Призов, що не відбувся (до питання про спробу призову українців до польської армії у 1920 р.)

Abstract

Background: In the summer of 1920 the Polish-Soviet reached its apogee. While Soviet troops were approaching Warsaw, the fate of Polish statehood was to be decided. Having suffered numerous casualties, captivity and desertion of servicemen, the Polish army needed additional replenishment. Desertion, panic, self-harm of the military turned out to be especially destructive for the army, which badly undermined its fighting capacity. Under such circumstances, the Polish authorities took the decision to conduct general conscription campaign, which also included national minorities. The topic of conscription into the Polish army in the summer of 1920 in Eastern Galicia, involving also Ukrainians, has not been the subject of special investigation. Some aspects are only partially mentioned in the works by Polish researchers. Domestic scientists have hardly touched upon this problem. Given this, the following topic remains its relevance. Purpose: The work is aimed to analyze the circumstances under which the military-political authority decided to conduct additional conscription campaign into the Polish army in the summer of 1920, to determine the attitude of conscripts to military service duty, and to reveal the factors that influenced the mobilization and its results. Results: The conscription campaign in Eastern Galicia in the summer and autumn of 1920 did not live up to the country authority’s expectations, since most conscripts avoided joining the army. That was due to the unfavorable development of the situation at the front (Soviet offensive, desertion), disorganization of the administrative apparatus, because of panic, and hasty evacuation), infectious diseases, Soviet propaganda. The failure of conscription was also caused by some subjective factors such as low level of national consciousness of recruits, poor understanding of the tragic circumstances in which the country found itself, unwillingness to serve and fight owing to the work in households, survival instinct, and cowardice. The attempt and idea to conscript Ukrainians into the Polish army was unrealistic from the very beginning due to the tense social and political relations, the negative attitude of Ukrainians towards the Polish state, and the unpredictable outcome of the situation in case of increasing number of Ukrainians in the army. Therefore, realizing the challenges associated with the growth of the number of Ukrainians in the army especially at the front country's authorities refused to implement this plan. Key words: 1920, Polish Army, deserters, conscription, Eastern Galicia, national consciousness.