EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES OF THE UKRAINIAN POPULATION OF VOLYN DURING THE GREAT WAR

Abstract

The article raises the issue of the formation of the Ukrainian educational space in Volyn during the First World War. It shows that Ukrainian schooling in the western Volyn region underwent complex and contradictory transformations during the war years. Military operations, frequent changes in administrative regimes, population evacuations, destruction of infrastructure, and the exacerbation of the national question had a significant impact on all spheres of public life, including the education system. It is noted that until 1914 there were no national schools in Volyn, although Ukrainians constituted almost 70% of the population in the Volyn province. The initiative to establish schools with Ukrainian as the language of instruction in the Austrian-occupied territories of Volodymyr-Volynskyi, Kovel, and Lutsk counties was primarily taken by Ukrainian public and political organisations operating in Galicia. The Ukrainian Sich Riflemen (USS), who were attached to the Austrian district commands, also took the initiative to establish Ukrainian schools. Their activities were aimed at establishing and developing national schools and promoting education in the Ukrainian language. It is noted that the process of developing Ukrainian-language schools in Volyn encountered significant difficulties related to the region's civilisational backwardness, the destruction caused by the First World War, financial difficulties, and an acute shortage of teaching staff. However, by August 1916, 29 Ukrainian schools had been opened in Volyn, with 1,885 children enrolled. The educational process in Ukrainian folk schools was provided by 31 teachers, including both Sich Riflemen and educators sent to Volyn from Galicia. Educational literature, textbooks, and methodological materials were sent from Lviv to the Volyn region. The Bureau of Cultural Assistance, headed by I. Krypiakevych, repeatedly appealed to the citizens of Galicia for donations to volynian schools. The educational activities of the Sich Riflemen in Volyn did not last long. Already in April 1917, the Austro-Hungarian military administration recalled some of the riflemen and later liquidated the commissariats. Most of the rifle schools were closed, and some of them were transferred to the care of the Cultural Assistance Bureau. Despite this, the cultural and educational activities of the Sich Riflemen and other Ukrainian public and educational organisations contributed to the gradual formation of a Ukrainian educational space in Volyn. For the first time in several centuries, local Ukrainians had the opportunity to receive education in their native language. Ukrainian-language schooling, which emerged in Volyn during World War I, played an important role in raising the national consciousness of the local Ukrainian population and contributed to the formation of the national identity of Volynian Ukrainians. The experience of Ukrainian schools operating during the war laid the foundation for further educational transformations during the revolutionary events of 1917-1921 and the interwar period.