Polish army and polish national policy in the Lwow, Stanisławow and Tarnopol voivodships in 1921–1926

Abstract

Of all the citizens of the Second Polish Republic, 30 % were representatives of various national minorities. The Polish authorities, realizing that such a large percentage of national minorities concentrated in specific regions, can threaten the security of the state, are trying to pursue an appropriate national domestic policy. Its goal was to reduce this danger. The Polish army was one of the instruments that were used to varying degrees by the authorities. The purpose of the article is to show the place, role and tasks that the Polish army had to fulfill in relation to the national policy pursued in the southeastern voivodships of the Second Polish Republic in 1921–1926. The sources for publication is the then civil-military legal acts, archival materials collected in archives on the territory of Poland and Ukraine, as well as scientific research. The author paid considerable attention to the measures of the military administration to neutralize the actions of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, the Communist Party of Western Ukraine, the foreign intelligence agents (primarily from the USSR) in the military and civilian population of the Lviv, Stanislaviv and Ternopil voivodships which were under the control of the military structures of the District Corps Command No. VI «Lviv» and No. X «Przemysl». Almost 5.5 million people lived in these voivodships, of which 45.1% were Poles, 47.9% were Ukrainians, 6.4% were Jews, 0.65 were Germans, 0.1% were other nationalities. The author claims that the military authorities were vigilant about the security and strengthening of the Polish state. Keywords Polish Army, the Second Polish Republic, national policy, Lwow Voivodeship, Stanisławow Voivodeship, Tarnopol Voivodeship.