Not so long ago, "Rzeczpospolita" reported that, according to materials published on the Euro 2012 website, Lviv had been under Polish occupation for 600 years. Apparently, such information was sent to the organizers by the Ukrainian side. And the Ukrainians should not be surprised. According to their historical tradition, that's the most honest truth!
Let's go back about 120 years. At the end of the 19th century, a certain Mykhailo Hruszewski began to lecture at the University of Lviv, one of the two leading universities in Galicia. Over time, the inconspicuous historian turned out to be the most influential Ukrainian intellectual. He not only "awakened" (or, according to some:created) the Ukrainian nation, but after World War I he even became the leader of the Ukrainian People's Republic.
It was this gentleman - who is still considered one of the greatest national heroes of Ukraine - in 1905, who assembled a short brochure entitled "From Polish-Ukrainian relations in Galicia". What's important in that? Well, it was this short and hastily written (in two and a half weeks!) Publication that shaped the Ukrainian view on the past of Galicia, which is still valid today.
Polish plague
Łukasz Adamski, author of the book "Progressive Nationalist", summarized briefly Hruszewski's theses:
Kazimierz The Great. A criminal who carried out the partition of medieval Rus (and Ukraine)?
Poles have been exploiting Galicia and its indigenous people in a barbaric way for centuries. (...) In 1349, that is, when Casimir the Great actually took power in Red Ruthenia, Poles appeared in this territory as "invaders".
Not only did they invade the Ruthenian lands, they also completely ravaged them. According to Hruszewski, the then Land of Halych was rich, abundant in natural gifts, and well-developed (...) In economic and cultural terms, it stood, if not higher, then almost no less than contemporary Poland. In short, it was a land flowing with milk and honey. Ukrainian milk and Ukrainian honey, of course.
Everything changed when the Polish gentlemen came with their "historical cultural mission". Their devilish "Drang nach Osten" it marked the end of idyll and even normality. They plundered the country to the very bottom, so that at the time of the first partition of the Commonwealth, it was the home of a stupid peasantry, hungry Jews and semi-illiterate priests .
Besides, the Polish nobility did not stop there! According to Hruszewski, after the partitions, the Poles continued to destroy Galicia without any inhibitions, using the consent of the Austrian authorities. As a result, the land of Lviv has become a country without trade, without industry (...) a country where starvation typhus is the most ordinary and regular visitor, a country that (...) is the truest black mark on the card of Europe. It was all the fault of the Poles, the worst possible oppressor:
Ukrainian society (...) faces an dishonest, insidious, hypocritical enemy (...). The enemies on the Polish side are colonists, invaders of other people's land, which they do not care for, because they have theirs in reserve.
Lviv under Polish occupation?
Hrushevsky was also a supporter of a completely absurd conspiracy theory, according to which Polish gentlemen , with their clever intrigues or through various threats, always tried to strike a deal with the Russian regime in order to suppress Belarusian, Ukrainian and Lithuanian national aspirations.
Someone forgot to update the manuals?
One could multiply similar quotes. Overall - Hruszewski did not have a very good opinion of our ancestors. It is no wonder, because in those days almost every national movement started with such slogans .
Nations grew stronger in competition with their partitioners and neighbors. Without extreme emotions, national ideas would never reach the general public. This was the case in Poland, Ukraine or even Slovakia. The problem is that historians from most countries have long departed from similar arguments that simplify and distort historical reality. And in Ukraine? Unfortunately, the books published today still blindly repeat Hrushevsky's vision. And no wonder that such flowers later find their way to UEFA's website ...
Source:
Trivia is the essence of our website. Short materials devoted to interesting anecdotes, surprising details from the past, strange news from the old press. Reading that will take you no more than 3 minutes, based on single sources. This particular material is based on:
- Łukasz Adamski, Progressive nationalist. Mychajło Hruszewski and his views on Poland and Poles , Polish Scientific Publishers PWN, 2011.