Christian and Patriotic Education in State Schools in Galicia in 1868-1914

Abstract

A new element, connected with Poland's independence, entered the education in Galician schools in the second half of the 19th century. The autonomy in Galicia was a chance to create an enclave of Polish national life in the area of the Austrian partition.

The state secondary schools included grammar schools and technical ones. Grammar schools were oriented towards humanities; in 1914 there were 56 of them, whereas there were only 14 technical schools.

The state secondary schools considered contributing to religious, moral and patriotic education of their pupils an essential part of their education task. According to theoretists of national education of that time religion was an inexhaustible source of moral strength and it reinforced the national spirit. In the Habsburg monarchy Catholicism was the state religion. In the life of schools church holidays played an important role, as well as events in the life of the ruling dynasty. Each school had its own chapel in which school celebrations took place. The holy mass started and ended the school year and the pupils had a duty to receive holy sacraments three times a year. School had their tutelary saints to whom the pupils often and willingly prayed. Services were celebrated on the occasion of “His and Her Majesties'” name-days as well as of other anniversaries connected with the life of the ruling dynasty.

Despite the fact that officially education was run by the state, owing to a patriotic attitude of most members of the teaching staffs in secondary schools national education existed, too. The teachers used to this end their lessons and taught history of Poland, they celebrated important historical anniversaries, eg. that of the 3rd May Constitution or of the national uprisings, the 200th anniversary of the liberation of Vienna, etc. The young people became radical. They joined the first scout teams, and then the “Strzelec” organization. Many of them, side by side with their teachers, fought in J. Piłsudski's Legions. Despite the loyal attitude to the Habsburg monarchy that was supposed to be inculcated in their minds, they were well prepared to making sacrifices and to struggle for an independent Poland.