Galicia (Eastern Europe)

For the autonomous community of northwest Spain, see Galicia (Spain). For other uses, see Galicia (disambiguation).

Galicia
Historical region
View from the Lion Mountain to the historic center of Lviv
View from the Lion Mountain to the historic center of Lviv
(1890–1918)
Flag
Coat of arms of Galicia
Coat of arms
Galicia (dark green) juxtaposed with modern-day Poland and Ukraine (light green)
Galicia (dark green) juxtaposed with modern-day Poland and Ukraine (light green)
Country Poland
 Ukraine
Largest citiesKraków
Lviv
Area
 • Total
78,497 km2 (30,308 sq mi)
DemonymGalician
Time zonesUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
UTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)

Galicia (/ɡəˈlɪʃ(i)ə/ gə-LISH-(ee-)ə;[1] Polish: Galicja, IPA: [ɡaˈlit͡sja] ⓘ; Ukrainian: Галичина, romanized: Halychyna, IPA: [ɦɐlɪtʃɪˈnɑ]; Yiddish: גאַליציע, romanized: Galitsye; see below) is a historical and geographic region spanning what is now southeastern Poland and western Ukraine, long part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.[2][3][4] It covers much of the other historic regions of Red Ruthenia (centered on Lviv) and Lesser Poland (centered on Kraków).

The name of the region derives from the medieval city of Halych,[5][6][7] and was first mentioned in Hungarian historical chronicles in the year 1206 as Galiciæ.[8][9] The eastern part of the region was controlled by the medieval Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia before it was annexed by the Kingdom of Poland in 1352 and became part of the Ruthenian Voivodeship. During the partitions of Poland, it was incorporated into a crown land of the Austrian Empire – the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria.

The nucleus of historic Galicia lies within the modern regions of western Ukraine: the Lviv, Ternopil, and Ivano-Frankivsk oblasts near Halych.[10] In the 18th century, territories that later became part of the modern Polish regions of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, and Silesian Voivodeship were added to Galicia after the collapse of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Eastern Galicia became contested ground between Poland and Ruthenia in medieval times and was fought over by Austria-Hungary and Russia during World War I and also Poland and Ukraine in the 20th century. In the 10th century, several cities were founded there, such as Volodymyr and Jaroslaw, whose names mark their connections with the Grand Princes of Kiev. There is considerable overlap between Galicia and Podolia (to the east) as well as between Galicia and south-west Ruthenia, especially in a cross-border region (centred on Carpathian Ruthenia) inhabited by various nationalities and religious groups.

  1. ^ "Galicia". Collins English Dictionary
  2. ^ See also: Eleonora Narvselius (5 April 2012). "Narratives about (Be)longing, Ambiguity, and Cultural Colonization". Ukrainian Intelligentsia in Post-Soviet Lʹviv: Narratives, Identity, and Power. Lexington Books. p. 293. ISBN 978-0-7391-6468-6. Retrieved 10 March 2019. ... the 'Austro-Hungarian "pedigree" of Galicia becomes the passport to genuine, non-Eastern Europe.' ... Otto von Habsburg ... expressed clearly that all of Ukraine belongs to Central Europe, which is the ideological construction differing from Russia-dominated Eastern Europe.
  3. ^ Larry Wolff (9 January 2012). "Mythology and Nostalgia: A Matter of Simple Relativity". The Idea of Galicia: History and Fantasy in Habsburg Political Culture. Stanford University Press. p. 411. ISBN 978-0-8047-7429-1. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  4. ^ Paul Robert Magocsi (2002). "Jews and Armenians in Central Europe, ca. 1900". Historical Atlas of Central Europe. University of Toronto Press. p. 124. ISBN 978-0-8020-8486-6. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  5. ^ "European Kingdoms – Eastern Europe – Galicia". The History Files. Kessler Associates. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  6. ^ Zakharii, Roman. "History of Galicia". Toronto Ukrainian Genealogy Group. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  7. ^ "Historical Glossary: Galicia (Halychyna)". Ukrainians in the United Kingdom. 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  8. ^ "Rex+Galiciae+et+Lodomeriae"&pg=PA165 Die Oesterreichisch-ungarische Monarchie in Wort und Bild, Volume 19 (in German). Austria: K.k. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei. 1898. p. 165. Retrieved 1 December 2015. Um welchen Preis er dies that, wird nicht überliefert, aber seit dieser Zeit, das ist seit dem Jahre 1206 findet sich in seinen Urkunden der Titel: 'Rex Galiciae et Lodomeriae'
  9. ^ Martin Dimnik (12 June 2003). The Dynasty of Chernigov, 1146–1246. Cambridge University Press. p. 266. ISBN 978-1-139-43684-7. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  10. ^ Wilson, Andrew (2006). Ukraine's Orange Revolution. Andrew Wilson (historian): Yale University Press. p. 34. ISBN 0-300-11290-4.