Lev Bachynsky`s participation in the activities of the General Ukrainian Council

The article describes the content and main aspects of Lev Bachynsky`s activities in the General Ukrainian Council (GUC) in 1915–1916. This problem has not yet been comprehensively studied in Ukrainian historical science. Some aspects of the problem are revealed in the works of P. Lipesevich, S. Adamovich, M. Kugutyak, V. Yaremchuk, T. Panfilova, T. Zamlinsky, O. Yegreshiy and others. The source base of the study are the minutes of meetings of the GUC, which are stored in the Central State Archives of Supreme Authorities and Governments of Ukraine. The course of the meetings of the GUC and the texts of appeals to the Ukrainian population and European countries developed with the direct participation of the politician are researched. It has been established that L. Bachynskyi was very active in the GUC. From the Ukrainian Radical Party (URP) faction he was elected deputy head of the organization. The radical was a part of the legal-political and emigration sections. The main areas of politician`s work of the GUC were: cooperation with representatives of various Ukrainian political forces in the Council; participation in the development of programming documents of the organization, as well as appeals to the Ukrainian population of Eastern Galicia and Bukovina and to the world community; negotiations with representatives of the highest governmental circles of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. In June 1915, L. Bachynsky consisting of the GUC delegation participated in negotiations with the Austrian Minister-President Karl von Stürgkh. The radical was a participant in the meetings of the GUC during May – October 1915 and July – November 1916. In the framework of GUC, L. Bachynsky joined the solution of the next issues: releasing Ukrainian prisoners of war from the Austrian concentration camps, possible relocation of the organization to Eastern Galicia in the conditions of a successful Austro-German counter-offensive, securing a single name for the designation of the Legion of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen, etc. L. Bachinsky was in opposition to the restrained policy of the GUC leadership, represented by K. Levitsky and M. Vasylko in relations with the Austrian authorities. Keywords: Lev Bachynsky, General Ukrainian Council (GUC), First World War, Eastern Galicia, Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, proclamation.

KONSTYTUCYJNA OCHRONA WŁASNOŚCI W ŚWIETLE POGLĄDÓW STANISŁAWA MADEYSKIEGO

Constitutional Protection of Property in the Light of Stanisław Madeyski’s ViewsSummary The article discusses the work of Stanisław Madeyski „A political right to freedom of property” published in «Czasopismo Prawnicze i Ekonomiczne» [Journal of Law and Economics] from 1903 and points out that the ideas presented therein did not lose their immediate interest. The main discussions are preceded by a presentation of the curriculum vitae and the academic output of Stanisław Madeyski (1841-1910) a profesor of Jagiellonian University, also a politician, Austrian Minister of Religious Denomination and Education, and the member of the State Tribunal (Reichsgericht).In his work Stanisław Madeyski addresses an interpretation of, still in force in Austria, article V of the Citizens’ Universal Rights Act dated December 21,1867, pursuant to which the property right is inviolable, and expropriation against the owner’s will may occur only in cases provided for in law. Adducing the historical and comparative argumentation Madeyski demonstrates that the said provision is concerned with a ban, aimed at the State authorities, on encroaching upon a domain of property relations of the citizens apart from cases provided for in the constitution. In the author’s opinion the constitution article under discussion guarantees the citizens not only the inviolability of the right to property but also the inviolability of the whole of their possessions that is of the totality of the material rights vested in them. Madeyski points out that the constitutional ban on infringement upon property imposes on the State authorities the legal duty to a citizen to cease all unlawful acts that would infringe upon a property of a citizen. This duty of the State authorities corresponds on the side of a citizen to the possibility of a free disposal of his property. This formulation of a relation between a citizen and the State authorities bears the same features as all liberties guaranteed by the constitution, as for example personal liberty, freedom of religion, freedom of nationality. Doubtless, all these rights originate from the sole right of political liberty (personality). In the same way property inviolability is a particular way to exercise the general right of political liberty as it is the case with any aforementioned liberties. It serves the citizens to develop, within legal limits, their personality according to free will. Madeyski closes his considerations with the conclusion that inviolability of property provided for in this constitutional provision is a political, constitutionally guaranteed right of freedom of property that is protected by law before the State Tribunal.The article emphasizes that it was to Madeyski’s credit that he demonstrated the protection guaranteed by the constitution covers not only property but also other material rights. This view is accepted nowadays, both in Polish and foreign legal doctrine. The most important and enduring is the expressed in the work of Madeyski idea emphasizing the connection between a constitutionally guaranteed protection of proprietary rights and protection of man’s liberty.Bringing back ideas expressed one hundred years ago by one of Polish lawyer of distinction, although nowadays almost forgotten in Poland, served also to point out the role which Austro-Hungarian Monarchy structural solutions played in the formation of constitutional jurisdiction. In this context statements of two professors have been indicated; these of Oswald Balzer and Jozef Buzek from the Lvov University who already in 1919 postulated an establishment of a body having a constitutional jurisdiction status in the Reborn Poland.

HAMBURG

I had the honor of reporting to Your Lordship, in my despatch No 14 of the 21st January last, that the requisition made for the Austrian Corps to garrison this Town, was for a force not to exceed 2 batallions [sic], from 3,500 to 4000 men; indeed, these were stated to me by the Austrian Minister as about the numbers destined for Hamburg. It appears, however, that the Force now actually in garrison in this City consists of 5200 men.

Ernest von Koerber and the Austrian State Idea: A Reinterpretation of the Koerber Plan (1900–1904)

In comparison with most of his predecessors and successors as imperial Austrian minister president, Ernest von Koerber (1850–1919) has attracted a special sort of scholarly interest. In the rare instances when scholars have investigated Austrian governments during the era of the Dual Monarchy (1867–1918), these governments have been approached in the direct context of this system and era. Koerber's five-year-long government (1900–1904) has instead been studied in the considerably wider frame of reference of the modernization of Europe in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. There are, in fact, qualities in Koerber's political program, often referred to as the “Koerber Plan,” that seem to merit such attention. When compared to most Austrian governments of the late Habsburg Empire, Koerber's minister presidency was extraordinarily active. In the eyes of both contemporaries and later observers, the large-scale investment program (mainly in railroads and canal construction) represented the essence of Koerber's modernization project. But he also carried out a widely noted liberalization of state control in society, elements of which included ending the policing of political meetings and practically canceling censorship of newspapers. His background as a civil servant also shaped his policies, especially his very active modernization and effectivization program for the state bureaucracy.

Saxony (Dresden)

Mr de Spiegel, the Austrian Commissioner of Mediation in the discussions between Saxony and Prussia having been recalled, Mr de Bombelles, the Austrian Minister at the Court has been charged with that business.The Prussians about a month ago, presented their ultimatum, to which this Government has not yet replied. According to Mr de Bombelles, it contains many conditions perfectly inadmissible by the Saxons, the most objectionable of which, regards the high price which the Prussians have fixed upon the salt, which they are to supply to this country, according to the 19th article of the treaty of Vienna.

New Music in Austria Since 1945

Vienna, they say, is synonymous with music. Worldwide public opinion, responding to the New Year's Day Concert and the Vienna Boys’ Choir, confirms it.Confronted by the multifarious political and economic scandals of recent times, the Austrian Minister for Education and the Arts has declared that our art and culture is the only ‘export’ to have survived intact. But as far as 20th-century music is concerned, its ‘export’ has received little official encouragement. Apart from a 1972 ballet production by Aurel Miloss with music by Schoenberg, and a performance of Gottfried von Einem's Kabale und Liebe at the 1977 Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, our National Opera has presented no contemporary work outside Austria since 1945, nor any work by the Second Viennese School. Nor does any contemporary Austrian music appear on the touring schedules of the Vienna Philharmonic, as it used to (on a modest scale) in the 1950's; and works of the Schoenberg school are only played when conductors like Abbado, Zubin Mehta, or Christoph von Dohnanyi insist.

Austrian President visits ICRC

While in Switzerland, the President of the Republic of Austria, Mr. Rudolf Kirchschläger, visited the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva on 9 September 1981. As guest of the Swiss Federal Council during his State visit, Mr. Kirchschläger, was accompanied by Mr. Kurt Furgler, President of the Swiss Confederation and Mr. Georges-André Chevallaz, Federal Councillor, as well as the Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of External Commerce.

Francisco de Miranda in Russia

On September 26, 1786, Don Francisco de Miranda, adventurer and patriot, secured a passport from the Austrian Minister in Constantinople which enabled him to continue his “grand tour” to Russia. The nature of Miranda’s subsequent visit, and the extent to which his reception at the court of Catherine II influenced Spanish and Russian policy, assumes significance in the light of events on the North American continent immediately preceding and during his stay in Russia.