Page - 152 - 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 the Ukrainian Parliamentary Club in the Reichsrat sent a resolution for pub- lication in the Swedish newspaper SvenskaDagbladet, which insisted that the successful implementationof theAustro-PolishSolutiondependedontheuni- ficationEastGalicia,Bukovina,and,ideally,TranscarpathianRus’inaUkrainian crownland recreating the medieval Principality of Halych and Volyn.36 The partitioningofGaliciawasanathemato thePoles,whoconsideredtheprovince key to their own Piedmont project. It would prove impossible for Habsburg authorities to reconcile the competing claims of the Polish andUkrainianna- tionalmovements,whichtheycourtedsimultaneously. Incontrasttoitsbeleagueredpartner,Germanybecameincreasinglyassertive in its engagement with nationalist mobilisation, aiming to detach Russia’s westernborderlands and set upanumberof ‘border states’ (Randstaaten) de- pendentonBerlinfortheirlong-termexistence.EvenamongGermangoverning circles, however, therewere lingering doubts about the desirability of such an aggressivepolicy.AslateasDecember1917,ontheeveoftheBrest-LitovskPeace Conference,theGermanForeignOfficecautionedagainstfull-blownsupportfor national revolutionduringwhat appeared tobea fluid transitional stage (Zwi- schenstadium) of the “neworder of relations on theRussianwestern border.” Immediate recognitionofUkrainian independence inparticularwouldbepre- matureandbring few if anybenefits.37 In the circumstances, events largelybeyond their control forced thehandof theCentralPowers into recognisingUkrainian independenceduring theBrest- LitovskPeaceConference,whichopenedon22December1917, andcompelled themtoprioritisetheirseparatenegotiationswiththeUkrainianrepresentatives. TheUkrainiandelegationattempted to resolve theUkrainianQuestiondefini- tively bydemanding the annexationof EastGalicia.While theCentral Powers rejectedthisoutright,Austria-Hungarywaseventually forcedtoacquiescewith the creationofaUkrainiancrownlandcombiningallUkrainian-populated ter- ritoriesinAustria(butnotinHungary)inasecretaddendumtothefirstTreatyof 36 StorcktoCzernin,no.26131,DieösterreichischenUkrainerunddieFriedensverhandlungen. ÖsterreichischesStaatsarchiv,Haus-,Hof-undStaatsarchiv(henceforthHHStA),Politisches Archiv I: Allgemeines, Karton 1041–2 Krieg 58: Angelegenheiten der Ukraine (January 1918–October 1918); The Austro-Polish Solution envisioned the unification of Congress Poland with Austrian Galicia and the transformation of Austria-Hungary into a trialist Austro-Hungarian-PolishMonarchy. SeeClifford F.Wargelin, TheAustro-Polish Solution. Diplomacy, Politics, and State Building inWartimeAustria-Hungary 1914–1918, in: East EuropeanQuarterly42/3 (2008),p. 253–273. 37 ÜbersichtüberdieRussischeFremdbevölkerung. Standvom12.Dezember 1917.National ArchivesandRecordsAdministration (henceforthNARA),RecordGroup242:ForeignRe- cords SeizedCollection,Microcopy no. T 120: Records of theGermanForeignOfficeRe- ceivedby theDepartmentofState, roll1792,D818464–D818471;Rosenberg to theForeign Office,no. 96, 16.12.1917.NARA, roll 1792,D818456–D818457. BorislavChernev152