Getrennt und doch verbunden - Grenzstädte zwischen Österreich und Russland 1772 - 1918

This study on towns at the borders of the Habsburg Empire and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, later Tsarist Russia, is the first of its kind to examine both sides of the border: the eastern border of Galicia on the one hand, and the western borders of the Polish - later Russian - territories Podolia and Volhynia on the other. The authors investigate the entire time span of this specific border, starting with the First Partition of Poland in 1772 and ending with the conclusion of the First World War in 1918. Six small towns on both sides of the border serve as the study`s subjects. On the Austrian side these include (from north to south): Brody, Podwo?oczyska and Husiatyn; and on the Polish - and since 1793/1795 - Russian side: Radziwi??w (russ. Radzivilov), Wo?oczyska (russ. Volo?isk) and Husiatyn (russ. Gusjatin). An important factor in this study is that the partitions separated towns that prior to 1772 had had one municipality: Podwo?oczyska-Wo?oczyska and both Husiatyns, respectively. Taking a micro-historical approach, the authors show the continuities and changes on the level of a small-scale border region, which were however directly influenced by "big" politics. The book begins with an overview of internal developments in the six towns during their almost 150-year history as neighbours. From this perspective the large influence of these towns` geographical location in terms of their demographic and social developments can be observed. All of the towns were typical eastern European shtetls in that the Jewish population clearly exceeded that of both the Ukrainian and Polish populations. This situation strengthened in the course of the nineteenth century due to the role of these municipalities as international market towns. The subsequent chapter examines the processes of border-making as well as of the establishment of custom offices and border controls, which contributed greatly to the towns` strategic significance. Regardless of abundant regulations, smuggling activities were present from the very beginning. Until the middle of the nineteenth century the towns were indeed very small, Brody excluded. In times of political tension between the neighbouring states, a busy presence of secret services and troops may be discerned. The following chapter deals with the development of trans-border trade. Napoleon`s continental blockade at first provided a large increase in trade along this border. Afterwards, however, trade over land lost influence in favour of sea trade. Nevertheless trade had a great influence on the towns` further development. Since the 1870s three of the six border towns experienced a real boom due to the construction of international railway lines. The chapter "Border and Religion" analyzes the connections between state ideologies and everyday religious life, which is exemplified in the Uniate population`s "return" to the Russian Orthodox Church in the new Russian territories. A confessional border between these territories and Galicia evolved, which evoked nationalist polemics and agitation by the end of the century. The authors show the parallels between the border monasteries of Podkamie? in Galicia and Pochaev in Volhynia, of which the later played an enormous role as a place of Orthodox (as well as Uniate) pilgrimage. Indeed, it was constructed as the Russian Orthodox "stronghold" in Russia`s Western borderlands. The establishment of the imperial border also had far-reaching consequences for the Jewish populations, not least due to the dissimilar Austrian and Russian legal systems. Brody and Husiatyn are presented as centres of Jewish social and religious movements (Haskalah and Hasidism, respectively), both of which had an influence on Jews in Russia. The border towns also played a key role during the wave of pogroms in Russia in 1881-82 and the subsequent mass emigration. The First World War brought about the final stage in the "neighbouring" history of Austria and Russia. At its end, both empires ceased to exist. On the local level, the war had disastrous consequences for the border towns, which were situated at the Eastern front and at times under foreign occupation. Particularly the Ukrainian (Ruthenian) and Jewish populations faced accusations of disloyalty, leading to mass deportations and sometimes execution.