Lemko Republic
Lemko-Rusyn People's Republic Руска Народна Република Лемків (Rusyn) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1918–1920 | |||||||||||
 Flag | |||||||||||
 The approximate extent of the territory claimed by the Lemko Republic (yellow). | |||||||||||
| Capital | Florynka | ||||||||||
| Common languages | Rusyn | ||||||||||
| Government | Republic | ||||||||||
| President | |||||||||||
• 1918-1920 | Jaroslav Kacmarcyk | ||||||||||
| Historical era | Interwar period | ||||||||||
• Established | 5 December 1918 | ||||||||||
• Disestablished | March 1920 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Today part of | Poland | ||||||||||
Lemko-Rusyn People's Republic (
The Republic was headed by
This state should not be confused with the
Background
In the middle of the 19th century, the question of Rusyn population in
Mykhailo Hrushevsky stresses that there was no nationalism nor a strong identity present in the Rusyn circles, the cultural and religious differences made it impossible to identify with both the Polish and Ukrainian population, and yet despite a common desire for independence or autonomy, there weren't any strong foundations for a Lemko nation. In other words, Lemkos were certain that they weren't Poles nor Ukrainians and sought sovereignty from them, and yet many didn't feel like they formed a nation on their own either. Russian agitation solved this problem, and many Rusyns proceeded to identify with the Russian nation and culture.[5]
The Russophilia of Rusyn circles came to be combated by the Ukrainian nationalist movements, most importantly the Prosvita society, and by the dominant Polish element as well. This temporarily weakened the pro-Russian ambitions of the Rusyns, but it returned as a consequence of Russian defeat in the Russo-Japanese War. In 1907, the National Democrats came to represent Galicia in the Viennese parliament. National Democrats represented a Russophile current, believing that rebuilding the Polish state lies in collaboration with Russia in exchange of extensive autonomy and combating Ukrainian nationalism. This pro-Russian attitude of National Democrats greatly emporered the Russophile Rusyns and weakened the Ukrainian movement in Lemko region.[4]
The
Proclamation
The western Lemkos were concerned that they would be incorporated into the
On 5 December 1918, over 500 Rusyn representatives of 130 villages and towns in the western Lemko Region held a national congress in
The collapse of Russia put the pro-Russian republic in a difficult situation, and the republic started seeking alternatives. This made the Lemkos develop a pro-Czechoslovak policy as to avoid integration into Poland, and the pro-Czech attitude was already widespread amongst the Rusyns of Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia. In January 1919, Lemko council members met with Rusyns of Carpathia and under the leadership of Antonii Beskyd formed a united Carpatho-Rusyn National Council, announcing that the Lemkos of Galicia and Rusyns of Carpathia formed a single nation that would join Czechoslovakia. A delegation was sent to the Paris Peace Conference, which issued a formal memorandum in April 1919 of a united Rusyn state which would encompass the Lemko region in Galicia, the Prešov Region and Carpathian Ruthenia.[6] Gregory Žatkovich, the first governor of Czechoslovak Carpathian Ruthenia, vehemently opposed the annexation of Lemko Region into Czechoslovakia, given that it would provoke a war in Poland and that the Entente powers had already allowed Poland to occupy all of Galicia until the resolution of the Russian Civil War. While the Polish government was passive towards the Lemko state and saw no need to suppress it thanks to its anti-Ukrainian attitude,[4][5] the pro-Czech attitude concerned the Polish authorities, and unlike Russophilia, was seen as a threat to the Polish nation state. Following the proclamation by the Lemko Council the Republic would join Czechoslovakia as part of Carpathian Ukraine, the Polish army quickly occupied the region in March 1920, effectively dissolving the Lemko Republic. A trial of the council members took place on 10 June 1921 in Nowy Sącz, but the Polish court was lenient towards the Lemko activists and acquitted every defendant.[4]
Following the annexation of the Lemko-Rusyn Republic and the lenient trial, the newly established Polish state ignored Lemkos and didn't interfere in the local political affairs. The success of the Polish state and the downfall of the Ukrainian one re-evaluated Rusyn politics, with the Russophile Lemkos becoming split between left-wing pro-Soviet and anti-Bolshevik right wing activists, known as the Old Rusyns. Old Rusyns remained loyal to the Russophile cause, but also declared loyalty towards the Polish state and started advocating for autonomy within Poland, without abandoning their Rusyn national consciousness.[4] Given the partition of Ukrainian lands between Poland and the Soviet Union, the pro-Ukrainian Lemkos merged with the pro-Russian groups, seeing either the Soviets or the Polish state as preferable.[4] Jaroslav Kacmarcyk never gave up on his ambition to join Russia, and continued to support a union with Russia, even if under Bolshevik governance.[6]
Territory
On 5 December 1918, the Republic's delegates issued the statement: "We, the
See also
- Komańcza Republic
- Lemkos
- Republic of Gniew
- Republic of Ostrów
- Republic of Tarnobrzeg
- Republic of Zakopane
Notes
- S2CID 154943090.
- S2CID 258159097.
- OCLC 47097699.
- ^ ISBN 9788323387947.
- ^ a b c Moklak, Jarosław (1985). Relacje między ukraińskim ruchem narodowym a moskalofilstwem w Galicji Wschodniej w latach 1866–1890 [Relations between the Ukrainian national movement and Moscophilism in Eastern Galicia in the years 1866–1890] (in Polish). Kraków: Jagiellonian University Press. p. 80.
- ^ S2CID 154943090.
- OCLC 37645527.
External links
- History of the Lemko-Rusyn Republic
- Paul R. Magocsi article on the Lemko Republic
- Ćmiech, Andrzej (14 November 2008). "Państwo w państwie Ruska Ludowa Republika Łemków" [A state within a state of the Rus' People's Republic of Lemkos]. Gazeta Gorlicka (in Polish). Archived from the original on 19 September 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2010.