12 Oct 2009
One of the web sites given in the previous reply gives a good thumbnail history of
Galicia.
http://www.halgal.com/galicia.htmlPoland was partitioned in the 1770's with pieces being taken by
Prussia, Russia, and Austria-Hungary. The piece taken by Austria-Hungary was named
Galicia. Today, the western end of
Galicia is once again part of Poland, and the eastern end is part of Ukraine.
The ethnic mix of
Galicia was Ukrainians (often referred to as Ruthenians), Poles,
German settlers who went to
Galicia as part of a homesteading program run by Austria-Hungary,
Jews, and numerous small groups such as the Carpatho-Rusyns.
The Ukrainians tended to be
Greek Catholic (not to be confused with
Greek Orthodox), the Poles were mostly
Roman Catholic, the Germans were mostly Lutheran with some Reformed and
Roman Catholic.
Languages followed the ethnic groups. I suspect that the
Jews spoke Yiddish along with the languages of the people that they had dealings with. The various ethnic groups were often found in the same village, so being multi-lingual was quite common.
Galicia continued as part of Austria-Hungary until the end of WWI when the area reverted to Poland. Poland was again partitioned at the beginning of WWII, and at the end of that war the portion of Poland corresponding to roughly the eastern two-thirds of the former area of
Galicia was incorporated into Ukraine by the Soviet Union, and the western third once again reverted to Poland, though the post war borders of Poland were shifted about once again.
Dave