„Leben und leben lassen”. Niemcy Galicji Wschodniej (od końca XVIII w. do Wielkiej Wojny)

Abstract

Galicia’s entry into the Austrian Empire had an impact on all aspects of its economic and socio-political life. In the 18th and 19th centuries, agriculture formed the basis of the national economy. Large areas of Galicia were fiercely opposed to the insignificant political, economic and cultural role that the region played in the life of the Empire. The Habsburgs attitude towards their new eastern provinces as sparsely populated and industrially backward territories allowed the government to solve the demographic problems of the old territories, as well as to bring in displaced persons from Northern Germany, the Rhineland and the Palatinate. The population of the country by German colonists in a sense promoted the socio-economic development of Galicia. Despite the change of states and governments, the settlers not only adapted, but gradually settled throughout the territory. Archival records prove that the Austrian government and local estate owners (Poles, Jews) supported German settlers, which allowed the latter to develop land cultivation and cattle breeding in the colonies in better conditions. From the point of view of religious differentiation, the Germans in Galicia did not constitute a unity, but were divided into several communities. According to sources, at the beginning of colonization the most important thing was the identity of the German-speaking settlers. Another powerful factor that determined the colonists’ identity was religious affiliation. Over time, a new identity is formed among the German-speaking colonists, which involves living together within the boundaries of one colony or district. Just like the German colonists practically did not notice the difference between their neighbors Ukrainians and Poles, who had clearly different life practices, so in the eyes of Ukrainian and Polish peasants, Catholics, Lutherans, reformers, Mennonites, Swabians, and Essenes were “Germans”. The observations made based on source material regarding Galicia do not provide grounds to claim that the ethnonym “Germans” there meant only Germans – Protestants. This ethnonym included all representatives of the German ethnos, regardless of the branch of the Christian religion. WWI caused radical changes in the situation of Protestants (mainly Lutherans) under Austrian rule. In the lands of Austria-Hungary occupied by Tsarist Russia, the events of the world war brought about a significant tightening of the political course of the state authorities towards the evangelicals of the Augsburg faith, a change in the imperial national and religious policy.