POLITICAL MANIFESTATIONS OF SOCIAL DEMOCRATS IN LVIV IN 1905: FROM SOLIDARITY RALLIES WITH WARSAW WORKERS TO DEMANDS FOR UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE

Abstract

Lviv was not the center of the labor movement and had no objective reasons for this – there was no significant number of workers. Nevertheless, in 1905, the city became a location for numerous social protests. Moreover, with a distinct national Polish character, due to the solidarity of local Poles with the insurgent Poles in the Russian Empire. The article talks about the events of the revolutionary year of 1905 in Lviv, when the social democrats, starting with rallies in support of the Poles of the Russian Empire, eventually became a key political player in the city. They organized demonstrations, supported the strikers and negotiated on their behalf. After all, when Russia announced its intention to carry out liberal reforms, the Social Democrats became the ones who most actively promoted the idea of universal suffrage in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. At the same time, they were able to mobilize under their banner those who would hardly have supported them under other circumstances. It is shown how competition between political parties and international relations influenced social protests. How the confrontation between Polish socialists and nationalists in Warsaw caused bloody conflicts on the same ground in Lviv. And how Ukrainian and Jewish socialists acted, faced with a choice between social and national solidarity. Who was accused of anti-Semitism, and who was accused of betraying national interests in favor of ephemeral justice. It is highlighted how Lviv became the arena of this struggle – where were the main places for protests, where the strikers gathered, which routes they used to conduct their demonstrations. And also which points became places of conflict, where workers gathered and where they went to protest. The factor of local patriotism was also considered: what was the policy of local self-government, how the patriotic card was played to set Lviv workers against workers from other regions of the empire. How entrepreneurs understood patriotism, how workers understood it, and how socialists tried to solve this dilemma.