Nation and Memory in Russia, Poland and Ukraine Week 7 Peasants into... (Russians, Ukrainians, Poles)
1.Peasants into… 2.Russia and the Russian Empire 3.Poles 4.Ukrainians
Nation building in 19 th century Eastern Europe Task: Make peasants into Russians, Poles, Ukrainians Problem: Serfdom, abolished in Prussia 1807/10, in Austria 1848, in Russia 1861 Liberation without land (peasants have to pay for it) Gulf between nobility and nationally mobilised urban elite on the one side and peasants on the other side Problem of literacy: 1850 in Prussia 85%, 1873 in Austrian Galicia 20%, 1897 in Russian Empire 21.1% Fear of estate owners and conservatives of effect of literacy on behaviour of peasants National movement: since last third of 19 th century challenge by socialism
1.Peasants into… 2.Russia and the Russian Empire 3.Poles 4.Ukrainians
Feodor Vasilyev, Village (1869) Russia
Weakness of Russian Orthodox Church – since 17 th c. tool of autocracy Late introduction of self-administration (zemstva) Gulf between autocracy and educated elite Empire vs. Russian nation (enormous role of non-Russians in imperial bureaucracy) Tension between Russian nationalism and Russian imperial interests Great Russians are not absolute majority of population National movements in periphery: especially Poland The Russian Empire is overstretched Almost all ethnic Russians, ‘Little Russians’, ‘White Russians’ are orthodox since 1870s some sort of local self- administration Existence of an educated elite Russians have a state (Russian Empire Long state tradition: existence of a Russian history generally acknowledged Existence of a Russian high culture 44% of population are Great Russians The Russian Empire is one of the five Great Powers Dilemma 1: to compete with the other Great Powers modernisation needed, effective modernisation based on co-operation of elites, education of population… But… end of autocratic rule, sharing of power, education also vehicle for ‘wrong’ – revolutionary or reformist ideas – elites scared of peasant uprising Dilemma 2: Russification of minorities needed to transform Russia into a Russian nation state. But… Russification could provoke resistance of other ethnic groups
Major Ethnic Groups in the Russian Empire 1897 (125,640,000) Russians44.31% Ukrainians17.81% Belarusians 4.68% Poles 6.31% Jews 4.03% Other ethnic groups in the West 4.47% Ethnic groups in the North 0.42% Ethnic groups Volga/Ural 5.85% Ethnic groups in Siberia 0.99% Ethnic groups in the Steppe 1.99% Ethnic groups in the Transcaucasia 3.53% Ethnic groups in the Caucasus 1.05% Ethnic groups in Central Asia 5.69% Diaspora groups (1.43% Germans) 1.91%
Domestic Policy First railway boom 1861 Feb 19 Emancipation of the serfs Law (courts) and education reform, Zemstvo instituted Populist movement To the People (V narod) Universal Military Training Act, military reforms 1879 People's Will Party – terrorism 1881 March 1 Asassination of Alexander II
Alexander II
What is Russification? Three varieties (Thaden) Unplanned: certain individuals take on Russian culture and language, takes several generations Administrative: demand by the Russian government that Russian must be used in administration everywhere in the empire Cultural: active policy that aims to replace a population’s native culture with Russian Edward C. Thaden et al., Russification in the Baltic Provinces and Finland, (Princeton, 1981), pp. 7-8 Theodore R. Weeks, ‘Russification: Word and Practice ’, in Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society Vol 148, No. 4, December 2004, pp
Monument of field marshal Ivan Paskevic in Warsaw
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Warsaw, before 1914
1.Peasants into… 2.Russia and the Russian Empire 3.Poles 4.Ukrainians
Uprisings before Kosciuszko-Uprising (Russia) Also in Greater Poland (Prussia) 1806Uprising in Greater Poland (Prussia) 1830November Uprising (Russia) 1846Greater Poland (attempt, Prussia) and Galician Slaughter, Kraków (Austria) 1848Greater Poland (Prussia) 1863January Uprising (Russia) Poland
November Uprising, 1830
Polish lands,
January Uprising, 1863/64
1863
After the Battle of Racławice (1794), painting by Jan Matejko (end of 19 th c.) 1794 Kosciuszko uprising 1795 Third Partition of Poland
Cracow School: Michał Bobrzyński A short history of Poland, 1879 The Birth of the Polish State, 2 vols., Realism and Positivism vs. Romanticism Warsaw School: Tadeusz Korzon
Organic Work Starting point: failed insurrections Poland culturally and economically too underdeveloped to sustain an independent state New strategy: Improve industry and trade in the Polish provinces Build towns and railways Organize cooperatives and organize Polish peasantry Raise the literacy and the national consciousness of the population Important advocates: Stańczyk group in Cracow and Warsaw positivists
The Polish lands Russian Empire Kingdom of Poland becomes Vistula land Russification Discrimination of Catholic Church (Uniate Church) University of Warsaw replaced by Imperial University of Warsaw (Teaching in Russian) German Empire Anti-Catholic policy under Bismarck Germanisation of School system School strike after attempt to introduce German language in religious instruction Policy to promote settlement of ethnic Germans Discrimination of ethnic Poles
Michał Drzymała, his wife and his wagon
Austrian Crownland Galicia and Lodomeria, 1910 Population: 8 Million West Galicia in % East Galicia in % Together Roman-Catholic2,381, ,349, ,731, Greek-Catholic86, ,294, ,381, Jewish213, , , Protestant7, , , Orthodox , ,8450.0
Austria-Hungary after 1867 Crownland Galicia and Lodomeria Polish elite profits from imperial reforms Close cooperation with Polish elites Social, political, economic and cultural dominance of Poles Polonisation of administration, education Dominance of Polish language in universities in Cracow and Lwów Modern political parties develop, Hundreds of Polish newspapers and journals, thousands of books are published Polish politicians (Polish club in Austrian parliament) very influential Polish ministers and gouvernors Galicia – the Polish Piedmont
The Making of the Polish Nation PRO Polish language and long tradition of literate culture Influence in Galicia since 1867 German Empire: rule of law Roman-Catholic faith Common history of most of the territory until the end of the 18 th c. Existence of a numerous, genuinely Polish elite – the nobility Cultural bonds: similar traditions, costumes, songs and so on Emancipation/liberation of peasants in Prussia, Austria, Russia Paradox: creating precondition for Polish nation building CONTRA Partitions of Poland: no state Living in the Russian Empire, Prussia/German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. No common present Opportunities for educated Poles in the service of the Empires Small middle class Sharp social conflict between peasants and estate owners Unclear borders Unclear national boundaries (for ex. Polish Jew or Jewish Pole) National 'awakening' of Ukrainians, Lithuanias etc. Policy of Russification and Germanization
1.Peasants into… 2.Russia and the Russian Empire 3.Poles 4.Ukrainians
Ukrainians in the Russian Empire Assimilation “Little Russians” Valuev Decree and Ems Ukaz Orthodox faith Attraction of Russian culture Upward mobility - chances Ukrainian nationalism Ethnicity and historical traditions Small group of pro- Ukrainian noblemen Ukrainian language and literature Partial coincidence of social and ethnic boundaries
Crownland Galicia and Lodomeria, 1910 Population: 8 Million West Galicia in % East Galicia in % Together Roman-Catholic2,381, ,349, ,731, Greek-Catholic86, ,294, ,381, Jewish213, , , Protestant7, , , Orthodox , ,8450.0
Options Polish option – “gente ruthenus, natione polonus” Ruthenian option – “Rusyny” Russian option – Russophiles Ukrainian option – Ukrainophiles (Panruthenian option) – including Belarussians John-Paul Himka, ‘The Construction of Nationality in Galician Rus’: Icarian Flights in Almost All Directions’, in Ronald Grigor Suny and Michael D. Kennedy (eds.), Intellectuals and the Articulation of the Nation (Ann Arbor, 1999), pp
Phase B/C 1848 Ruthenian Council Reading Clubs (Prosvita) Co-operative movement Emergence of a secular elite Ruthenian-Ukrainian parties (since 1890s) Ruthenians/Ukrainians represented in Austrian parliament and in Galician Diet
Volodymyr Antonovych
Mykhailo Hrushevsky Main work History of Ukraine-Rus’ 10 volumes,
The Making of the Ukrainian Nation PRO Ukrainian language and literature in the vernacular since 1798 Greek-Catholic faith in Galicia a barrier to assimilation by the Polish nation Common history until the 17 th c. Social antagonism to Polish or Russian/Russified overlords Cossack autonomy in early modern Europe and short period of independence Cultural bonds: similar traditions, costumes, songs and so on Children of Orthodox and Uniate Priests – core of educated national elite CONTRA Ukrainian language not yet a fully developed “high language”, Russian/Polish available as alternative languages for higher education Since 1667/1772 Eastern part has common history with Russia, Western part with Poland/Austria traditional elites have become Russians or Poles no uncontested Ukrainian state in history Potential members of the nation live in different empires as non-dominant ethnic groups Opportunities for educated Ukrainians in Russian Empire almost no middle class Different denominations Politics of Russification/Polonization