THE QUESTION OF UKRAINIAN STATEHOOD ON THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE (1919–1923): THE STUDY AND INTERPRETATION OF POLISH HISTORIANS

Abstract

Summary. The purpose of this study is to show the achievements of Polish historiography in the study of international aspects of the Ukrainian question during 1919–1923. Research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, systemicity, and objectivity. In solving specific problems, methods of historiographical analysis and synthesis were applied. The scientific novelty is that the qualitative completeness of historical information of historiographical sources, the personal contribution of Polish scholars to the study of Ukrainian statehood in the international arena during 1919–1923 is highlighted. Conclusions. The analyzed problem began to be studied in Poland at the scientific level in 1960–1980’s. The historians tried to show the place of the Ukrainian question in the system of international relations after the end of the First World War; the attitude of the Entente countries to Ukrainian statehood; Polish-Ukrainian military and diplomatic confrontation for Eastern Galicia; transformation of the political status of Eastern Galicia; actualization of the Ukrainian question in the League of Nations and its place in Polish-Soviet relations, etc. After 1989, an important event in the Polish-Ukrainian studies became the emergence of special monographic studies. The authors deepened the work of historians period of people’s Poland, especially in such areas as Pilsudski’s federal program, Polish-Ukrainian military-political union of 1920, the Treaty of Riga and the Ukrainian question. In fact, modern researchers were the first to violate the problem of state and legal status Carpathian Ruthenia and Northern Bukovyna. However, despite significant scientific advances, the following aspects need in-depth study: miscalculations and inconsistent actions of Ukrainian governments, that influenced the policies of the victorious states concerning the Ukrainian People’s Republic and the Western Ukrainian People’s Republic; Anglo-French controversy over the problem of Eastern Galicia; activities of special Entente missions in order to reach a truce between Poland and the Western Ukrainian People’s Republic. Polish historians have mostly covered the Ukrainian question through the prism of the foreign policy of the reborn Republic of Poland and Polish national interests. Therefore, it would be good if in the Polish historiography the diplomacy of the UPR and ZUNR in the period of the Ukrainian revolution became a separate topic of research in the future.