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In the first volume of the Thalerhof Concentration Camp Almanacs (Russian title: Талергофсiй альманахъ, пропамятная книга австрiйскихъ жестокостей, изуверстствъ и насилий надъ карпато - русскимъ народомъ во время Bceмiрной войны 1914 — 1917 гг., Выпускъ первый., Терроръ в Галичине въ первый перiодъ войны 1914 - 1915 гг.), on p. 13 I read the following text (partial translation, my emphasis):

[...] when countless armed German peasants came to Russian Galicia from Alpine regions of Austria and with a burning desire of brutal revanche towards the Russians for the year 1848 [...]

Full Russian text:

И поэтому то въ началЪ войны, когда на русскую Галичину надвинулись несмЪтныя толпы вооруженныхъ НЪмцевъ-крестьянъ изъ альпiйскихъ краевъ Австрiи и сгорающихъ желанiемъ жестокаго реванжа по отношенiю Русскихъ за 1848 годъ — Мадьяръ, въ высшей степени возбужденныхъ своей патрiотической и „украинской" прессой протнвъ „преступнаго москвофильства" русскаго Прикарпатья, какъ общаго и преобладающаго явленiя, — трудно было бы ожидать отъ свирЪпыхЪ пришельцевъ, чтобы они были въ, состоянiи, въ тЪхъ, конечно, случаяхъ, гдЪ "украинцы" почему-либо не могли непосредственно руководить терроромъ и влiять на него, — строго различать въ толщЪ нашего народа „москвофила" отъ ,,украинца"

Fragment of the Thalerhof Almanac, volume 1, section "Culprits and torturers"

What exactly did Russia do to Austria in 1848 to warrant the "burning desire of revenge" on the side of its (Austrian) troops?

In Wikipedia I read that some political changes occurred in Galicia (see below), but I fail to see what it has to do with Russia.

Galicia

The center of the Ukrainian national movement was in Galicia, which is today divided between Ukraine and Poland. On 19 April 1848, a group of representatives led by the Greek Catholic clergy launched a petition to the Austrian Emperor. It expressed wishes that in those regions of Galicia where the Ruthenian (Ukrainian) population represented majority, the Ukrainian language should be taught at schools and used to announce official decrees for the peasantry; local officials were expected to understand it and the Ruthenian clergy was to be equalized in their rights with the clergy of all other denominations.

On 2 May 1848, the Supreme Ruthenian (Ukrainian) Council was established. The Council (1848–1851) was headed by the Greek-Catholic Bishop Gregory Yakhimovich and consisted of 30 permanent members. Its main goal was the administrative division of Galicia into Western (Polish) and Eastern (Ruthenian/Ukrainian) parts within the borders of the Habsburg Empire, and formation of a separate region with a political self-governance.

I always thought that in 1848 Russia was Austrohungarian ally. The aforementioned Wikipedia article supports this view:

The Hungarian revolution of 1848 was the longest in Europe, crushed in August 1849 by Austrian and Russian armies.

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    I don't know exactly what your quote is referring to, but in 1848 Russia was an ally of the Austrian government, not of the Austrian people (that in fact was at the time rebelling against its government) Mar 18, 2020 at 20:37
  • Also, "revanche" has a very niche meaning, and I'm not entirely sure this usage fits with it. How sure are you of this translation?
    – T.E.D.
    Mar 18, 2020 at 21:32
  • @T.E.D. Not sure at all because this is old Russian. The Thalerhof Almanac describes the behavior of Austrohungarian authorities towards inhabitants of Western Ukraine. That behavior is mostly bad, therefore I am inclined to assume that this phrase means that the Austrians hated the Russians for something from 1848.
    – user2247
    Mar 18, 2020 at 21:34

1 Answer 1

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This is clearly a translation problem. The pamphlet clearly speaks about Hungarians who, according to the paper, are bloodthirstily willing the revenge toward the kind and gentle russians who have saved Hungarians from their Ukrainity.


The paper is written in a mixture of a convoluted officialese (канцелярит), densely decorated with patriotic speech and humiliating passages against all other nations mentioned within. That's why it is not particularly easy to read.

First things first, the correct quote, since your OCR seems to have parsed it wrongly. I have added some markup to aid the parsing of this wall of text (and in case if anyone wants to check my translation):

И поэтому то въ началѣ войны, когда на русскую Галичину надвинулись несмѣтныя толпы вооруженныхъ

  1. Нѣмцевъ-крестьянъ изъ альпiйскихъ краевъ Австрiи

  2. и сгорающихъ желанiемъ жестокаго реванжа по отношенiю Русскихъ за 1848 годъ — Мадьяръ,
    въ высшей степени возбужденныхъ своей патрiотической и „украинской“ прессой противъ „преступнаго москвофильства“ русскаго Прикарпатья, какъ общаго и преобладающаго явленiя […]

Translation:

That's why in the beginning of the war, when toward the russian Galicia approached countless hordes of armed

  1. Germans-villagers from Alpine lands of Austria

  2. and {people who are} burning with {their} desire of brutal revenge against the Russians for {the events of} 1848 — Hungarians,
    largely excited by their patriotic and "ukrainian" press against the "criminal muscophilism" of the russian Carpathian {region}, as the common and dominating phenomenon […]

So the entire story in the pamphlet is about the desire of Hungarians to revenge on Russians for their help defeating Hungarian Revolution.

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    Downvoted for being too emotional and factually wrong. The part Hungarians who, [...] are bloodthirstily willing the revenge toward the kind and gentle russians who have saved Hungarians from their Ukrainity. suggests that the Austrohungarians were NOT bloodthirsty. The way they behaved towards population of Western Ukraine later was described as "terrorism". You try to deny that it were the Austrohungarians who created the first concentration camp in Europe (which is the subject of the Thalerhof almanac).
    – user2247
    Mar 19, 2020 at 7:55
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    Also, you try to suggest that the content of the material is wrong because you don't like its style (officialese). But a true statement remains true, even if it is expressed poorly.
    – user2247
    Mar 19, 2020 at 8:10
  • Can confirm that the revanche bit is referring to "Magyars" rather than Austrian Germans, because the only other interpretation of that sentence that makes sense grammatically is that it is calling the Germans Magyars. OP's translation is inaccurate because they stopped reading at the em-dash.
    – SPavel
    Nov 21, 2022 at 3:36

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