Battle of Galicia
During the first days of [[World War I]], thousands of Galician [[Ukrainians]] paid pilgrimage to the Lavra and some converted to Russian Orthodoxy, after the Russian imperial forces had swept over much of Galicia [[Battle of Galicia]] - some of the Slav elements in the Austro-Hungarian armies surrendering to the Russians (cf. [[Russian occupation of Eastern Galicia, 1914–1915]]). In 1915 the Lavra, along with the whole of Volhynia, became a front-line between Austria and Russia [[Great Retreat (Russian)]]. However the looting by the Austrians in 1915 was just the start of its long journey into the 20th century.