eastern Galic ...
, appeared as a prosecutor during the trials against the Russophiles.
When civil war broke out in Russia, some Galician Russophiles then fought in the ranks of the White Army, specifically under
Lavr Kornilov
Lavr Georgiyevich Kornilov (russian: Лавр Гео́ргиевич Корни́лов, ; – 13 April 1918) was a Russian military intelligence officer, explorer, and general in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I and the ensuing Russ ...
, in the hope that Galicia would become part of a democratic White Russia.
After the collapse of Austria–Hungary the Ukrainians of Galicia proclaimed the West Ukrainian National Republic. Between 70 and 75 thousand men fought in its
Ukrainian Galician Army
Ukrainian Galician Army ( uk, Українська Галицька Армія, translit=Ukrayins’ka Halyts’ka Armiya, UHA), was the Ukrainian military of the West Ukrainian National Republic during and after the Polish-Ukrainian War. It wa ...
. They lost their war and the territory was annexed by Poland. However, the experience of proclaiming a Ukrainian state and fighting for it significantly intensified and deepened the Ukrainian orientation within Galicia.
[Ronald Grigor Suny, Michael D. Kennedy. (2001)''Intellectuals and the Articulation of the Nation''. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. pp. 131–132]
The Russophile movement barely clung on during the interwar period, supported by the Polish government which funded and granted Russophiles some institutions such as the
Stauropegion Institute
The Stauropegion Institute was one of the most important cultural and educational institutions in Galicia (Eastern Europe), Galicia (today western Ukraine) from the end of the 18th century until World War II. For much of its history it was controll ...
(which was returned to Russophiles in 1922 after it had been given to the Ukrainophiles in 1915)
[Stauropegion Institute](_blank)
Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5. (1993). Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
Press. and which subsidized the movement in order to try to divide Ukrainian society. This had little effect beyond the Lemko regions in the extreme west, and since the interwar era, Galicia has been the centre of
Ukrainian nationalism
Ukrainian nationalism refers to the promotion of the unity of Ukrainians as a people and it also refers to the promotion of the identity of Ukraine as a nation state. The nation building that arose as nationalism grew following the French Revol ...
.
Russophilia disappeared in western Ukraine during and after Soviet rule.
Rusynophilia
The Russophile tradition persisted in the portions of
Galicia west of the
Dukla Pass
The Dukla Pass ( sk, Dukliansky priesmyk, pl, Przełęcz Dukielska, hu, Duklai-hágó, cz, Dukelský průsmyk; 502 m AMSL) is a strategically significant mountain pass in the Laborec Highlands of the Outer Eastern Carpathians, on the border b ...
, resulting in the formation of the
Lemko-Rusyn Republic
Lemko-Rusyn People's Republic ( rue, Руска Народна Република Лемків, Ruska Narodna Respublika Lemkiv , Rusyn National Republic of Lemkos), often known also as the Lemko-Rusyn Republic, just the Lemko Republic, or the ...
.
Metodyj Trochanovskij
Metodyj Trochanovskij (Методий Трохановский; May 5, 1885, Binczarowa - February 15, 1948, Wroclaw) was a Lemko activist and teacher.
Biography
Metodyj Trochanovskij was born in Binczarowa, Poland, when it was part of the King ...
continued to espouse the Rusyn national identity, up to the start of World War II.
Karpatska Rus'
''Karpatska Rus (Карпатска Русь) is a Rusyn language newspaper published in the United States for the Rusyn-speaking Lemko immigrant community. It is the successor to ''Lemko'', which began publication in 1927.
Originally, the p ...
, a
Rusyn language
Rusyn (; rue, label=Rusyn language#Carpathian Rusyn, Carpathian Rusyn, русиньскый язык, translit=rusîn'skyj jazyk; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, руски язик, translit=ruski jazik),http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2781/1/2011Bapt ...
newspaper published in the United States avoided any suggestion that the
Lemkos
Lemkos ( rue, Лeмкы, translit= Lemkŷ; pl, Łemkowie; uk, Лемки, translit=Lemky) are an ethnic group inhabiting the Lemko Region ( rue, Лемковина, translit=Lemkovyna; uk, Лемківщина, translit=Lemkivshchyna) of Car ...
were a branch of the
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
s.
Call for a
Lemko
Lemkos ( rue, Лeмкы, translit= Lemkŷ; pl, Łemkowie; uk, Лемки, translit=Lemky) are an ethnic group inhabiting the Lemko Region ( rue, Лемковина, translit=Lemkovyna; uk, Лемківщина, translit=Lemkivshchyna) of Car ...
autonomous region in Poland persisted at least until 1989, with a
Rusyn
Rusyn may refer to:
* Rusyns, Rusyn people, an East Slavic people
** Pannonian Rusyns, Pannonian Rusyn people, a branch of Rusyn people
** Lemkos, a branch of Rusyn (or Ukrainian) people
** Boykos, a branch of Rusyn (or Ukrainian) people
* Rusyn l ...
than a
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
n orientation.
Political organizations
*
Russian National Party
See also
*
All-Russian nation
The All-Russian nation (russian: общерусский народ, ) or triune Russian nation (russian: триединый русский народ, label=none, ), also called the pan-Russian nation ( uk, пан-руський народ, ), i ...
*
Little Russian identity
The Little Russian identity was a cultural, political, and ethnic self-identificationКотенко А. Л., Мартынюк О. В., Миллер А. И«Малоросс»: эволюция понятия до первой мировой вой ...
*
Conversion of Chełm Eparchy
The Conversion of Chełm Eparchy, which occurred between January and May 1875, refers to the generally forced conversion of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Chełm–Belz, the last non-Armenian eparchy of the Eastern Catholic Churches in the Russi ...
*
Russian occupation of Eastern Galicia, 1914–15
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
*
Stauropegion Institute
The Stauropegion Institute was one of the most important cultural and educational institutions in Galicia (Eastern Europe), Galicia (today western Ukraine) from the end of the 18th century until World War II. For much of its history it was controll ...
*
Talerhof
Thalerhof (also transliterated as Talerhof from Cyrillic-based East Slavic texts) was a concentration camp created by the Austro-Hungarian authorities active from 1914 to 1917, in a valley in foothills of the Alps, near Graz, the main city of t ...
References
Sources
*
Wendland, Anna Veronika (2001) ''Die Russophilen in Galizien. Ukrainische Konservative zwischen Österreich und Russland, 1848–1915''. Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (VÖAW), Wien, 2001. 624 Seiten. (Revised version of author's dissertation — Universität zu Köln, 1997)
*
Magocsi, Paul Robert
Paul Robert Magocsi (born January 26, 1945 in Englewood, New Jersey) is an American professor of history, political science, and Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Toronto. He has been with the university since 1980, and became a Fe ...
(1996). ''A History of Ukraine''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. .
*
Subtelny, Orest (1988). ''Ukraine: A History''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. .
*
Wilson, Andrew (2000). ''The Ukrainians: Unexpected Nation''. New Haven: Yale University Press. .
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{{Russian nationalism
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
History of Carpathian Ruthenia
Modern history of Ukraine
Russian nationalism in Ukraine
Russification
Austrian Empire
Russia–Ukraine relations
1850
Events
January–June
* April
** Pope Pius IX returns from exile to Rome.
** Stephen Foster's parlor ballad "Ah! May the Red Rose Live Alway" is published in the United States.
* April 4 – Los Angeles is incorporated as a cit ...