Galician villagers and the Ukrainian national movement in the nineteenth century

This first case study of how the East European peasantry was drawn into national politics focuses on the Ukrainians of Galicia (1772–1914). On the basis of first-hand testimony by peasants and rural notables, it demonstrates that the peasants' political consciousness was forged by serfdom, reforms initiated by the state, and the penetration of a money economy.This book breaks new ground on related issues, including the connection between class and national consciouness, the reasons for a sharp exacerbation of the peasantry's antagonism toward Jews, the new role of generational differences in the village, and the place of rural women in the national movement.From the PublisherWinner of the 1989 Antonovych Foundation History Prize.About the AuthorJohn-Paul Himka is Professor of East European History at the University of Alberta. He received his Ph.D. in History from the University of Michigan in 1977. He is the author of Socialism in Galicia: The Emergence of Polish Social Democracy and Ukrainian Radicalism (1860-1890) (Cambridge, MA: HURI,1983), and Religion and Nationality in Western Ukraine: The Greek Catholic Church and the Ruthenian National Movement in Galicia, 1867-1900 (Montreal: McGill-Queen's, 1999), as well as articles on many aspects of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Ukrainian history. He served as co-editor for history for volumes 3-5 of the Encyclopedia of Ukraine. His current research focuses on two projects: a monograph on the Last Judgement in Ukrainian texts and images prior to 1800 and a study of politics and violence in Ukraine from 1937 to 1942. This first case study of how the East European peasantry was drawn into national politics focuses on the Ukrainians of Galicia (17721914). On the basis of first-hand testimony by peasants and rural notables, it demonstrates that the peasants' political consciousness was forged by serfdom, reforms initiated by the state, and the penetration of a money economy. This book breaks new ground on related issues, including the connection between class and national consciouness, the reasons for a sharp exacerbation of the peasantry's antagonism toward Jews, the new role of generational differences in the village, and the place of rural women in the national movement. LePan challenges the assumption that everybody thinks in the same way by examining a particular mental faculty - expectation. He concludes that certain forms of expectation did not exist in the minds of most medieval people, any more than they do in children or adults in many primitive societies. A case study of how the East European peasantry was drawn into national politics which focuses on the Ukranians of Galicia, 1772-1914. It demonstrates that the peasants' political consciousness was forged by serfdom, and reforms initiated by the state and the penetration of a money economy. By John-paul Himka. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. 330-343.