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Eastern Galicia (Ukrainian:Східна Галичина,romanized: Skhidna Halychyna;Polish:Galicja Wschodnia;German:Ostgalizien) is a geographical region inWestern Ukraine (present dayoblasts ofLviv,Ivano-Frankivsk andTernopil), having also essential historic importance inPoland.[1][2]
Galicia was formed within theAustrian Empire during the years 1772–1918. Eastern Galicia now includes all of theLviv andIvano-Frankivsk Oblasts (regions) ofUkraine as well as Ternopil Oblast, with its northern strip bordering the formerKremenets,Shumsk andLanivtsi Raions and the northern part ofZbarazh Raion. On the other hand, the western part of Eastern Galicia is located in Poland (the eastern part of theSubcarpathian Voivodeship, includingPrzemyśl,Sanok,Jarosław,Lubaczów,Lesko andBieszczady, as well as the areas around these cities and places). A tiny piece of Eastern Galicia, the town ofLubycza Królewska and its surrounding area, is also located in theLublin Voivodeship. However,Tomaszów Lubelski, 15 km away, is no longer part of Galicia, nor did it belong to the Austrian state during thepartitions of Poland: it was made a part ofCongress Poland, and therefore of theRussian Empire, following the abolition of theDuchy of Warsaw.[3] The area of Eastern Galicia is about 46,800 km2 (18,100 sq miles).
In 1918, Western Galicia became a part of the restoredRepublic of Poland, which absorbed part of theLemko region. The local Ukrainian population declared the independence of Eastern Galicia as theWest Ukrainian People's Republic. The predominantly Polish population of Lviv (then Lwów or Lemberg) resisted, which led to thePolish-Ukrainian War during which the Poles took control of all of Galicia. In a pact with Poland,Symon Petliura, leader of theUkrainian People's Republic ceded Eastern Galicia in exchange for help against the Soviets. During thePolish–Soviet War, the Soviets established in July 1920 in Eastern Galicia the short-livedGalician Soviet Socialist Republic.[4]
ThePeace of Riga of 18 March 1921 assigned the contested Eastern Galicia to theSecond Polish Republic. TheEntente powers recognized the Polish possession of the territory on 14 March 1923.[5][6]
The Ukrainians of the former Eastern Galicia and the neighbouring province ofVolhynia made up about 12% of the population of the Second Polish Republic and were its largest minority. As the Polish government's policies were unfriendly towards minorities, tensions between the Polish government and the Ukrainian population grew, which eventually gave the rise to the militant undergroundOrganization of Ukrainian Nationalists.[citation needed]
In theinterbellum period, the former Austrian province ofGalicia, then a part of Poland, was calledLesser Poland.[7]Western Galicia, to theSan river, was calledWestern Lesser Poland, while Eastern Galicia, east of the San, with the city of Lwów (Lviv), was calledEastern Lesser Poland (Polish:Małopolska Wschodnia) and includedvoivodeships ofTarnopol,Stanisławów, andLwów). According to a Polish historianJan Pisuliński, using the termEastern Lesser Poland to denominate Eastern Galicia is incorrect, as it has no historical justification, being only a designation of nationalist and propaganda significance (similarly to analogous termWestern Ukraine used at the same time by the Ukrainian side), which served in the 1920s and 1930s to make a stronger connection of the area between rivers of San andZbruch with the Polish state and to emphasize the allegedly indigenously Polish nature of that region.[8]
In territorial terms, Eastern Lesser Poland was not fully identical to Eastern Galicia during theAustrian Partition. As a result of the administrative division of the former Austrian Partition territories included in theSecond Polish Republic as defined on 23 December 1920,[9] the border of Eastern Lesser Poland in relation to Eastern Galicia was moved significantly to the west.[10] The following counties were incorporated into theLviv Voivodeship:Tarnobrzeg,Rzeszów,Łańcut,Nisko,Kolbuszowa,Przeworsk,Strzyżów, andKrosno were previously parts of the Lviv appellate court district, the western border of which was the conventional border of Eastern Galicia within Austria-Hungary.[11][12] The north-western border of Eastern Lesser Poland was marked by theVistula nearSandomierz.
The nameGalicia, orHalychyna in Ukrainian, is derived from the city ofHalych (Latin Galic)[citation needed] which was the first capital of the Galician principality. The name Halych in turn derives from the Ukrainian wordhalka which means "female crow", which is reflected by the crow at the center of the city's early modern coat of arms.[2]
Many also believe that the name Halych/Galicz (and from it Halychyna/Galizia) is derived from the Greek word ἅλς (hals), meaning "salt". The Byzantines and the Greeks had a strong influence on these lands and it was from the Greeks that Galicia that was part ofKievan Rus' were converted to Christianity. In fact the Greek word for salt pit is αλυκή (alyki), which makes a strong argument that Halych could be an alteration of that. Halych was rich in salt, which was mined in the region. During the early medieval period, salt was Halych's main export.[2] Today, however, there is no more salt mining in Halych.
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