The origins of the conflict lie in the complex nationality situation in Galicia at the turn of the 20th century. As a result of the House of Habsburg's relative leniency toward national minorities, Austria-Hungary was the perfect ground for the development of both Polish and Ukrainian national movements. During the 1848 Revolution, the Austrians, concerned by Polish demands for greater autonomy within the province, gave support to a small group of Ruthenians, the name of the East Slavic people that would later adopt the self-identification of "Ukrainians" or "Rusyns"; their goal was to be recognized as a distinct nationality.