Cultural and Public Activity of Mykhailo Hrushevsky During at the End of the 20-th - Beginning of the 21-st Century in the Coverage of Polish Journalism

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to clarify the features of the Polish reaction to cultural and social activities of M. Hrushevsky in Galicia at the end of the 20-th - beginning of the 21-st century. The methodological basis is an interdisciplinary approach. Particular emphasis is placed on the structural-functional systematic analysis of historiographical facts and the method of critical analysis of documentary material. The scientific novelty of the article lies in an attempt to analyse the reaction to cultural and social activities of M. Hrushevsky in the pages of Polish journalism at the end of the 20-th - beginning of the 21-st century. Conclusions. As a result, we would like to note that in contrast to the ambivalent attitude of Polish intellectuals to the scientific works of M. Hrushevsky, their assessments of his cultural and social activity were unanimously negative. Polish politicians from the opposing camps united in their reckless rejection of the demand for at least apparent equality in the civil rights of Ukrainians and Poles in the Galician region. This attitude was the result of the solidary conviction of all political elites about the historical “Polishness” of the East Galician territories, where Ukrainians can only have the rights of a national minority. Therefore, instead of an adequate reception of M. Hrushevsky’s proposals regarding the normalization of the Polish-Ukrainian dialogue, Polish journalism mostly resorted to profanation and ridicule of his initiatives in order to portray the opponent as a hopeless dreamer or a dangerous radical. Such a rejection of M. Hrushevsky’s proposals for the establishment of interethnic understanding on the basis of mutual respect and equality resulted, as we know, in many tragic events in the Polish-Ukrainian history of the first half of the twentieth century.