Matiushko L.

Lviv Inter-Regional Academy of Personnel Management

Ukraine

THE POLITICAL STRUCTURE OF THE MOSCOPHILIAN MOVEMENT IN GALICIA DURING THE TIME OF WAR

Summary

The article covers the matter of the Moscophilian movement political structure in the interwar period its formation and problems management. The main political trends that appeared after the split in Moscophilian movement are characterized. It is tried to explore the scale of activities of the parties and the reasons of their revival.

Key words: Moscophile, West Ukraine, Galicia and Rus National Organization, Galicia, People’s Freedom, the party ‘Selrob’.

INTRODUCTION

Galicia’s Moscophile appeared in the middle of the XIX ^th century as a world outlook model that later on transformed into the ideological platform preserving the main standards of thinking and national political guidelines in the wartime when being by its nature conservative it persisted altering and tried to adopt to the new time actual. The moscophilian figures having lost the pre – war positions, the sources of subsistence, finally having quitted the international arena, tried to conform to the new conditions.

Different approaches to the issue of Moscophilian movement development are reflected in the works of Y. Holovatskyi, I. Naumovych, K. Levytskyi, A. Andrusiak, M. Mykolayevych. Large cycle of studies devoted either to the Moscophilian authors or their adherents where political views, national ideals and prospects of the activities and the main trends are highlighted. Those are the works of O. Monchalovskyi, D. Markow, A. Volkonskyi, A. Kaminskyi.

The stated period in the history of the Galicia’s land was rich in changes either in the geopolitical structure (the transition of West Ukraine to the part of the newly born Polish state) or in the internal national political and cultural environments (the formation of the new Ukrainian political parties, which were aware of the unity of both parts of Ukraine and substantiated the ideas of the independence and conciliarism of the own state). Under such circumstances the representatives of the Moscophilian political stream happened to be out of the real influence on the almost new society formation. Besides, their national political plans were shattered also by the coup in Rusia and the advent to power of Bolsheviks that crossed out the necessity of such political power existence which oriented on the nonexistent state – tsarist Rusia. However, the phenomenon of the West Ukrainian history in the wartime became full – fledged rebirth of Moscophile with the range of the slightly changed ideological postulates and national political guidelines.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

This phenomenon has become a problem, that hasn’t been thoroughly analyzed even on the surface level yet. The researches of all the aspects of the Moscophilian parties and public organizations activities in the stated period will enrich the historic science first of all with the help of still unexplored scientific sources introduced into the science-based circulation that give the possibility to maintain the integral image about Galicia’s Moscophilstvo as a social and political occurrence. That’s why on the basis of the accumulated knowledge about the past, the substantiation of the own, special and inherent to Ukrainians the model of the state formation, the way of thinking and living become possible.

The complex party forming processes took part in the Mascophilian movement which survived a deep crisis connected with the change of the political situation in the region.

The year 1919 is characterized with the establishment of the Moscophile political party under the name Galicia and Rus National Organization (GRNO) which supported the attempts of Galicia people to form their own state with the future annexation to Naddniprianschyna (Upper Dniper Land).

The Rus Executive Committee, as the executive body of GRNO in its resolution from May 26, 1920 stood up for the Ukrainians in the war with the Polish, expressed the neutrality to the events in Russia and hostility to Poland [1]. The statement wasn’t coordinated with such called old Moscophiles which considered the position of adoption to the existing conditions and the cooperation with Polish government to be right. They didn’t assist the idea of the united front with other Ukrainian parties for achieving a mutual aim - the formation of the Ukrainian state. The only condition of such collaboration was the recognition of the Rus nation existence in Galicia. Such uncoordinated positions led to the breakup of the party.

The group of ‘Starorusyniv’ – the followers of the conservative Moscophile on the head of Lysiak and Cherkavskyi renounced the idea of the own statehood and the first of the Ukrainian alignments came to an agreement with the Polish occupation regime in 1920. They after final break-up of GRNO in 1923 established a separate party – Rus National Organization (RNO) which was seeking for the support in Polish government factors and tightly collaborated with the Rusian minority and emigration in Roland. This party at a later date divided into, two groups the right and that one which supported government – ‘ Rus agricultural party “(RAP) and Rus rural party (RRR) [1, с.165]. The left wing of GRNO formed into the Party of the People’s Freedom [2, с.353].

The first RNO Congress took place on the first of November (1923) in Lviv where the programme of the party was approved and RNO was announced to be a nationwide party with the aim of assertion and the protection of the urban Rus population national interests.

Kostetskyi was chosen as an honourable head of the party where Tush was the executive head. The political platform stated in all congress documents - is a ‘favourable attitude’ of the party to the Polish state and ‘loyal carrying out of the responsibilities by the Rus people as the citizens of Poland’ [2, с.353]. The main ideological and programme objective was the social and economic status improvement of the citizens and the intelligentsia. Due to its objective, the system of the governing bodies which was supposed to realize the stated objectives was being established.

The Supreme legislative body was the People’s Party Congress which was called every year or at the 15 district organizers’ request. The members of the Rus People’s Council, the District organizers and delegates elected by the district organizations could participate in the Congress. The political society ‘Ruska Rada’ was the representative of RNO in Lviv, where the executive board was People’s Council.

RNO as a political representative of Moscophile during the period from1924 till 1928 set up the district agencies in different areas of Galicia as the rural areas of Zolochiv and Rohatyn regions, Zborivschyna, Turka, and Stryi as well as Zhuraven, Sambir, Ravsk, Zhovkiv regions [3].

The political ideal of the wartime Moscophile was the democratic Russian federative republic, the constituent part of which in the future Galicia should have become, where the observance of all political, cultural and economic rights would be guaranteed. By the time of such a state formation the Moscophiles had declared the loyalty to Polish state, had denied the active political activity and all their forces directed on the improvement of the cultural, educational, political and economic level of the Galicia’s population.

The party ‘People’s Freedom’ was set up in 1924 (due to the other sources in 1923) [1, с.165]. It operated on East Galicia- inhabited territories as ‘the union of land – poor and landless peasants, workers and labour intelligentsia’ [2, с.348]. The executive personnel were headed by K. Valnytskyi; K. Pelekhatyi; M. Pryslopskyi; M. Halushkevych; M. Holinatyi and other. In consideration of the social radicalism of the members of the People’s Freedom, the Polish authority prohibited the holding of the 1st and 2nd Congresses of PPF and only on the 25^th of February, 1926 the 3rd Congress was convened in Lviv, that approved the party’s draft program having been prepared under the influence of the radical communist ideology. The document declared that a practical objective of the party was ‘the union conducting of the class struggle with the working people of the whole world’ with the aim of the socialistic regime establishment: socialization of the private property on the production and exchange means, the wide government assistance of the cooperation in agriculture. The raising of the national issue on the basis of self-determination for the benefit of the socialism’ and the later ‘federal unification of the whole peoples under the flag of Councils was stipulated by the Bolshevist standard [4, c. 349]. The party didn’t acknowledge neither Russian nor Ukrainian nationalism, negatively estimated the Moscophile activity calling that movement the one that’ never possessed, possesses and externally can’t possess those final political values … it is a lifeless form and doctrine … [5]. Summing up everything that has been said above, the representatives of the party ‘People’s Freedom’ calling themselves socialist and internationalist, recognized the existence of the separate Ukrainian people, which had a right for the full – fledged political, economic and cultural life.

The party ‘People’s Freedom’ hadn’t been providing its activity as the independent political party for a long time. Understanding its weakness on powerless, party consolidated with Volhynian ‘Ukrainian Socialistic Amalgamation’ into ‘Ukrainian Agricultural Labour Socialistic Amalgamation’ (Selrob) in 1926 [6]. Differences of opinion started between the branches of ‘ Selrob’ in 1927 and resulted in the setting up of the new party Selrob – livytsi by the exmembers of the ‘People’s Freedom’ (K. Valnytskyi, M. Zayats, K. Pelehatyi) [7]. It came out for the single – purpose agricultural labour front as well as the land without ransom and reimbursement for the labour and agricultural government [8, c. 23].

The influence of the party ‘Selrob’ on the Galicia’s general public couldn’t help being underestimated or overestimated. The interwar period generally was characterized by the rebirth and the beginning of the socialistic ideas spreading throughout the world, radicalization of the views. The peculiar socio – political situation historically passed in Galicia, where the dominating party of the population composed peasants, but Bolshevist and Communist ideas proclaimed the working class to be the mover and the engine of the social and political reforms. That’s why ‘Selrob’ asserted the unification of the peasants and workers with that end in view to socialistically revolutionize and therefore it found the appropriate part of the followers among the proletarian peasants. Thereupon the internal differences, its activity didn’t spread over Galicia’s frontiers, it either didn’t support any relations with similar parties beyond the borders of the Polish country, and taking into account the short term of the party existence, it didn’t prove to be a powerful political force.

The longest and the most fruitful by its activity the conservative Moscophile party – RNO appeared to be, preserving the panel and the old ideological basis.

RNO held the regular land agricultural congress in Lviv on the 7th of July, 1928, where the reasons of ‘unpopularity’ in Galicia were being discussed. For strengthening the impact in the Galicia’s peasant environment, the decision about the party’s name change for Rus Peasant Organization was adopted. The formation of district and local committees was being planned either. Such a step should have predisposed the Galicia’s peasantry to RPO side, the interests of which were protected by the rural party. Its political work adds up to the preparation for the participation in elections, and election talk as well as the search for the partners in the political activity. Moscophiles, understanding their minor impact in compare with other great parties, were seeking after the allies and mainly they were ruling parties and blocks. Thereby, the official authority used Moscophiles for strengthening their own positions in the district.

The second Territorial Council of the RPO delegates took place on the 25^th of December, 1931, where 178 province delegates and 50 representatives of Lviv central organization participated. The specific result of the party operation was the creation of the new and prolongation of the old local and district committees activity, with the total number that equalled 116 [9]. The operation was organized in two directions: the activity on the land territory and maintenance o the close contacts with Rus minority in the neighboring states. The meeting of the Telegraph’s prisoners was conducted in 1928 mainly by the RPO figures efforts. A special fund, for supporting of the unprosperous cooperators where low-interest loans were granted through ‘Zaschyta Zemli’, was organized. The contact with Rus societies of Carpathian Rus boiled down to the interchange of the printings and participation of their representatives in the Galicia Moscophilin cultural and enlightenment societies. Annually the RPO delegates were involved in the national minority congress in Geneva as well as in the similar congress in Riga. RPO plenipotentiary visited the centers of the massive settling o Galicia Rus and Carpathian Rus emigration in America and Canada in 1929 [9].

The dates 25^th of December (1933), 26^th of December (1934) and 25^th of December (1935) are characterized with the handling of the Third, Fourth and the Fifth Territorial Councils of RPO where the positions of Rus national and cultural unity were upholded, the loyalty to Polish state was stated and the matter of necessity of the collaboration with the government was accentuated.

The tactics of the official Polish government due to the activity of the Ukrainian political parties have considerably changed in 1935. With the alignment of the political forces in the world and consequently in the land, the change of the priorities and the inability of the Moscophilians to influence on the political situation were obvious.

Without any support from the official authority side, gradually losing the control over the Moscophilian societies the decision of not participating in the elections to Seim in 1935 was made. The Sixth Territorial Council of RPO that took place on the 13 ^th of December, 1937 showed the confusion of its participants and some apathy.

Moscophilian movement crisis widened the split in Rus Peasant Organization, the group of its ex-members broke with in 1931, having set up a new party – Rus Agrarian Rarty (RAP). The statute of the newly formed party defined the main ideological and organizational provisions of its activity and was approved on the general meeting dated 25 ^th of December, 1931 According to the statute, RAP was announced to be a political organization that’s why its founding document didn’t subject to approval by government [10]. The party members by analogy to RPO declared their loyalty to Rich Pospolyta and operation exceptionally und the jurisdiction of the state legislation. Neutral and defence positions towards another ‘Rus’ and ‘Ukrainian’ parties were stated.

The greater part of Moscophils under the leadership of V. Kolpachkevych, understanding the lack of any prospect of the old forms existence, stood on the Ukrainian national platform in 1934 and printed by the Ukrainian language periodical ‘Prolom’. The activity of Moscophiles subsequently assumed absurd meaning.

Understanding its unpopularity without any official authority support, which according to the international situation had shifted attitude to Moscophilian party, these parties continued their activity chiefly within societies. Only with the beginning of the Second World War, RPO ceased to exist and with the Soviet rule establishment in West Ukraine it was forbidden at the official level.

RESULTS

The results of the Moscophilian movement studies show that the reasons of its revival in the interwar period are the crisis of the hopes in establishing own Ukrainian state and the defeat of national liberation competition; Moscophilian representatives removal from the political life, by means of ignoring their influence and absence of their representatives in National Council and state positions; the support of their activity by the official Polish authority; conservatism, economic and cultural negligence of the Galicia’s population; the split into parties of various directions.

CONCLUSION

Though, we may state that Moscophilian movement in the interwar period wasn’t a sole due to its political ideology and party affiliation. Taking into account time actual, Moscophiles differently viewed their own political prospects and formed their vision of Galicia’s future. Common for all Moscophile directions was the orientation on East, the unity with Upper Dniper Ukrainians. Their distinguish feature was the estimation of the Bolshevist authority deed in Russia and prospects of such regime in Galicia. The conservative Moscophile movement stood on the way of compromise with Poles and thereby gradually was embodying its cultural and national, economic and partly political plans. Those political forces (with Moscophilian roots in the past), which were in opposition to official authority didn’t’ take an advantage of its support and the results of their activity weren’t so noticeable. With Bolsheviks’ coming on West Ukraine, Moscophilian movement declined once and for all in 1939, and its participants would be pursued, go abroad or abandon the political activity.

Literature

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