FROM INDEPENDISTS SLOGANS TO NORMALIZATION: THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OF VOLODYMYR TSELEVYCH (1931–1939)

Abstract

The author provides an analysis of the organizational and political work of a well-known figure of the Ukrainian National Democratic Alliance (UNDO). Specific examples show the struggle of one of the leaders of Ukrainian national democracy for raising the national consciousness of Galician Ukrainians, establishing in the public mind the idea of ​​the unity and statehood of Ukrainian lands, and also highlight the contribution to the normalization of Polish-Ukrainian relations in the second half of the 1930s. The study demonstrated that Volodymyr Tselevych not only joined the Central Committee of the Party, but was elected Secretary-General (1925–1928, 1932–1937), and later became Deputy Chairman (1928–1930, 1937–1939). The UNDO leader has made great efforts to rebuild UNDO county organizations, to rebuild the activities of the party centers in villages and the party movement in general. At numerous meetings, V. Tselevych explained the main political line of the party –- to acquire an independent unite Ukrainian state, called on members for intensive work, organization of county congresses and local elections of the party leadership. It has been found out that the UNDO II and III congresses unreservedly approved the political line and tactics of the organization, expressed confidence in D. Levitsky and V. Tselevych. However, in the first half of the 1930s, the party's tactics underwent a fundamental change – has evolved towards finding ways of understanding with the Polish authorities based on the idea of Western Ukraine's autonomy within Poland. This was evidenced by the IV People's Congress, which intensified intra-party confrontation. From the perspective of V. Tselevych's political biography, the author shows the complex combination of political, social, and national aspects of the Ukrainian socio-political movement in the studied period. Keywords Volodymyr Tselevych, UNDO, Poland, social and political activity, normalization.