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[[File:Ukrainians in the Russian Empire, 1897.jpg|350px|thumbnail|left|Ukrainian Speakers in the Russian Empire, 1897.]]

[[File:Ukrainians in the Russian Empire, 1897.jpg|350px|thumbnail|left|Ukrainian Speakers in the Russian Empire, 1897.]]

In 1897 the [[Russian Empire]] conducted a Census<ref>[https://www.myheritage.com/wiki/Ukrainian_census_records Ukrainian census records - MyHeritage]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/377830800_Censuses_in_Ukraine|title=Censuses in Ukraine|date=January 2024|publisher=The Global Politics of Census Taking|author=Tetyana Tyshchuk; Ilona Sologoub}}</ref> in which Russians were labeled as Great Russian (Великорусский), Ukrainians as Little Russian (Малорусский) and Belorrusians as White Russian (Белорусский). Byelorussian and Ukrainian languages were considered as the dialects of a unified Russian language in the census. Russian was the higher social prestige language at that time and ‘Little Russian’ language was frequently associated with the lower classes.<ref name=CensusAcademia>{{cite web|url=https://www.academia.edu/32001120/UKRAINIAN_URBAN_POPULATION_OF_THE_RUSSIAN_EMPIRE_ETHNIC_AND_LINGUISTIC_TRANSFORMATIONS_IN_THE_LATE_19_th_CENTURY|title=UKRAINIAN URBAN POPULATION OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE: ETHNIC AND LINGUISTIC TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE LATE 19 th CENTURY|author=Olga Kazakevych|date=2016}}</ref> According to Stephen Rapawy "The 1897 census reported that 63.3 percent of the inhabitants migrated from the surrounding and predominantly Ukrainian-speaking countryside (language but not nationality was asked in the census) but only 25 percent claimed Ukrainian as their national language. The migration took place largely after the abolition of serfdom in 1861, and the new Ukrainian migrants claimed Russian since Ukrainian was considered a crude peasant dialect. It is highly improbable that illiterate, or at best semiliterate, people from Ukrainian villages in a comparatively short period of time would forget Ukrainian and acquire proficiency in Russian, especially since they worked and socialized with people of similar backgrounds".<ref>{{cite web|title=ETHNIC REIDENTIFICATION IN UKRAINE|author=Stephen Rapawy|date=1997|publisher=U.S. Bureau of the Census|url=https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/working-papers/1997/demo/sp90.pdf}}</ref> The results of 1897 census show that the Russian and Ukrainian languages divided the majority of the Ukrainian urban population in almost equal halves. The Ukrainian speakers still were the predominant linguistic group of the Poltava (92,98%), Podolia (80,93%), Kharkiv (80,62%), Kyiv (79,21%), Volyn (70,09%), Ekaterinoslav (68,90%), Chernihiv (66,41%) and Kherson (53,48%) governorates. However, the ethnic and linguistic composition of the urban population differed significantly. Ukrainian speakers ranked second (17,81%) after the Russians (44,31%).<ref name=CensusAcademia/>

In 1897 the [[Russian Empire]] conducted a Census<ref>[https://www.myheritage.com/wiki/Ukrainian_census_records Ukrainian census records - MyHeritage]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/377830800_Censuses_in_Ukraine|title=Censuses in Ukraine|date=January 2024|publisher=The Global Politics of Census Taking|author=Tetyana Tyshchuk; Ilona Sologoub}}</ref> in which Russians were labeled as Great Russian (Великорусский), Ukrainians as Little Russian (Малорусский) and Belorrusians as White Russian (Белорусский). Byelorussian and Ukrainian languages were considered as the dialects of a unified Russian language in the census. Russian was the higher social prestige language at that time and ‘Little Russian’ language was frequently associated with the lower classes.<ref name=CensusAcademia>{{cite web|url=https://www.academia.edu/32001120/UKRAINIAN_URBAN_POPULATION_OF_THE_RUSSIAN_EMPIRE_ETHNIC_AND_LINGUISTIC_TRANSFORMATIONS_IN_THE_LATE_19_th_CENTURY|title=UKRAINIAN URBAN POPULATION OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE: ETHNIC AND LINGUISTIC TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE LATE 19 th CENTURY|author=Olga Kazakevych|date=2016}}</ref> According to Stephen Rapawy "The 1897 census reported that 63.3 percent of the inhabitants migrated from the surrounding and predominantly Ukrainian-speaking countryside (language but not nationality was asked in the census) but only 25 percent claimed Ukrainian as their national language. The migration took place largely after the abolition of serfdom in 1861, and the new Ukrainian migrants claimed Russian since Ukrainian was considered a crude peasant dialect. It is highly improbable that illiterate, or at best semiliterate, people from Ukrainian villages in a comparatively short period of time would forget Ukrainian and acquire proficiency in Russian, especially since they worked and socialized with people of similar backgrounds".<ref>{{cite web|title=ETHNIC REIDENTIFICATION IN UKRAINE|author=Stephen Rapawy|date=1997|publisher=U.S. Bureau of the Census|url=https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/working-papers/1997/demo/sp90.pdf}}</ref> The results of 1897 census show that the Russian and Ukrainian languages divided the majority of the Ukrainian urban population in almost equal halves. The Ukrainian speakers still were the predominant linguistic group of the Poltava (92,98%), Podolia (80,93%), Kharkiv (80,62%), Kyiv (79,21%), [[Volyn]] (70,09%), Ekaterinoslav (68,90%), Chernihiv (66,41%) and Kherson (53,48%) governorates. However, the ethnic and linguistic composition of the urban population differed significantly. Ukrainian speakers ranked second (17,81%) after the Russians (44,31%).<ref name=CensusAcademia/>

Before World War I, the [[Lvov]] region, [[Volhynia]] and [[Galicia]] were all part of the Austro-Hungarian empire and everything to the east was part of the [[Russian empire]]. The Austrians encouraged use of the Ukrainian language and Ukrainian ambitions as a battering ram against the part of Ukraine east of the Dnieper that was the Russian Empire, where the Ukrainian national feelings were tamped down by the [[Romanov]] dynasty. That was not a solution that survived 1914.  

Before World War I, the [[Lvov]] region, [[Volhynia]] and [[Galicia]] were all part of the Austro-Hungarian empire and everything to the east was part of the [[Russian empire]]. The Austrians encouraged use of the Ukrainian language and Ukrainian ambitions as a battering ram against the part of Ukraine east of the Dnieper that was the Russian Empire, where the Ukrainian national feelings were tamped down by the [[Romanov]] dynasty. That was not a solution that survived 1914.