Russophilism (Moscophilism) ID: 117

Russophilism was one of the two (along with Ukrainophilism) main socio-political and cultural currents of the Ukrainian movement that existed in Galicia from the 1830s till the interwar period. Russophiles promoted the religious, cultural, and historical affiliation of the Galician Ruthenians to the "great Russian space", which was, in their view, common to the Russians (Great Russians), Belarusians and Ukrainians (Little Russians). In extreme cases, there were conversions from Greek Catholicism to Orthodoxy, as well as declarations of national unity with the Russian people.

Ideology

The ideology of Russophilism is based on various variants of kinship with Russia or the imaginary "Rus’", Pan-Slavism, denial of "Latinism" and Western influences. Russophiles substantiated this kinship with history, faith, and language. Tradition was extremely important for Russophilism (as a conservative ideology). At the same time, for the Russophiles, these are primarily the traditions of princely Rus’ (in contrast to the populists for whom the Cossack epos was of key importance).

Furthermore, the Russophiles considered the Ruthenians a "belated nation" without "high culture" (especially literature). Accordingly, they tried to "catch up" with their neighbours, using the assets of Russian "high culture" while adapting it to local conditions.

From the Russophiles’ point of view, the history of Galician Ukrainians was the history of a part of the great "Russian" civilization, which (part) was under the power of the Habsburgs. This, however, did not prevent the majority of the Russophiles from considering themselves loyal citizens of the empire.

In matters of language, the Russophiles advocated etymological spelling (as opposed to phonetics, which was promoted by populists), and there were attempts to create their own model of literary language. A version of the Russian language with the use of Church Slavonic, which was used in the Greek Catholic Church, the so-called "iazychie", was taken as a sample. They used this version of the language in the press (periodicals like the Galichanin, the Slovo and others). Disputes regarding spelling and the "correct version" of the language between supporters of phonetics and etymology have been named "alphabet wars" in the literature.

The Eastern rite in the Greek Catholic Church and fighting against "extraneous Latin features" were another pillar on which the Russophile ideology rested.

When it comes to the Galician Russophiles, it is important to distinguish pro-Russianness (typical of the minority of the Russophiles) from Old Ruthenianism. The so-called “Old Ruthenians” were characterized by local patriotism, linguistic and cultural conservatism, as well as loyalty to the Habsburg dynasty and the Greek Catholic Church.

The evolution of this ideology and a wide range of views can be illustrated by the attitude towards the cult of Taras Shevchenko. This attitude varied from the "folk poet of the Little Russian tribe" (of which the Galician Ruthenians were considered a part) to the Ukrainophile revolutionary who personified national and social ideas unacceptable to Russophile conservatives.

The practice of using ethnonyms is also illustrative. For the Russophiles, the term "Ukrainian" was rather a characteristic of political views, sympathy for radicalism or socialism. They called themselves "Rusyns", "Ruthenians", "Russians", however, not equating this definition with the Russians in the modern sense. The Russophiles themselves were often called Muscophiles by their opponents. For the latter, the root was the word "Moskal" (then the derogatory form "Moskalophiles" was used). On the other hand, Moscow, not Petersburg, was considered by the Russophiles themselves to be the historical and spiritual center. Therefore, they put a different, positive meaning in the word "Moscophilism."

History

The Russophiles had a developed network of public organizations, their own newspapers, and societies. In Lviv, they controlled iconic Ukrainian institutions: the Stauropegion Institute, the People's House in Lviv, the Galician Ruthenian Matytsia. The "Akademichny Kruzhok" student society, the "Russkoye Kasyno" society, and the "Obshchestvo russkikh dam" adhered to the Russophile orientation. The most numerous organization was the M. Kachkovsky Society, which carried out educational activities among the peasantry. At the same time, due to the smaller size of membership fees, this society’s reading rooms were initially more popular than similar reading rooms of the Prosvita Society. That is, institutionally, the positions of the Russophiles were very strong if compared to the positions of the Ukrainophiles. For many students, the dormitories of the People's House and the Stauropegion Institute often were the only opportunity to stay in Lviv.

It is worth noting that the city of Lviv itself, where all Russophile institutions were located, did not occupy a significant place on the symbolic map of the Russophiles. Yes, it was the capital of Prince Lev, a city founded by Ruthenian princes of the Rurik dynasty. In terms of its symbolism, however, it was inferior to the more ancient town of Halych. Moreover, the Russians planned (in the event of a war with Austria-Hungary and the capture of the region) to move the capital of the province to Halych. Lviv, among other things, was the metropolitan capital of the Greek Catholic Church, which the Russian Orthodox Church did not plan to incorporate. The image of "Polish Lviv" was complemented by fugitives from the Russian Empire — participants in the Polish uprisings. They did not tolerate the Russophiles, setting the tone for public opinion.

By the mid-19th century, Russophilism was the cause supported by a small number of intelligentsia, fascinated by the general fashion for pan-Slavism and orientation towards Russia as a single Slavic state. Russia was seen as a power capable of helping the Slavic peoples to fight against foreign (German, Turkish, Hungarian) enslavement. There was still the idea of transforming the Austrian Empire into a federation of the Slavs, Austrians and Hungarians, but it ceased to be relevant after 1867, when the Austrian Empire became Austria-Hungary. In the Ukrainian case, the ideas of pan-Slavism conflicted with the ideas of "national awakening", because, unlike the Poles or Czechs, the very existence of the Ukrainians still had to be proven. In turn, the justification of the Ukrainian people’s separateness entailed the weakening of Russia as a key Slavic state.

Russophilism in Lviv started with the activity of historian Denys Zubrytsky, the author of the "Chronicle of the City of Lviv" and a corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. He wrote his works, in which he refuted the thesis about the "original Polishness of Galicia", in Polish, German, Russian and "iazychie." In 1835, Mikhail Pogodin, a Russian historian and ideologue of pan-Slavism, visited the city, and a circle of supporters of the unification with Russia, the so-called "Pogodin Colony", arose here.

During the Spring of Nations in 1848, the Supreme Ruthenian Council, created to oppose the Polish National Council, proclaimed the unity of the Austrian Ruthenians with the 15-million Ukrainian people. However, the collapse of hopes for the division of Galicia between the Poles and Ukrainians, the appointment of Agenor Gołuchowski, a Polish conservative, as governor, and especially the passage of tsarist Russian troops through the territory of Galicia to suppress the Hungarian uprising in 1849, made Russophilism more attractive in the eyes of Galicia’s Ruthenians.

After the defeat of the Polish uprising in 1863 and the defeat of Austria in confrontation with Prussia in 1866, and especially after the constitutional compromise of 1867, Russia began to appear in the eyes of the Galician Ruthenians as a real alternative to "foreign" state entities. After all, the constitutional compromise actually determined the Polish character of the entire Galicia under the authority of the local administration. At that time, the Russophiles proclaimed the national and cultural unity of the lands of the entire "Rus’."

Until a certain moment, they could openly maintain dual loyalty: to be supporters of Russia and law-abiding citizens of the Habsburg Empire. However, the Russian-Turkish war of 1878 and the subsequent confrontation between Vienna and St. Petersburg put an end to this dualism. Russia was increasingly active in the Balkans, reinforcing military actions with rhetoric about the liberation of the Slavs and their unification under the supremacy of an "Orthodox monarch", thus entering into a conflict with Vienna, which had some Slavs under its rule as well. Accordingly, the Austrian government staked on the Ukrainianophiles. The highest point of the Russophilism spread and, at the same time, the beginning of its end is considered to be the year 1882, when the Greek Catholic parishioners of the village of Hnylychky, under the slogan of "cleansing the church rite", decided to convert to Orthodoxy, which was prohibited by Austrian law. After the scandal, the resignation of Metropolitan Yosyf Sembratovych and many influential Russophiles from among the leadership of the church, a high-profile trial took place, known in the literature as the trial against Olha Hrabar and comrades. As a result of this trial, the Russophiles somewhat lost their reputation as the defenders of "Old Rus’", receiving instead the stigma of traitors and the fifth column. In the Greek Catholic Church, efforts started to reduce the influence of Russophilism; however, it remained popular among the clergy until the First World War.

In 1890, a policy of mutual understanding between the Ukrainians and Poles called the "New Era" was launched; as a result, the Russophiles were driven to the margins of political processes even more. Nevertheless, like the rest of the political circles in the era of mass politics and the creation of modern parties, the Russophiles formed their own party, called the "Russian People's Party."

In the early 20th century Polish political circles began to situationally use the Russophiles (providing subsidies through the Provincial School Council and support during elections) as a counterweight to the Ukrainian political parties of Galicia. These efforts, along with financial infusions from the Russian Empire, bore fruit: about a third of Ukrainian voters voted for the Russophiles. In the 1907 parliamentary elections, the Russophiles received 5 mandates (against 22 for Ukrainophile candidates), in 1908, in the elections to the Galician Sejm, 9 against 12.

In 1907-1909, a schism took place and organizationally took shape: the Russophile environment was divided into "old course" and "new course" supporters. The latter announced full national-political unity with the Russian people, advocating the use of the literary Russian language. The "new course" supporters controlled the Kachkovsky Society and the party, which became known as the "Russian People's Organization." The "old course" followers controlled the Stauropegion Institute, the People's House, the Galician Ruthenian Matytsia. The "new course" was officially announced by Volodymyr Dudykevych at a meeting of the Galician Diet in Lviv.

In the elections of 1913, Dmytro Markov, a "new course" supporter, became the only Russophile member of parliament. After the outbreak of the First World War, he was accused of treason and sentenced to death, which was commuted to life imprisonment. He served his sentence until 1917, when an amnesty was announced. Markov's arrest was part of the repression launched by the Austrian government against the Russophiles and generally against supporters of Pan-Slavism after the start of the war. Russophile organizations were closed, their members were imprisoned in the Talerhof and Terezin camps, which operated from 1914 to 1917. Residents of Galicia and Bukovyna, mainly Russophiles, were interned in the camps, through which about 14,000 people passed, on accusations of sympathizing with the enemy.

During the First World War, the Russophiles were a support for the Russian administration after the capture of Lviv, the "Russian People's Council", headed by Volodymyr Dudykevych, functioned in the city. Even before the war, he moved to Kyiv, where he was the chairman of the "Carpatho-Russian Liberation Committee." After the retreat of the Russian army, he moved to Russia, like many other Russophiles. It should be noted that during the Russian occupation, the Galicians got to know the real, not imagined, Russians, as well as the Russian state apparatus. As a result, certain illusions on which the popularity of Russophile ideas had been based were dispelled. This, along with the beheading of the movement as a result of Austrian repression and emigration to Russia, undermined Russophilism ultimately.

After the collapse of the Russian Empire, support from abroad stopped. The Provisional Government took no interest in conservative Russophile monarchists. In the interwar period, the popularity of Russophilism, despite some activity in the press and active organizations, steadily declined. The trend maintained good positions only in the regions of Lemkivshchyna and Transcarpathia.

 

People

Denys Zubrytsky — a historian, an ethnographer, an archivist; a corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, the author of the Chronicle of the City of Lviv.
Olha Hrabar — the main defendant in the 1882 treason trial in Lviv (together with Ivan Naumovych and others), acquitted by the court; later she emigrated to the Russian Empire.
Yakiv Holovatsky — a linguist, an ethnographer, a Greek Catholic priest, a co-founder of the Ruthenian Triad, rector of Lviv University. He switched to Russophile positions and moved to the Russian Empire in 1868, renouncing his priesthood and converting to Orthodoxy.
Ivan Naumovych — a Greek Catholic and later an Orthodox priest, a politician, one of the founders of the Russophile movement, in particular the Mykhailo Kachkovsky Society. The author of the programme article entitled "Looking into the future."
Volodymyr Dudykevych — a lawyer, a politician, a member of the Galician Diet. On the eve of the First World War, he moved to Kyiv, where he headed the "Carpatho-Russian Liberation Committee"; he cooperated with the Russian administration after the capture of Lviv by the tsarist troops, heading the Russian People's Council.
Dmytro Markov — a politician, a publicist, a member of the Galician Diet and the Reichsrat. He was known for his speech in Russian in the Parliament.

Sources