First Belarusian Foreign Missions in Ukraine (1918): Attempt To Establish Diplomatic Relations Between The UPR And The BPR (Romance of Hope and Reality)

Abstract

The article highlights attempts to establish official intergovernmental relations between the Belarusian People’s Republic and the Ukrainian People’s Republic in 1917–1920. The article also pays attention to the creation of the Belarusian People's Republic, the persons of its representatives and attempts to preserve the Belarusian statehood. The author stresses that the first official contacts had already been started before the proclamation of the independence of the BPR. Relying upon archival information from the funds of the Ukrainian and Belarusian archival institutions, the activities of the Belarusian foreign missions in the UPR and the Ukrainian State are highlighted. Accomplishments of the Ukrainian, Belarusian and Polish historiography regarding the study of the history of interstate relations between the UPR and BPR are considered. The paper analyses the position of Belarusian representatives in the negotiation process with the Ukrainian side. It is specified that the Belarusian delegation having the right to deliberative vote included prominent Belarusians, who resided in Kyiv: M. Dovnar-Zapolskyi, I. Kraskovskyi, F. Burchak. Attempts to gain recognition of the BPR by Ukraine are studied. Special attention is paid to the role of the representatives of the BPR (F. Burchak, A. Tsvikevych, S. Rak-Mykhailovskyi, P. Trempovych), the undisclosed facts about their life paths are revealed. Keywords: BPR, Belarusian foreign missions in Ukraine, Aleksiuk, Trempovych, Tsvikevych, Dovnar-Zapolskyi, Belarusian Chamber of Commerce.