Jerzy Konstanty Czartoryski and the “Ruthenian question” in Galicia

Jerzy K. Czartoryski was the first member of the Czartoryski family to devote himself to Galicia; he became involved in Galician politics and in the problems of this province of the Habsburg Monarchy. He stood out among the other Polish politicians in Galicia with his attitude to the Ruthenians; he stressed the importance of the Ruthenian question in Galicia, and even believed it to be a “matter of life or death” for the Poles living there. Czartoryski was in favour of Polish-Ruthenian co-operation, recognised the Ruthenians’ national identity, which not all Polish politicians regarded as an obvious thing, and declared his willingness to enter into an agreement with them. He also supported efforts to develop the Ruthenian school system and Ruthenian social and cultural institutions. While recognising and supporting Ruthenian postulates on education, he opposed the political postulates formulated by the Ruthenians at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth century. His fear of the growing radicalism of the Ruthenian politicians brought him closer to the conservatives, the socalled Podolaks, and later to the National Democrats.