УКРАЇНА І УКРАЇНЦІ В ПОЛІТИЧНІЙ ДУМЦІ ЙОАХІМА БАРТОШЕВИЧА (1867 – 1938)

Abstract

The article highlights particular aspects of political and publicistic activities of Bartoszewicz Joachim (1867 – 1938), a prominent representative of Polish national democrats in Russian Ukraine from 1906 to 1918.J. Bartoszewicz’s contribution to the development of the Polish nationalist movement was studied. The process of his development as political figure was considered, and his socio-political views were covered. The articles focuses on the analysis of J. Bartoszewicz's attitude over the «Ukrainian question» in the context of the restoration of Polish statehood in the late XIX and early ХХ centuries. In particular, special attention is paid to the participation of J. Bartoszewicz in various public Polish organizations in Ukraine. For example, the activity of J. Bartoszewicz in the position of the executive editor of the newspaper «Dziennik Kijowski» and the head of the Polish Executive Committee in Kiev received full coverage.It is established that in the period from 1906 to 1918, the newspaper «Dziennik Kijowski», headed by J. Bartoszewicz, turned into a powerful means of propaganda of the party interests of the Polish national democrats in Ukraine. Significant contribution of J. Bartoszewicz in the study of the factor of Polish presence on Ukrainian lands was mentioned.The active role of J. Bartoszewicz in the events of the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917 – 1921 was shown. The reasons for the deterioration of Polish-Ukrainian relations in 1917 – 1918, in particular between the Polish Executive Committee and the Central Council of Ukraine, were studied. Personal attitude of J. Bartoszewicz in this matter was traced.Views of J. Bartoszewicz on the problem of polonization of the eastern Polish lands during the period of the Second Polish Republic deserved singular attention. It is known that he was a consistent supporter of the conception of creating a mono-ethnic Polish state. According to this conception all non-polish ethnic national minorities were subject to assimilation, and their very influence on the policy of the Polish state was limited to a maximum. The Ukrainian side was refused as the matter of principle in the right to national self-determination, and Ukrainians themselves were declared an organic part of the future Polish nation. In this connection, in his publicistic works, J. Bartoszewicz refused to use the terms «Ukraine» and «Ukrainians», considering these notions as an integral part of the anti-Polish political project. Instead, he returned to the use of the terminology «Rus» and «Rusyns», emphasizing the exclusively ethnic identity of this ethnic community.