Page - 149 - in Österreich-Ungarns imperiale Herausforderungen - Nationalismen und Rivalitäten im Habsburgerreich um 1900

© 2020, V&R unipress GmbH, Göttingen ISBN Print: 9783847110606 – ISBN E-Lib: 9783737010603 briefly resurfaceinasomewhatmodifiedforminthesummerof1918under the auspicesofArchdukeWilhelmvonHabsburg. The Russian authorities had kept an eye on themetropolitan’s subversive activities for some time, and shortly after the outbreak of the war Chief of GeneralStaffGeneralNikolaiIanushkevichpledgedtodeliverSheptyts’kyitothe Ministry of Interior in Petrograd ‘dead or alive’. Sheptyts’kyi refused to leave LembergwiththeAustrianadministration,consciouslypreparinghimself fora martyr’s ordeal. Initially placedunderhouse arrest by theRussianoccupation authorities, he was later exiled in a monastery in Central Russia which was essentiallyapenalcolony forheretics.ExtraordinaryappealsbyViennaandthe Vaticanfailedtosecurethemetropolitan’srelease;itwasonlyinMarch1917that thenewProvisionalGovernmentallowedSheptyts’kyi tomakehisway toKiev. Themetropolitan’s absence fromGalicia appeared to givehis bitter adversary, the Orthodox Bishop Evlogii, a distinct advantage once the latter arrived in Lemberg inDecember1914.However, far fromeliminating theGreekCatholic Churchasapowerful sourceofUkrainiannational identity, thebishop’s forced conversions and heavy-handed measures quickly fanned anti-Russian senti- ments among the East Slavic population of Galicia, while also alarming the RussianForeignMinistryinPetrograd.Hiseagerprotestationsnotwithstanding, Evlogii was eventually recalled toRussia in a belated attempt at damage limi- tation.28 The first Russian occupation of Galicia lasted just short of nine months. Following thebreakthrough in theBattle ofGorlice-Tarnjw,whichbeganon2 May 1915, the armies of the Central Powers liberated the region. Gratuitous violence often accompanied the recovery of Habsburg Ukrainian-populated territories. Fearing randomretributionaswell asmore systematic institution- alisedAustro-Hungarianpersecution,manyRussophile activists left the prov- incealongsidethedepartingRussiantroops.ByAugust1915,therewereperhaps as many as 100,000 Galician refugees in Central Russia, including males of militaryagewhowereforciblyevacuatedaswellas ‘unreliable’elements(that is to sayUkrainianactivists) takenashostages.29 Reflecting on their experience fromhome base, the leaders of the Russian occupationauthorities considered their policy tohavebeena failure, as it had alienated the moderate Ukrainian majority with heavy-handed Russification effortswhilefurtherinflamingtheanti-RussiansentimentofUkrainiannational activists.Followingthesuccessof theBrusilovOffensive inthesummerof1916, 28 Bakhturina, OkrainyRossiiskoi imperii (see note 1), p.167–80;Mark vonHagen,War in a EuropeanBorderland:OccupationsandOccupationPlans inGaliciaandUkraine,1914–1918 (DonaldW.TreadgoldStudiesonRussia,EastEurope,andCentralAsia),Seattle2007,p.37–42. 29 Bakhturina,PolitikaRossiiskoi imperii (seenote26),p. 187–194. TheHabsburgMobilisationofEthnicity 149