THE LAST CEASAR: KARL HABSBURG IN HALYCH AND THE SURROUNDING AREA 1915–1917 (TO THE 110TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE OUTBREAK OF THE GREAT WAR)

Abstract

The year 2024 marked the 110th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War. Between 1914 and 1917 Halych was at the epicentre of hostilities, and as a strategic river crossing point, it was linked to the military plans of both warring parties. The research focuses on one of the forgotten and unexplored episodes of Halych’s urban history during the war - the visit of Karl Habsburg to the city. The article presents the available information about his visits and mentions of these facts in the contemporary press. On the basis of the collected information, each visit of the archduke and later the emperor to Halych is described as much as possible; their features are characterised, and locations related to the events are indicated. The purpose of the article is to describe the visits of a member of the Habsburg family as a representative of the highest military command. The task set by the author is to describe and present as complete a picture of those events as possible on the basis of the sources found. The peculiarity of the article is that, in addition to periodicals, the events are reconstructed on the basis of descriptions of photographic sources. The publication informs about the places of storage of photographic documents, their names and quantity. The studied sources made it possible to establish the number of visits of Karl Habsburg to Halych and the surrounding area, and to indicate their chronological dating. The article allows us to supplement the available data on visits to the city by prominent people. The material presented in the article will be useful for further use in research on Halych in 1915–1917, supplementing the texts of thematic excursions to local history sites. The information and sources are introduced into scientific circulation for the first time.