ВІДСТОЮВАННЯ ПРАВ РУСЬКОЇ (УКРАЇНСЬКОЇ) МОВИ ЯК УРЯДОВОЇ НА ВСЕНАРОДНИХ ВІЧАХ І ЗІБРАННЯХ НА ТЕРИТОРІЇ СХІДНОЇ ГАЛИЧИНИ ПІД ЧАС АВСТРО-УГОРСЬКОЇ МОНАРХІЇ

Abstract

Eastern Halychyna became part of the Austrian state in 1772 as a separate territorial unit. Accordingly, the central government in Vienna declared Halychyna Ukrainians as an independent nation, and also guaranteed them the right to develop their native language. However, Halychyna Ukrainians could not use this right as local governments consisted of Poles or Polish Ukrainians did not want to help them. The Poles believed that Eastern Halychyna was their original territory and tried to do everything to make the local population Polish. Realizing that it is only possible to achieve their goal when people stop talking their native Ukrainian language, the Poles tried to do their utmost in order to eliminate the Ukrainian language from the public life of the local population. The result of such actions was the adoption in 1867 of a law on the language of education in public and secondary schools, according to which the Polish language became the language of education in these institutions. In 1869, the decision of the emperor in Halychyna was the introduction of the Polish language as a government in all the governments. Referring to those documents, local officials issued instructions that legitimized the Polish language as a government one in all spheres of public life in the Eastern Halychyna. It is true that the central government tried to partly regulate the language issue by issuing a decree on the survival of the Ukrainian language. In the end, the right to nurture and develop their native language was guaranteed to Halychyna Ukrainians by the Constitution adopted on December 21, 1867. However, officials in Eastern Halychyna paid no attention either to those orders or to the Constitution. This caused resistance from the Ukrainian population in Eastern Halychyna. In addition to the numerous appeals of some Ukrainian intellectuals, the local people tried to protect the rights of their language at assemblies and meetings. Key words: Ruska (Ukrainian) language, Polish language, official language, assembly, meetings.