His health began to fail in 1908 and he almost lost the use of his hands but he continued to work without any relaxation. The World War was an even more serious blow. His sons were mobilized in the Austrian army. The Russians penetrated into Lviv and Galicia and endeavored to put an end to all Ukrainian activities. Finally he died on May 28, 1916, just about two years before the collapse of Austria-Hungary and the temporary independence of Ukraine. His funeral was arranged by the Shevchenko Society and despite the restrictions of the war, over 10,000 people were in his funeral procession. It is the simple story of a life devoted to the service of his people. Most of the controversies that Franko had with other Ukrainian leaders and the periods when he fell in disfavor were connected with that most severe problem of a leader, how to guide his people in a democratic spirit and at the same time not be so far ahead of them that he loses touch with their feelings and their beliefs and preaches to them real truths which they cannot and do not wish to comprehend. He summarized his obligations as he saw them in the preface to the Polish translation of the _Galician Sketches_: “Before all I confess it as a sin, that many patriots regard me as destructive; I do not love the Rusins. Compared with that burning love, which comes often ‘for a brother race’ from the pen of Polish conservative journalists, my confession may seem strange. What is to be done, if it is true. I am not one of those naive and blind lovers and I can speak soberly about such a tender subject as love. I affirm again: I do not love the Rusins. I have found so few among them of righteous character, and so much pettiness, narrow material egotism, duplicity and pride, that I really do not know for what I could love them, remembering constantly the thousands of greater and lesser darts, that they have planted in my skin, often with the best ideas. It is understood that there are exceptions, many pure personalities, worthy of all respect among the Rusins (I am speaking of the intelligentsia, not the villagers), but these exceptions unfortunately only confirm the general statement.