Looking closely at Eastern Galicia: the region through Kharkiv residents’ eyes (August 1914 – June 1915)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/1728-2640.2025.161.9
Keywords:
Eastern Galicia, Kharkiv, Lviv, Ukrainians, war correspondents, civil society, cooperation, educationAbstract
Background. The relevance of the study is driven by the growing interest among scholars and the general public in the events of the First World War, the perception of the “Other” by residents of different regions, the issues of relations between the home front and the battlefield, and the need to counter the narratives of imperial historiography. The aim of the research is to identify the range of issues and texts related to the coverage and perception of Eastern Galicia by representatives of Kharkiv society in the context of contemporary views on the Western Ukrainian lands. The objective is to analyze the information about Eastern Galicia that was available to the people of Kharkiv and to determine the role of the Yuzhny Krai newspaper and non-periodical publications in presenting the problems of Eastern Galicia.
Methods. The study is based on the principles of historicism, objectivity, systematic approach, and comprehensiveness, combined with the application of methods such as concretization, generalization, systemic-structural analysis, and comparative analysis.
Results. Kharkiv society evolved from indifference to a heightened interest in a wide range of ethnographic, political, socio-economic, and cultural-historical issues related to Eastern Galicia. Articles by local journalists, university professors, municipal government figures, letters from soldiers, public lectures, and printed non-periodical publications created a comprehensive image of the region, highlighting the specifics of everyday life in rural Eastern Galicia and in Lviv. This perspective differed from the dominant imperial narratives, and the war, despite censorship restrictions, expanded both the demand for and access to information. The urgent issues faced by Kharkiv’s local society played a significant role in shaping its particular view of Eastern Galicia.
Conclusions. During the specified period, the ambiguity of opinions regarding the status of Eastern Galicia, its socio-economic development, and the national composition of the population gradually shifted toward the perception of the region as a Ukrainian territory. The necessity of utilizing Galicia’s experience in improving urban management, developing the public education system, cooperation, and civil society was actively promoted.
Keywords: Eastern Galicia, Kharkiv, Lviv, Ukrainians, war correspondents, civil society, cooperation, education.
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