Galicia

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Galicia , Pol. Galicja, Ukr. Halychyna, Rus. Galitsiya, historic region (32,332 sq mi/83,740 sq km), SE Poland and W Ukraine, covering the slopes of the N Carpathians and plains to the north and bordering on Slovakia in the south. It is drained by the upper Dniester, the upper Vistula, and the San, which divides Galicia into the western (Polish) and the eastern (Ukrainian) parts. The Polish section (area 13,226 sq mi/34,255 sq km) covers Rzeszów and the larger part of Kraków provinces; the Ukrainian section (area 19,106 sq mi/49,485 sq km) includes Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Tarnopol oblasts. Mainly agricultural, Galicia also has mineral resources, notably oil wells around Drohobych and Boryslav, in Ukraine, and in Rzeszów prov., in Poland.

Originally the duchy of Halych (Galich), it was united with the duchy of Volodymyr (see Volodymyr-Volynskyy ) in 1188 and annexed by Casimir III of Poland in the 14th cent. With the first partition of Poland (1772) most of the region passed to Austria, which made it a crownland with the capital at Lviv (Lemberg) and named it Galicia. Austria enlarged its holdings with the third Polish partition (1795) and again in 1815. In 1846 an abortive Polish insurrection in Galicia served Austria as a pretext for annexing Kraków, an independent republic since 1815.

In 1848 Kraków and Lviv were centers of revolution against Austria, and in 1861 Galicia won limited autonomy, including representation in the Austrian parliament, where Galician deputies formed a powerful bloc. Polish, spoken in W Galicia, and Ukrainian, spoken in E Galicia, became official languages along with German; the Jews, a substantial minority, were refused recognition by the Austrian government. Galicia was the center of the branch of Orthodox Judaism known as Hasidism . The Austrians maintained an uncertain peace by playing off the three major ethnic groups. However, the growing Ukrainian nationalist movement resulted in demands for increased political and cultural rights, or even for independence, in E Galicia. The Polish independence movement also gained ground, but in World War I the Polish legions, organized in Galicia by Marshal Piłsudski, fought under Austrian command until 1917.

In 1918 the Poles, having proclaimed national independence, wrested W Galicia from Austria and fought the troops of the newly established Ukraine republic in E Galicia, forcing them to withdraw. The Paris Peace Conference (1919) assigned E Galicia to Poland pending a plebiscite scheduled for 1944. However, in a treaty (1920) with the Ukrainians, upheld by the Polish-Soviet Treaty of Riga (1921), Poland obtained full title to E Galicia. In 1939 most of E Galicia was incorporated into Ukraine, an act upheld by the Polish-Soviet Treaty of 1945. Nearly all the Jews in Galicia perished during World War II.

Galicia, Poland‐Ukraine, Spain 1. Poland‐Ukraine: annexed to Poland in 1349, it was attached to Austria in 1772 at the time of the first partition of Poland. In 1815 it became part of the Kingdom of Galicia. Galicia was returned to Poland at the end of the First World War. At the end of the Second World War eastern Galicia (in Russian, Galitsiya) was recognized as part of the Soviet Union (Ukraine) while western Galicia was given to Poland (in Polish, Galicja). The Austrians coined the name which may have been taken from the town of Halicz (now in Ukraine), its name possibly being connected with the salt here from the ancient Greek alas.2. Spain: an autonomous community and former kingdom with a name taken from the Celtic Gallaeci who occupied the area when the Romans arrived in about 140 bc. However, it has been suggested that the name may be associated with Gaul.

Galicia Region of se Poland (Western Galicia) and w Ukraine (Eastern Galicia), on the slopes of the Carpathian Mountains (n) and bordering the Czech Republic (s). The major cities are Kraków (Poland) and Lvov (Ukraine). After passing to Austria in 1772, Galicia became the centre of Hasidism. After World War I, Poland seized Western Galicia and was awarded Eastern Galicia at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. The 1939 partition of Poland between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union gave most of Eastern Galicia to the Ukraine, a position ratified by the 1945 Polish-Soviet Treaty. The region is predominantly agricultural. Area: 78,500sq km (30,309sq mi).