The relevance of the dissertation is that after Ukraine’s independence in 1991, interest in studying the history of the Ukrainian national movement in Galicia “long” XIX century has grown significantly, an integral part of which was the activity of the Ruthenians in the representative authorities of the Austrian (since 1867 – Austro-Hungarian) Monarchy. During 1861–1897, Ukrainian deputies in the Austrian Parliament defended the interests of the local population. Chronologically, the work covers the period from the restoration of the parliament in Habsburg Monarchy 1861 to the end of the eighth cadence in 1897.
The basis for the study were unpublished archival materials (from two archives in Ukraine – CSHAL (Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine, Lviv) and the State Archives of Ivano-Frankivsk region), data from the stenographic protocols of the parliament (100 items in the list of used sources and literature), Austrian laws, periodicals of that time and memoirs of direct participants and witnesses of the events. Valuable information for the work is taken from the available historiographical base, first of all, the works of modern Ukrainian historians I. Chornovol, M. Mudryi, O. Arkusha, A. Klish, Austrian historian G. Binder, Polish – S. Piiai, and others. As for archival materials, they relate primarily to election campaigns, while the activities of the Ukrainian representation are reflected in the stenographic protocols of the parliament, which contain information about each deputy.
The study revealed the participation of the Ukrainian population in the elections to the Austrian Parliament. The role of the leader of the election campaigns of the Galician Ruthenians was taken over by the Russophiles (Moscophiles) Political Society “Russka (hereinafter – Ruska) Rada” founded in 1870 in Lviv, especially after the introduction of direct elections to the House of Ambassadors in 1873. The society identified candidates for ambassadors, printed and distributed campaign leaflets among the population, attracted financial resources to the election campaign, etc. Russophiles defended the ideas of Pan-Slavism and a single “Russkii mir” (Russian world), which included in their understanding “Velykoruski” (Russian), and “Maloruski” (Ukrainian) ethnic lands. Despite some success in the elections of 1873 (15 deputies), the activities of the “Ruska Rada” were marked by significant shortcomings (lack of communication directly in the constituencies, the centralized nomination of candidates, the passivity of ambassadors in parliament, etc.), which led to a gradual decline in the number of Russophile deputies. In the elections of 1879, the Russophiles won only three seats, in 1885 – one, and in 1891 – none.
At the same time, the role of Galician Populists in the pre-election campaigns was clarified. For the first time, the Populists took part in the organized elections of 1885, when they created a joint committee with the Russophiles – the Main Ruskyi Electoral Committee (hereinafter – MREC). Until then, the coordination of Populists efforts in the elections was not carried out directly, they participated in Polish or Russophile election committees. However, until the early 1880s, the Galician Populists were ideologically and organizationally inferior to the Russophiles, they did not have their own political organization (the Narodna Rada (People’s Council) emerged only in 1885). The turning point in the Populists-Rossophiles rivalry in Galicia finally happened at the turn of the 80s and 90s of the XIX century, which was related to the policy of Polish-Ukrainian understanding, the so-called “New era” with the support of the Austrian government (1890–1894). In the regular elections of 1891, the Populists for the first time independently formed the Ruskyi Main Electoral Committee (RMEC) and won seven seats, for comparison, Russophiles – none. Well-known people’s figures became deputies: Yu. Romanchuk, O. Barvinskyi, K. Telishevskyi, and others.
