The role of T. G. Masaryk in assisting of Ukrainian emigration in the Czechoslovak republic

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the policy of Czechoslovakia’s first president T. G. Masaryk concerning Ukrainian emigrants in the context of his perception of the Ukrainian issue.The purpose of the article is to highlight the attitude of the leader of the Czechoslovak liberation movement from the time of the First World War and the first president of the Czechoslovakia T. G. Masaryk to Ukrainian emigrants and the main aspects of politics concerning them.Czechoslovak support for emigrants from the territories of the former Russian Empire was a unique state humanitarian program of the interwar period. It was carried out within the Russian action to help (1921-1931). One of its initiators was president T. G. Masaryk, who was guided by the ideas of humanism, his own understanding of the Slavic program, which saw first of all the economic and cultural perspective in relations between the Czechoslovak republic and East Slavic people. The implementation of the Russian action to help began in two directions. The first relates to assistance to the hungry in Russia and Ukraine, and the second one – the support of emigrants from these countries, which returned to their homeland,after their education in Czechoslovakia, was calculated by the leadership of the Czechoslovak republic. Emigrant’s policy was directed primarily at supporting their cultural, educational and scientific activities. Thanks to her, Ukrainians wishing to receive higher education, and, in particular, scientists, were able to realize their creative potential. For Ukrainian emigrants, this was of great importance to national-cultural values. Czechoslovak republic has become one of the centers for the development of Ukrainian culture and science. On the modern day it was one of the first successful examples of the intellectual integration of Ukrainian scholars into the world scientific and cultural space, which is actively continuing today. It isworth noting that individual achievements of emigrants were enriched not only by Ukrainian and Czechoslovak but also by world science. Support for the cultural, educational and scientific activities of Ukrainian emigrants and Belarusian and Russian, strengthened the importance of the Czechoslovak republic as one of the leading centers of Slavic studies.