THE RUSYN-UKRAINIANS IN THE AUSTRIAN PARLIAMENT (1867–1873)

Abstract

The Austrian Empire in the second half of ХІХ century pursued liberal reforms, one of which was the convening of a parliament (the Reichsrat), which consisted of two parts: House of Ambassadors and House of Lords. The upper chamber was appointed personally by the emperor, and the lower was chosen by all people of the multinational empire from among themselves. The inhabitants of Galicia which became the province of the empire in 1772 year were not the exception, and participated in all transformations. The main idea of the article is to highlight the work of the Rusyn-Ukrainians in the Austrian Parliament, find out their role in considering draft laws.

During 1867–1873 years took place three cadence of the parliament, in which Rusyn-Ukrainians of Galicia took an active participation In general, for the specified period in the Reichsrat there were 13 Ukrai­nians: eight peasants, two Greek-Catholic priests, two metropolitans and one representative of the intelligentsia. Moreover, the peasant Ivan Bodnar was a deputy in all three cadences, and Amvrosiy Yanovsky in two. However, I. Bodnar not only didn’t stand out in the House of Ambassadors, but also received charges in the newspaper Word” (Slovo)  about the vain use of money. Almost all Ukrainian deputies, except I. Gushalevich and A. Yanovsky worked closely with the Poles and entered their parliamentary club – Polish circle.

The most active member of the parliament in this period was I. Gushalevich. He repeatedly spoke in the Reichsrat highlight problems of schooling in Galicia, not the solution to the problems of Rusyn-Ukrainians, with criticism of the constitution. He established contacts with the Austro-German House of Ambassadors and with their help filed Interpellate (a deputy’s request to the government) October 3, 1868. In addition, he often entered into controversy with deputies, who considered themselves Poles by nationality and Rusyn-Ukrainians by origin.

In addition to I. Gushalevich, famous national-cultural figures, who were deputies of parliament, became A. Yanovsky and S. Litvinovich. At that, the last one, becoming Metropolitan of the Greek-Catholic Church, automatically got to the upper chamber of the Reichsrat – the House of Lords. He did never make a speech in the Parliament, however, he became a member of several committees. The next Greek-Catholic Metropolitan Joseph Sembratovich completely ignored the work of the Reichsrat – and even often did not come to Vienna.

So, on the basis of minutes of parliamentary sessions, was installed a quantitative and personal composition Ukrainian representation of the Galicia in the Austrian parliament. It was determined that the Rusyn-Ukrainians in general continued to cooperate with the Poles, although there were single contacts with other parliamentary factions, such as the Austro-German liberals. The Ukrainian representation was passive, deputies-peasants were not prepared to respond accordingly to the political situation, and that’s why become observers. Also, the decline in the number of Greek-Catholic clergy was negatively affected by the Ukrainian representation in the parliament. The priests had the appropriate education, they knew the languages, the fundamentals of state governance and, the most importantly, understood the problems of the Rusyn-Ukrainians and the ways of their solution.

Keywords: ambassador (deputy), Reichsrat, the House of Ambassadors, the House of Lords, Galicia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire.