Badeni, Kazimierz

Badeni, Kazimierz, b 14 October 1846 in Surochów, Poland, d 9 July 1909 in Busk, Galicia. Polish politician, count, governor of Galicia (1886–95), prime minister of Austria-Hungary, and minister of the interior in 1895–7. In 1890, on the instigation of the Austrian government, he arranged an agreement with the Ukrainians in Galicia by means of minor concessions (the so-called New Era). Because of pressure from the Polish nobility he changed his politics. The elections of 25 September 1895 to the Galician Diet were marked by great abuses on the part of the administration. Of 150 representatives, only 14 Ukrainians, discounting Russophiles, were elected. During the parliamentary elections of 1897, which became known as the Badeni elections, an anti-Ukrainian campaign of terror, using police and the army, was waged. Eight people were killed, 29 wounded, and nearly 800 arrested. Of 63 elected representatives, only 3 were Ukrainians.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 1 (1984).]