GALICIA AND BUKOVINA: ON

THE EVE OF EMIGRATION

For Dr. Roman Yereniuk & Dr. Robert Klymasz

ST. ANDREW’S COLLEGE

BRYAN (MYKOLAI) GARAGAN
February 28, 2017
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Galicia and Bukovyna On the Eve of Emigration

In the paper the follows we will summarize the background and circumstances leading to
the mass emigration of Ukrainians from the period of 1880-1914 in the article authored by
Professor Orest Martynovych, entitled “Galicia and Bukovyna On the Eve of Emigration”. In
doing so we intend to follow the professor’s subsections. We will limit our personal observations
to a minimum since the article is replete with statistics and information which may be considered
overwhelming.

Martynovych relates in the introduction that several factors influenced the mass
emigration of Ukrainians during the years noted above: Overpopulation; the paucity of farmable
land; and “the absence of an industrial sector” that would facilitate and supplement their income
needs. These Martynovych deems as the ‘push’ factors. The two principle ‘pull’ factors, he
relates, were the prospects of employment and the gratis offer of large available homesteads in
Canada. (3)

All in all, this attracted more than 170,000 Ukrainian emigres by 1914, some of whom
had been exposed to “radical and secular” ideologies and had also experienced the “network of
village intuitions”, established by the “Ukrainian National Movement”. (3)

Ukrainians in Galicia and Bukovyna

At the turn of the Twentieth century Ukrainians’ resided in one of two empires, the
Austro-Hungarian (Hapsburg) domain or the Russian (Romanov) empire. As the subtitle
suggests and for this paper’s purposes we are concerned with the territories of Galicia and
Bukovyna. The latter and “more ethnically heterogeneous” of the two, Bukovyna had a
Ukrainian population that constituted a small majority (38.4%) compared with the polish
demographic at 34.4%. In Galicia the total population was 8 million, ten times that of Bukovyna
with the polish accounting for 47% of the populous while Ukrainians were the second largest
ethnic group forming 40% of its inhabitants. (4)

Both territories belonged to the Hapsburg empire since the early 1770’s and the political
and economic governance was the prerogative of the Polish and Romanian aristocracy. The
majority of Ukrainian inhabitants lived in rural areas and according to Martynovych, in Western
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Galicia and Southern Bukovyna the peasantry was “predominantly Polish and Romanian”
whereas “in eastern Galicia and northern Bukovyna, it was Ukrainian.” (4)

Poland governed eastern Galicia from 1340-1772 and though the Ukrainians were Greek
Orthodox in origin they had come under the authority of Rome as a consequence of the Union of
Brest in 1596. This was never universally accepted and therefore our author correctly observes
that those who assented had only “adhered to the Uniate Church since 1700”, some one hundred
years after the Brest concord. However, in the region of Northern Bukovyna the Romanian
hierarchy maintained its loyal Ukrainian (Greek) Orthodox following. (4)

During the four centuries that preceded the Brest Union, the Ukrainian upper classes had
been subsumed by the Polish and Romanian nobility. For this reason, the society from which the
immigrants originated was comprised of two social classes- “the peasantry and the clergy.” In
the Galician territory, married clergy and their families emerged to “constitute a privileged elite.”
Austria’s sovereign, Maria Theresa and her son Joseph, who reigned during the period between
1740 and 1790, solidified their influence over the Ukrainian peasantry courtesy of the Uniate
clergy. Consequently, the Uniate church was rechristened “Greek catholic” thus emphasizing its
“parity with the Polish Roman Catholic church.” This consolidation led to a succession of
reforms having several implications which Martynovych highlights in the sentences that follow:
“Seminaries were established in Lviv, Vienna and Rome; and priests received education
subsidized by the state and characterized by a secular service oriented ethos. Subsequently,
roughly 2200 clerical families “cemented by marriage and caste interests” were promoted to a
“pre-eminent position to mediate between the central government and the nobility”, and at the
same time the Ukrainian peasants. A natural and major corollary of these reforms is that the
Ukrainian clergy had equal legal and economic standing with the polish priests. (5)

Also, worthy of note in this section is that the vast majority of Ukrainians (95%) in
eastern Galicia consisted of peasant farmers, belonging to the underclass, who were faced with
the daunting reality that their greatest resource, the supply of land, was rapidly depleting. (Ibid).

Legacy of Serfdom

The abolition of serfdom in 1848 eradicated the corvee (compulsory) labor, a hardship
forced on the peasant farmer prior to emancipation. It also bestowed on the peasants small plots
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of land, however exploitation of the peasants at the hands of the nobility persisted. They retained
their immense agricultural estates and were free of any accountability as it concerned the
peasants’ welfare. Moreover, exorbitant taxes were imposed on the underclass as compensation
for the loss of free labor. When disaster hit, peasants were forced to borrow capital, and since the
privilege which provided recourse to the manor was abolished under the new law, they
eventually lost their lands. (5)

The nobility also rejected the servitude rights which allowed the peasantry gratis access
to forest and pastures which in the era of serfdom was “held in common.” The peasants resorted
to illegal occupation and the pilfering of wood and timber. Litigation was also attempted wherein
the peasant plaintiff’s lost over 93% of their cases, and in the process incurred enormous legal
debt. The fines were so excessive that close to half of the labor on the nobel’s estates “continued
to be wage free.” (5-6)

At the turn of the century the plight of the peasantry remained dismal. Forty percent of
the land was owned by the nobility, among them, 20 percent were barons of polish and German
lineage. Thirty percent of estate owners in Bukovina were likewise German and Polish. Some of
the nobility, due to improvidence were forced to sell their lands to commoners, the great majority
of whom were Jewish. A healthy migration of Austrian Jews to the rural regions of Bukovyna
and Galicia ensued which resulted in the Jewish dominance of certain economic sectors, and
their vested interest in almost all facets of economic life. By the 1990’s, Martynovych observes
that the number of Jews engaged in trade constituted “over 80% of all individuals” involved in
that sector. (6)

This influx of Jews and their subsequent involvement in all aspects of rural life, fuelled
anti-semitism and diverted peasant’s antipathy from the nobility to the Jew. In defense of the
Jewish community, Martynovych conveys that Polish estate keepers were unmerciful to their
underlings. Driven by parsimony and avarice they imposed excessive rents on the Jewish
tavernkeepers, which was in turn passed on to the underclass. To preserve a living, they not only
encouraged the peasant’s to drink but to borrow money at usurious rates. (6-7)

Ukrainians landowners constituted 2.2% of estate holdings and .85 % of this was owned
by ethnic Ukrainians in the region of Galicia and Bukovyna. The principal proprietor was Baron
Vasylko, who owned 33,200 hectares. The Greek Catholic Church was the only estate owner
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who surpassed his holdings, owning eight-five thousand or 1.64% of the land in the region. Our
Author explains that in the last quarter of the 19th century this was divided among the 2200
clerical families which on average was fifty hectares, forty of which was arable. Additionally,
clerics received salaries from the governments over and above the sacramental fees they received
from parishioners. (7)

This then was the state of affairs for the peasants emigrating to Canada, who were
overrun and oppressed by a government whose economic policies were both elitist and corrupt.
Martynovych communicates the gravity of their plight: Imposed on the peasants “were crushing
taxes to compensate the nobility for the loss of corvee labour…payments for the use of forests
and pastures. Lawyers’ fees and court expenses to retain servitude rights; (excessive) usurious
interest rates; rising sacramental fees..declining incomes (due to the scarcity of land)…a scarcity
of livestock; (poor crop yields); death and disease (attributed to malnutrition and the lack of
medical resources); no industrial sector (to compensate) for the scarcity of land; low level
agricultural technology; and the opposition of the Polish magnates to industrialization in order to
retain “cheap and plentiful agrarian labour.” (7-9)

In addition to that which was related above there was an impeding of Ukrainian culture
by enforcing a cultural colonialism. Furthermore, the archaic and corrupt curial electorate
ensured that the status quo was maintained, even after male suffrage was introduced. The
inequitable balance of economic and political power that Ukrainians suffered, was equally
matched by oppression in the areas of language and education. Polish culture, language, and
patriotism was forced on students and Ukrainians’ ability to be educated in general was severely
circumscribed by the ruling polish class who considered education as a ‘privilege of the gentry.’
(10)

Therefore, “the high incidence of illiteracy, noted in Canada”, our author observes, was
effected by “such domination.” Statistics from 1890, in this regard were staggering. 77 percent of
males in Bukovyna were illiterate as were 72.6% of the males in Galicia. The illiteracy among
the Ukrainians in rural areas was as high as 90%. This Martynovych expounds “complicated
efforts to mobilize the peasantry”, to make it aware of its socioeconomic concerns and to “install
a sense of Ukrainian national consciousness.” (11)
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Ukrainian Nationalism, Radicalism and Clericalism.

Constitutional reforms were initiated in the latter quarter of the 19th century, in Vienna,
by Emperor Francis Joseph, with the intention of placating the “powerful Hungarian and polish
minorities”. This resulted in Galicia being subject to the governance of Polish viceroys. As
Martynovych clarifies, while Galicia was part of the empire indirectly, it was directly under the
governance of the Polish aristocracy. (11)

These reforms provided the impetus for the mobilization of the Ukrainian intelligentsia
from which there emerged “three social and political orientations after 1867-Russophilism,
National Populism and Radicalism.” These orientations influenced the outlook of many
Ukrainian immigrants arriving in Canada. Russophilism was supported by high-ranking clergy,
bureaucrats, and journalists who “controlled the major Ukrainian (Ruthenian) cultural
institutions”. The major characteristic of this movement was their strong opposition to “polish
ascendancy in Galicia.” They sought to attract the sympathies of Tsarist Russia and viewed
Ukrainian as a dialect of the lower class, opting instead for an “outlandish mixture of Church
Slavonic, Russian, and Ukrainian”. They preferred to preserve a formal ethos of Ruthenian
identity such as the Julian Calendar, the Eastern-rite Liturgy, and the Cyrillic alphabet. This
movement was replete with “elitism and aristocratic pretensions.” (12)

The Ukrainophiles belonged to the National Populist movements, who were more secular
and progressive in their thinking. Stirred by the “democratic ideals” of Taras Shevchenko they
disavowed the social elitism of the Russophiles and for them to be Ruthenian was to be
Ukrainian. The borders of Ukriane, from their perspective. stretched from the “Carpathians to the
Caucasus”. They also advocated the Ukrainian vernacular as the legitimate language. (Ibid)

Concentrated in Lviv, the National Populists pursued the priests as a vehicle to reach the
masses in the rural areas. The clergy used several means to educate the illiterate peasantry one of
which was to establish reading clubs. However, the rise of clericalism and their dependence
thereof, had negative consequences. Their dedication to the ideals of egalitarianism, democracy,
and libertarianism were replaced by a resurgence of “conservatism, philistinism, and
opportunism.” As result, Marynovych articulates, the establishment and privileged Ukrainians
were reassured by “clerical ideologues” that the peasantry’s indigence was self-inflicted citing
the vices of “drunkenness, prodigality and sloth”, as the culprit. Progressively, our author
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declares, their ‘universal ideals’ were replaced by a ‘“cult of sacred national relics”’. What they
promoted Martynovych conveys, was “a set of popular customs and usages (that) were to be the
innate and unalterable indices of Ukrainian national identity: reverence for the ‘national’ peasant
costume, adherence to the Julian calendar, use of the Cyrillic alphabet, recognition of the
(Ukrainian) Greek Catholic church as a ‘national’ church and loud declamatory statements
describing the sterling qualities of the Ukrainian vernacular.” Having once lauded Shevchenko’s
poetry they now published bowdlerized redactions because of its anticlerical and radical
sentiments. Thus, in the estimation of our author, the Ukrainophiles having radically altered the
thrust of their movement, quite paradoxically became to resemble their former adversaries, the
Russophiles. (13)

In the 1880’s there emerged a political movement spurred by a Geneva-based Ukrainian

scholar of Russian birth, Mikhailo Drahomanov. As a political émigré, he upheld a more radical
stance, having “populist, socialist and anticlerical” precepts as the basis of his orientation. His
ideas were disseminated and made popular by his two most notable disciples, Ukrainian literary
critic, poet, and author, Ivan Franko (1856-1916) and the journalist, Mykhailo Pavlyk (1850-
1913). Radicalism agreed with Ukrainophilism’s former suppositions but stressed the need for a
Ukrainian national movement based on the “rational universal ideals of democracy, social
equality, political liberty” and economic parity. (13)

Given that Ukrainians were predominantly a nation of plebs, “it was incumbent upon
Ukrainophiles”, in the thinking of Drahomanov, to covey these ‘radical’ ideals to the peasant
masses, and to labor for their emancipation from such tyranny and exploitation. According to
Martynovych, Drahomanov was an ethical socialist with a pragmatic bent, and a vision which
supported the amelioration of social ills and the establishment of “essential cultural and political
preconditions for socialism.” Issues prominent to his cause were wage standards, social
insurance, civil liberties, and a constitution. (14)

Marxism was unappealing to Drahomanov and hostile to people of Ukraine, who in his
estimation, were without history or statehood. Drahomanov and Pavlyk opted for a more
Proudhonian approach to the Ukrainian situation, having been influenced by his anarchist
considerations. Moreover, Marxism’s esteem for peasantry, or lack thereof, along with the paltry
industry in Bukovyna and Galicia hardly played into Marxist’s political aspirations.
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Additionally, that the Marxists supported the Polish state and its historicity meant certain
oppression for the Ukrainians and the radical movement. (Ibid).

Drahomanov was also critical of the Ukrainian church, specifically its lack of social
concern. He saw it as opposed to the Galician national movement and therefore one of the
benchmarks of Radicalism in Ukraine, was its anticlerical sentiment. This was significantly
pronounced after 1880 when the Ukrainian hierarchy were largely silent with regards to the
Latinization of the Ukrainian rite. Many Ukrainians likewise became suspicious that the Church
was also collaborating with the Polish ruling class. (Ibid)

The latinizing policies issued by the Vatican in the 1880’s authorized Polish Jesuits to
reform the sole Eastern rite order, the Basilians. Their directives unfortunately were excessive.
The lay-brotherhoods were suppressed, Ukrainian periodicals were decimated, and clerical
celibacy was advocated. This was of utmost concern to the Ukrainians since the Polish
aristocracy, implementing celibate reforms, could eliminate the one social group with the ability
to generate a “secular intelligentsia to lead the Ukrainian national movement.” Collaboration
between the Polish ruling class and the Ukrainian hierarchy became evident when Cardinal and
Metropolitan of Halychyna Sembratovych, urged the faithful by means of Ukrainian Catholic
periodicals to temper their patriotism and peacefully abide with the poles, citing their common
(catholic) faith as good reason. In furtherance, the Ukrainians in Galicia, with respect to the
Polish aristocracy, were to adopt a policy of submission. These same papers maintained that no
injustices had been inflicted upon the Ukrainian people and that the egalitarian and libertarian
ideals that were circulating, were the imaginings of a rogue few. Thus, the elections of 1885
with the intrusion of the clergy, resulted in many Ukrainian politicians being defeated at the
polls. (15)

Drahomanov, now forced to acknowledge that the peasantry would not morph in to
freethinkers in one fell swoop, combated clerical ideologies with egalitarian and democratic
concepts influential in protestant circles. Brochures were composed and disseminated to be read
in reading clubs in Galicia, Bukovina, and colonies in North America, reinvigorating the
Ukrainian national movement and launching three major political parties.Their content was
heavily predisposed to “religious dissenters like Wycliffe & Roger Williams.” (Ibid)
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The first of three party’s that emerged were the Ruthenian-Ukrainian radical party which
advocated ideals intrinsic to socialism. Some of these were civil liberties, education, universal
suffrage, workers’ rights, and the establishment of a Ukrainian state among others. In Canada,
the community leaders first to emerge sympathized with the Radical Party’s movement and
ideas. (16)

Marxists were at odds with the radical party’s agrarian reforms “to impede the
proletarianization of the rural population”, and broke with the latter and formed the Ukrainian
Social Democratic Party, which would find a voice in Canada with the formation of the
“Ukrainian Social Democratic Party of Canada”, in 1909. (16)

The emergence of the third and largest party, the Ukrainian National Democratic party,
was to play a major role in the establishment of co-operatives and self-help organizations whose
aim was to retain the economic wealth within the community. These institutions were also
prominent in Canada among early Ukrainian settlers. (Ibid)

Yet another party, the Russophiles also was formed in 1900 and unlike its Ruthenian
predecessor, harbored hostilities to Ukrainians and nationalistic aspirations, working instead with
the polish aristocracy seeking to unite Galician Ruthenians with Russians. (Ibid)

Martynovych, in pages 17-19 of his article examines the reading clubs and its influence
over the Ukrainian demographic, in particular the largely illiterate rural peasantry. The reading
club by the first World War, had usurped the tavern and was a worthy opponent to the church as
“the focal point of social life” in many of its villages. The Ukrainian patriotism engendered by
the Ukrainophiles of all persuasions eventually collided with three other groups, all of whom had
a stake in the Ukrainian peasantry’s world view. These were the aristocracy of Poland, the
Ukrainian Catholic hierarchy, and the Jewish proprietors and peddlers. Martynovych devotes a
large section to the conflict between the national movement and the Church which we will
attempt to summarize in the following sentences.

There developed a division in loyalty among the clergy. While the hierarchy supported
Polish aims, the rank and file priests were considered “village activists.” The conservative
faction consisting mostly of older priests, high ranking clergy, and the Basilians, condemned
radicalism, whereas the peasant activists rallied in opposition, employing anticlerical rhetoric.
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The latter demanded a separation of church and state, expulsion of the Jesuits from Basilian
monasteiries, egalitarian reforms regarding ownership of church property, fair sacramental fees,
and the exclusion of priests from secular and political societies. (20).

In response to the above, and to the great consternation of the nationalists, Cardinal
Sembratovych backed by the hierarchy rebuked the nationalist agenda, characterizing patriotism
as evil and as opposed to “God and salvation.”i Other Bishops including the cardinal’s successor
acted accordingly. One prohibited the clergy from establishing reading clubs, while the other
(Bp. Khomyshyn) demanded the same appending that clergy were forbidden from reading
nationalistic periodicals. However, when Andrei Sheptysky was appointed Metropolitan of Lviv,
he became sympathetic to the nationalistic cause, much to the chagrin of his Polish supporters.
He did, nonetheless, censure certain activities which he deemed as in direct conflict with
“Christian principles and spiritual values.” He eventually earned the respect of all when he
refused to abandon his post during the Russian invasion of Galicia, in 1914. (20-21)

Emigration

Some 900,000 Polish, Jewish and Ukrainians from the Galician district emigrated
between 1876 and 1914. Of particular interest to Martynovych, noted in the introduction, is the
170,000 Ukrainians who left for Canada from Northern Bukovyna and Eastern Galicia. Those
who came to Canada, he explains, came from three “Austro-Hungarian crownlands.”

The majority of Ukrainians who departed for Canada from eastern Galicia came from one
of three regions: (1) Jaroslaw, Cieszanow, Iavoriv, Mostyska and Przemysl which were all
northwestern counties comprising 7-14.5 percent of emigres. (2) Sokal, Radekhiv, and Brody
from the northeast constituting 5.5-16 percent; and (3) nine from the southeastern counties
Terobovlia, Husiastyn, Chortkiv, Borschiv, Zalishchky, Buchach, Horodenka, Kolomyia, and
Sniatyn which furnished 40-50 percent of the emigrants. Additionally, four bordering counties of
Northern Bukovyna-Kitsman, Vashkivtsi, Chernivtsi, and Zastavna-supplied 10 to 15 percent of
emigrants. (22)

Martynovych cites four distinguishing characteristics of these regions which may account
for their high percentage of emigrants. Each region possessed a rural population density well

i
As quoted by Martynovych.
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above the average; the predominance of the great estates in each region; the over-emphasis on
“one type of land use”; and the paucity of urban centres from which the peasantry could
supplement their income. (Ibid). Without negating the above, the author sees “dependence on
estate owners” as the decisive factor influencing emigration.

As an epilogue, Professor Martynovych observes that a significant number of immigrants

who arrived in Canada in the decade preceding the war were familiar or associated with “the
national movement and its institutions.” Some of the more educated formed the Ukrainian
Canadian intelligentsia, and these, more than any others would mold the Ukrainian-Canadian
community.

Conclusion

Martynovych identifies the principle ‘push’ factors impacting Ukrainian emigration to

Canada as. the unavailability of arable land, the absence of an industry sector to supplement
peasant’s income, and overpopulation. The pull factors he views as the availability of large
homesteads and the prospect of viable employment. The details surrounding these factors are too
detailed to recapitulate. In his final assessment, however, Professor Martynovych views the
oppression at the hands of land barons as the factor most influencing their decision to emigrate.

My Impressions

Martynovych’s presentation of the subject matter is comprehensive to say the least. As

previously mentioned, while the statistics may be considered overwhelming, it does however
present the reader with an accurate portrayal of Ukrainian history, in which the Ukrainians’ of
theses regions sought to etch out a living, facing monumental obstacles. Even in Martynovych’s
matter of fact presentation one cannot resist the urge to sympathize with the pathos of the
Ukrainian emigrants. In my somewhat biased view, Martynovych’s article is significant for the
reason that he depicts, unsanitized, a period of history and its people that have so richly impacted
Canadian life, and to which most of its citizens unfortunately, are egregiously ignorant.
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