Conflicts of Memory. Street Demonstrations During the Celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the Defense of Lviv (1905) and the University of Jan Kazimierz (1912)

Abstract

The events of the 17th century, the anniversaries of which took place in Lviv at the beginning of the 20th century, are well-known, researched and even significant. Moreover, they are still used to promote historical policy. The siege of Lviv is part of the Ukrainian national canon of national liberation struggle. And the date of the founding of Lviv University in 1661 (which was enshrined in the literature during the anniversary described in the article) is officially considered the beginning of the history of Ivan Franko Lviv University. At the same time, less attention is paid to how these stories became part of the collective memory in the early twentieth century, as well as a tool in political confrontation. Despite the fact that at the beginning of the 21st century their relevance in historical politics has not diminished. The aim of the article is to demonstrate how history is instrumentalized by politicians to mobilize their electorate. In this case, these are two examples: the history of the conflict, as in the case of the siege, and the history against the background of the conflict, when an ancient event serves as an argument in opposition to the university. In both situations, "defenders of historical truth" cooperate with "defenders of national interests." The methodological basis of the study comprises the principles of historicism, objectivity and systematics. General scientific and special research methods were used in solving the set tasks: historiographical analysis, generalization, quantitative, chronological, retrospective. The scientific novelty of the work lies in a comprehensive analysis of the state of study of the issue in modern historiography and comparison of existing data with the available evidence of the time. Conclusions. The commemoration of the anniversary of the siege of Lviv by Bohdan Khmelnytsky's troops in 1655 and the founding of Lviv University in 1661 were a consequence of what local Polish politicians called "the discovery of a forgotten history." When an event from the past (since the time of the divided Rzeczpospolita - Commonwealth) became the basis for the formation of a national myth. Thus, the siege of Lviv became an example of the loyalty of the Lviv citizens to the ideals of the Commonwealth, and Joseph’s University became the University of Jan Kasimierz. A side effect of this "discovery of history" was the intensification of interethnic conflicts. Under the influence of revolutionary events in Russia, tensions only increased, and newspapers abounded with calls to "show" opponents who ruled in the city. And such cases of street demonstrations occurred periodically.