THE POLICY OF THE POLISH GOVERNMENT ON THE UKRAINIAN TERRITORY IN THE STUDIES OF GALICIAN STUDENTS OF MYKHAILO HRUSHEVSKY

Abstract

The article is devoted to the reconstruction of polonistic discourse in the works of representatives of the Lviv Historical School of Mykhailo Hrushevsky. It has been proved that the attention of young scholars was focused on the oppression of the Ukrainian population by the Polish government in various spheres of public life. The question of oppression of Ukrainians on the basis of religion was studied by Alexander Sushko and Stepan Tomashivsky. The economic exploitation of Ukrainians by the Polish administration of the Polish Commonwealth of old times was reconstructed by Fedor Sribny and Ivan Krypiakevych. Stepan Rudnytsky deconstructed the most popular statement of Polish historiography – the colonization of Ukrainian territories was to a great extent a salvation from the steppe hordes. The article studies reaction of Polish historians on the work of Galician historians. It has been noted that the reconstructed processes of historiographical «othering» of our western neighbor were closely connected with the growth of the Polish-Ukrainian contradictions in the public life of the Galician region, which was seen by both sides as «Piedmont» of their national communities – the place from which the revival of lost statehood should have begun. It has been proved that this controversy was particularly acute on the eve of the First World War: politicians found necessary historical arguments in the permanent controversy with opponents. Scientists, in contrast, urged by the increased interest of society in the genesis of interethnic confrontation, tried to reach the source in the past and find answers to the difficult challenges of our time. It has been noted that the parties did not reach consensus, because the position of the national elites of that time practically made it impossible. It is well-known, that this resulted in numerous tragic events of an international confrontation in the first half of the 20th century. The conclusion has been drawn about the importance of Ukrainian historiography of Polonistics in the works of M. Hrushevsky’s Galician students.