DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/2524-048X.2024.28.6

 

Abstract.

The late 60s and early 70s of the nineteenth century were a favorable period for the settlement of Czechs in the Volyn lands. The immigration of Czechs from Moravia to Volyn was caused primarily by economic factors. The impoverishment of Czech peasants, artisans, and workers forced them to seek a better life outside of the Czech lands. Ukrainian lands, in particular Volyn, became one of the destinations of emigration at that time. The appearance of Czech settlers in Volyn was connected with the desire of some Polish nobility to get rid of their property and leave the Russian Empire. The situation in the Ukrainian lands after the January Uprising opened up the possibility for Czechs to buy land for settlement. At first, land purchases were uncontrolled and often took place in violation of the law. Unfair treatment by intermediaries who tried to profit from those wishing to buy land was not uncommon.
For the Russian authorities, the appearance of Czechs in Volyn became a form of pressure on Catholic Polish people. Support, benefits, preferences, and accelerated acquisition of Russian citizenship by the Czechs were steps taken by the Russian government. Separate settlements and districts were created for the Czechs. As for the religious issue, there was a “soft coercion” to convert from the Roman Catholic to the Orthodox Church. However, the Czechs were not particularly concerned about the religious issue, as the arrangement of their own economy, the establishment of private small industries, and the creation of decent living conditions were the priority tasks they set for themselves. Over time, the Russian authorities began to gradually limit benefits and reduce concessions to the Czechs. Seeing that the political plans to create a powerful anti-Catholic force out of the Czechs did not materialize, in 1884 a decree was issued prohibiting Czech immigrants from buying land in Volyn. For a time, Czech immigration to Ukrainian lands stopped, but at the same time, Czech immigrants who had already settled down became an important component of the development of industry and entrepreneurship in the late nineteenth century.

Keywords: immigration, immigrants, Czechs, resettlement, Ukrainian lands.

 

Submitted 09.03.2024

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