Military actions and activities of the Russian and Austrian administrations in Pokuttya in 1914-1915

Abstract

The run of military operations on the one of the strips of the Eastern front – Pokuttya as a part of the Western Ukrainian land territory is studied in the article. The preconditions of the war are shown by the author; the characteristic features of the military mobilization of the Austrian and Hungarian army on the territory of Pokuttya on the eve and at the beginning of the war are defined; the peculiarities of the Russian regime formation on the land are revealed; not simple relations between the occupying authority and the local population are traced.
The eve and beginning of the World War I showed the escalation of mass political hysteria on the part of the Austro-Hungarian authorities. The official authorities were prejudiced against the population of the region, accusing it of Russophilia. At the same time, local authorities tried to demonstrate their loyalty to the Austrian emperor by holding a series of «patriotic» events.
The capture of Pokuttya by the Russians in the autumn of 1914 was accompanied by the requisition of inventory and property, the persecution of representatives of the Ukrainian national movement and residents of Jewish nationality, and the brutality of Russian Cossack units. The hostilities of 1915 showed the weakness of the positions of Russian troops in Pokuttya. In some parts of the front, the positions of the warring parties often changed, which, in turn, depleted the material resources of the inhabitants of the region. In the early summer of 1915, Austrian troops liberated Pokuttya for a time. However, the events of 1916 will show that the front in the territory of Eastern Galicia will «come to life» and this will lead to a brutal, but short-lived, occupation of Pokuttya by Russian troops.
The problem of Russian occupation in the current foreign policy situation is more important for our country than ever, and the occupation practice used on the Crimean peninsula and in Eastern Ukraine has its historical analogies with the period 1914-1915. That is why from the standpoint of protection of state sovereignty, national security, the study of this problem becomes especially relevant.