IMPERIAL RITUALS AND PUBLIC CELEBRATION OF POLISH NATIONAL ANNIVERSARIES IN HABSBURG LVIV
Authors: KIS Nazar 
Published: May 2022

The study shows how imperial rituals (traditionally used at the meeting of the emperor or to celebrate the anniversaries of his reign) become part of national commemorative practices in Lviv. The process of adaptation and use of the European tradition of patriotic mass events in the city is demonstrated on the examples of Polish historical anniversaries. The connection between the constitutional reforms in the state and the transition of national celebrations from the private to the public sphere is highlighted.

It is alleged that in the second half of the 19th century in Western Europe became popular mass events designed to strengthen the position of ruling elites. In the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires celebrated the birthdays of rulers, in France – the republican holidays, in Germany – the anniversaries of military victories. With the help of railways, it was possible to gather large masses of subjects in one place under one pretext, thus «turning» them into a nation.

It was stated that celebrating past Polish victories was a much safer occupation for Polish elites than preparing for a new uprising. Even more patriotic than the usual «organic work». Therefore, commemorative practices have become extremely popular in Halychyna.

As noted, in the days of mass politics, the Polish political nation could no longer be limited exclusively to the nobility, it was necessary to involve the Masurian peasants and the bourgeoisie in the national project. And since there was fierce competition among various political groups, mass events «for the people» had to be interesting and understandable to the general public. It was found that historical events were not only «mentioned», they were also interpreted and popularized accordingly. Depending on who organized the celebrations and to whom such activities were directed, either the democracy of the former Commonwealth, or the peaceful coexistence of different nations («Poland, Lithuania, and Rus’»), or the military victories of kings, or sacrifice, loyalty and the courage of the bourgeoisie were brought to the fore.

The methodological basis of the study comprises the principles of historicism, objectivity, and systematics. General scientific and special research methods were used in solving the set tasks: historiographical analysis, generalization, chronological, retrospective. The scientific novelty of the work lies in a comprehensive analysis of the state of the study of the issue in modern historiography and a comparison of existing data with the available evidence of the time. And also in the complex analysis of mass actions as the phenomenon. Based on modern research and source material, it is shown that with the growing role of local self-government, the Polish historical narrative began to dominate over the general imperial in the public space of Lviv. At the same time, it maintained a semblance of loyalty to the central government, taking full advantage of constitutional freedoms to advance the national «agenda». Over time, there were changes in the senses that reached the general public through rituals: kings and victories were replaced by the constitution of May 3, which provided rights and freedoms for the «people» in the modern sense of the term. And with the aggravation of interethnic relations, the militarization of mass celebrations became more visible, when the municipal guards were no longer the municipal guards, but members of the scout organizations, which symbolically replaced the Austrian military on the city streets.

Prospects for further research are that this period was very full of similar actions, which have not yet been the subject of research by historians. Their analysis will help to better understand the processes that eventually led to the well-known events in Lviv after the First World War.