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Center for Urban History
6 Bohomoltsia Str. Lviv 79005, Ukraine

National City

In the period of the autonomy, granted to Galicia by the Habsburgs, Lviv became the center of confrontation between two national projects: the Ukrainian one and the Polish one. Jews, the second largest community in Lviv, also held public actions in the city, but unlike the first two groups mentioned, they did not claim an exclusive right to this territory.

Instead, Ukrainians and Poles did not just compete, they literally fought for the right to this city and province. The former claimed that Lviv was "the city of Prince Leo, the ancient capital of Galician Rus", while the latter declared it "the capital of the freest part of divided Poland."

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First National Ruthenian Viche (1880)

 In 1880 an event took place that became the first step in the process of transforming Lviv into the "capital of the Ukrainian movement" in Galicia. The Ruthenians began their All-National Viche dedicated to the centenary of the reign of Emperor Joseph II on the same day that the Poles celebrated the 50th anniversary of the November Uprising.
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200th Anniversary of the Victory at Vienna (1883)

 The celebration in Lviv in 1883 was, on the one hand, a Polish patriotic event, since it was about the victory of King Jan III Sobieski. On the other hand, it was a celebration of the successful defense of Vienna, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so the festivities were fully in line with imperial policy.
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Second National Ruthenian Viche (1883)

 The main task set by the organizers was to demonstrate mass popular support for Ruthenian politicians despite their recent defeat in the elections. The essence of the 1883 assembly was to demonstrate the power of the Ruthenian political movement.
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Honoring the Polish "Poet-Prophets"

 As befits a cult, a calendar of birthdays, deaths, book releases, or the publication of individual works was formed around national poets. This was common to both Poles and Ukrainians and allowed them to regularly "remember" poets and "educate" the younger generation.
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Commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the abolition of corvee labour held in Lviv (1898)

 The anniversary of the "liberation of the peasantry", which was marked by a celebration in the capital of the crown province, was a confirmation of the status of Lviv both as a place where public policy was made and as a symbolic city for which national projects competed. The large-scale character of the "Ruthenian action" was, as usual, to be provided by peasants from throughout the province.
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November 1905 and the Patriotic Polish Youth

 November in Lviv was traditionally full of Polish national celebrations. It was in this month that the beginning of the November Uprising was celebrated and the anniversary of Adam Mickiewicz’s death was commemorated. The troubled year of 1905 was no exception.
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