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Электронное приложение к журналу «Международная жизнь»
Author : V. Ratushnyak
Doctor of Science (History)
THE HISTORICAL DESTINY of the autochthonous people
of Galicia as an integral part of the ancient Russian ethnic
group is of direct practical interest, since it gives the key to un-
derstanding many of the present-day problems in the region.
At the beginning of 2014, the Kuban State University
(Krasnodar, Russia) published a book entitled "Short Essays
on the History of the Galician Land (9th to late 19th cen-
turies)," a study dedicated to the nearly thousand-year history
of a people who fought for preservation of their Russian
(Rusyn) self-identity during centuries of foreign domination.
"Essays" follow a chronological pattern and are supplemented
by conclusions, tables and charts.
At the end of the first chapter, the author invites the reader to
reflect on what he thinks is an important conclusion: of the two opposite vectors, one aimed at
incorporating local tribes into the general Slavic-Russian world and the other at maintaining
intra-tribal isolation with power retained by the autochthonous politico-economic estate, the for-
mer was the historical winner.
The second chapter is devoted to Galician Rus', the Russian Voivodship within Poland, in the
period from the mid-14th century until the late 18th century.
Historical analysis permits a conclusion about the non-synthesis type of feudal development in
the Galician region due to its direct origin from the tribal system with some elements of synthesis.
By virtue of this specificity, the feudalization of the region lasted quite a long time and came to
an end only by the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th century in both economic and
ideological aspects.
The third chapter of the book is devoted to Galicia (Krolestwo Galicji i Lodomerii) within Aus-
tria from 1772 until the end of the 19th century.
The chapter then describes the political, economic, and social development of Eastern Galicia
on the basis of materials of Polish economists of the time.
The offered essays on the history of Galicia convincingly prove the existence of the three his-
torical periods. The first period (late 9th century-mid XIV century) describes the advancing de-
velopment of the Galician and Galician-Volhynian Principalities and the independent indigenous
people of the area, the growth of national self-consciousness, the flourishing of its culture, and
the increase of political influence both in Kievan Rus' as well as among the neighboring states.
However, a number of objective and subjective factors, and the related tragic events, led the
Galician lands to the loss of independence at the start of the second period (middle of the 14th
century-1772) and to the Polish occupation.
Discover the History of the Galician Lands