THE FIRST PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCE OF THE RUSYN-UKRAI- NIANS OF GALICIA IN THE AUSTRIAN PARLIAMENT (1848–1849)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15330/gal.32.33-40Keywords:
Reichstag, Galicia, ambassador, elections, Rusyn-Ukrainians,, parliamentAbstract
“The Spring of Nations” contributed to the activation of the Ukrainian national movement in Galicia. The convening of parliament and the conduct of the elections formed a political consciousness not only in the intelligentsia, but also in the poorly educated peasantry. Participation in the work of the parliament contributed to the formation among intelligentsia the concept of civil society. During the second half of the nineteenth century, a number of Ukrainian figures gained experience to the state building, they accumulated knowledge and used them after the West Ukrainian People’s Republic proclamation.
The article is dedicated about the activity of Ukrainian ambassadors in the Austrian Parliament in 1848–1849 years. The author described the revolutionary events in the Austrian Empire and holding elections to the Reichstag in Galicia. An example of the Stanislavivsky region discloses the mechanism and the practice of holding elections. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the position of Rusyn-Ukrainians in the parliament regarding the conditions for the abolition of the socage. Pay attention on the speech by I. Kapusha and the reaction on it deputies of the parliamentary and the press in that time.
The quantitative, personal composition of the Ukrainian representation is determined and their social structure. In particular, in the Reichstag of 1848–1849 years was there thirty Rusyn-Ukrainians from Galicia: eight Greek-Catholic priests, three representatives of the intelligentsia and nineteen peasants. The most famous deputies were Hryhoriy Yakhymovych, Hryhoriy Shashkevych and Evstahy Prokopchits. The Reichstag became the bridgehead of the struggle for Rusyn-Ukrainians for their national-cultural development. Also analyzed the struggle for the division of Galicia into two provinces, cooperation of Ukrainian ambassadors with other deputies of the Reichstag and their factional affiliation.
