Education System in Subcarpathian Rus during Interwar Period in the Estimates of the Rusyn Politicians and Public Figures

Abstract

The article analyzes origins and further development of the education system in Subcarpathian Rus after the incorporation of that region into Czechoslovak republic in 1919 as well as the attitudes of the Rusyn politicians and public figures towards various aspects of school system in Subcarpathian Rus. Since during 1920-ties the school system in Subcarpathian region reflected the policy of “soft ukrainization” of the local Rusyn population pursued by Prague administration in cultural sphere, it aroused growing criticism from Russophile part of Rusyn public and political spectrum while the representatives of Ukrainian movement in Subcarpathian region insisted on more resolute pro-Ukrainian policy in the field of education. Rise of the political and cultural confrontation between the Russophile and Ukrainian intelligentsia of the Carpathian Rusyns became one of the important reasons for the destabilization of the situation in that region in the late 1930s.