London Journal “The Ukraine”: The Unknown Page of Western Ukrainian Studies

Abstract

The article claims a virtually unknown page in the history of Western Ukrainian studies about one of the first English-language journals, “The Ukraine”, published by a handful of Ukrainian patriots-statesmen in London, during 1919–1920. It was a weekly bulletin published by the Ukrainian Press Office in London. It operated under the auspices of the Diplomatic Mission of the Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) in London and was located at 38 Cursitor Street, London EC4. 35 issues were published. The set of all issues of the bulletin is stored in the British Library (London).The author of this article worked with this set, as well as with the archival materials on this topic found in Taras Shevchenko Archive-Library of the Union of Ukrainians in Great Britain during his recent research internship in London.Mykola Stakhovskyi, the head of the diplomatic mission of the Ukrainian People’s Republic in London, was responsible for the publication's editorial policy. He was a physician by profession, but gained journalistic experience in Kyiv when, after the 1905 revolution, edited “Borotba”, a newspaper of the Ukrainian Social Democrats.The purpose of the bulletin was to provide reliable information about Ukraine, which was given mainly by members of the emergency Ukrainian diplomatic mission.The main thematic areas of the publication were as follows: publication of official documents and materials of the UPR government; appeals of official and public organizations and movements to the global community regarding the recognition of Ukraine and its moral and material support; reviews of the British and foreign press in the context of the “Ukrainian question”; the real state of affairs in the Polish-occupied territories of Western Ukraine; facts of oppression by the Polish and Soviet authorities on the territory of underground and sub-Soviet Ukraine; reviews of the British and world press about the events in and around Ukraine.The significance of this unique publication lies primarily in the fact that it was a convincing and aggressive promoter of the Ukrainian cause not only in the United Kingdom but also in Western Europe. A number of analytical and informative materials of this bulletin, concerning Ukrainian-British and Ukrainian-Polish relations in particular, have not lost their relevance even today. It would be advisable to republish them in separate editions.