ПОЛЬСЬКА СУСПІЛЬНО-ПОЛІТИЧНА ДУМКА В УКРАЇНІ ЩОДО ПОЛІТИКИ ГАЛИЦЬКИХ ПАРТІЙ У ВИРІШЕННІ ПОЛЬСЬКОГО ПИТАННЯ (1914 – 1916 рр.)

Abstract

The article shows the circumstances of the formation of Polish public opinion in Ukraine concerning the positions of Polish parties in Galicia in solving the Polish issue. The predominance of the Russophile orientation and the struggle for autonomy, the rejection of Galician «activism» by the majority of Poles in Ukraine in the early years of the war changed with the course of the war on the need for the revival of an independent Polish state. From the categorical and opposing positions in the main issues of state life, Polish political forces in different parts of the divided Poland went to dialogue and find compromises. Polish political forces on the eve of the First World War set their main task of solving the Polish issue – the restoration of statehood. At the beginning of the war, the political forces in the territories divided between Austria, Russia and Prussia supported the governments of their countries. In Russia prevailed supporters of the Russophile direction, or «passivists», and their interests represented the party of National's Democrats. In Galicia was the camp of the «activists», which includes the majority of the Polish parties, which focused on the central countries - Austria-Hungary and Germany. Part of the Polish parties in Galicia and the Kingdom relied on the support of the European coalition countries. It was a group of "neutralists". An attempt to unite the two positions and develop a common Polish policy existed even before the war, but during the war, despite the creation of various central institutions, there was no single policy regarding the ways of the revival of the future Polish state, its structure and the necessity to organize the Polish army. These approaches were presented in the programs of Polish political parties, voiced by their leaders, political and public figures, and became the subject of discussion on the pages of the press, especially the Polish. Since the beginning of the war in the Kievan Polish press, the policy of Galician activists has been condemned, and this has been reflected in the recalls of Polish parties, newspaper articles. Polish society in Russia hoped to fulfill the promises of power to give the Poles autonomy on the basis of uniting all of Poland. With the war, the number of human victims, destruction and refugees increased, so in Polish society there was a reappraisal of Galician policy and the transition to a position of struggle for the independence of the Polish state. All Polish society finally confirmed the need for the struggle for Poland's independence after the proclamation of the central states of the independence of the Kingdom of Poland.