The Polish-Ukrainian Inter-War Confrontation
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THE POLISH-UKRAINIAN INTER-WAR CONFRONTATION. THE UKRAINIAN POLITICAL MOVEMENT IN POLAND1 Ionuţ BRAN “Ştefan cel Mare” University of Suceava [email protected] Rezumat: Confruntarea polono-ucraineană interbelică. Mișcarea politică ucraineană din Polonia Dezideratul dezvoltării, în perioada interbelică, a unor relaţii de bună convieţuire între minoritatea ucraineană din Polonia și administraţia statală, împărtășit, parţial, de ambele părţi, a fost dificil de materializat, pe fondul demersurilor constante ale liderilor politici ucraineni de formare a unui stat ucrainean independent. În acest scop, Partidul Naţional Ucrainean din Polonia s-a conexat inclusiv mișcării politice ucrainene din Bucovina, liderii acesteia din urmă implementând, întocmai, directivele trasate. Pe de altă parte, autorităţile polone au acţionat pentru apropierea de elementele ucrainene moderate, căutând să exercite, prin acestea, o presiune favorabilă asupra partidelor ucrainene naţionaliste, ca mijloc de obţinere a unei colaborări pozitive. Accederea lui Adolf Hitler la putere, în Germania, a influenţat contextul internaţional în care Polonia se regăsea, dând speranţe minorităţii ucrainene în lupta sa de obţinere a unităţii naţionale, spre nemulţumirea sovieticilor. Abstract: The desire to develop, in the inter-war period, good cohabitation relations between the Ukrainian minority in Poland and the state administration, shared, partially, by both sides, was difficult to carry out, given the constant endeavours of the Ukrainian political leaders to form an independent Ukrainian state. To that effect, the National Ukrainian Party from Poland linked itself including to the Ukrainian political movement from Bukovina, the leaders of the latter implementing, to the letter, the directives mapped out. On the other hand, the Polish authorities acted so that they approach the moderate Ukrainian elements, wishing thus to carry out, a favourable pressure upon the nationalist Ukrainian parties, as a means to obtain a positive collaboration. Adolf Hitler’s accession to power, in Germany, has influenced the international context in which Poland was at the 1 This paper has benefited from financial support through the „Quality European Doctorate - EURODOC” project, Contract no POSDRU/187/1.5/S/155450, co-financed from the European Social Fund through the 2007-2013 Operational Sectoral Program for Human Resources Development. Copyright © 2015 “Codrul Cosminului”, XXI, 2015, No. 2, p. 203-218 204 Ionuţ Bran time, giving hope to the Ukrainian minority in its fight to obtain national unity, much to the discontent of the Soviets. Résumé: La confrontation entre la minorité ukrainienne de Pologne et l'état polonais dans la période de l'entre-deux-guerres. Le mouvement politique ukrainien de Pologne L'ambition de développer, dans la période de l'entre-deux-guerres, de bonnes relations de cohabitation entre la minorité ukrainienne de Pologne et l'administration d'état, partagée partiellement par les deux parties, s'est difficilement matérialisée, sur le fond des démarches constantes des chefs politiques ukrainiens de former un état ukrainien indépendant. Dans ce but, le Parti National Ukrainien de Pologne s'est relié y compris au mouvement politique ukrainien de Bucovine, les chefs de ce dernier implémentant à la lettre les directives reçues. De l'autre part, les autorités polonaises ont essayé de s'approcher des éléments ukrainiens modérés, en cherchant d'exercer par leur intermédiaire une pression favorable sur les partis ukrainiens nationalistes afin d'arriver à une collaboration positive. L'ascension d'Adolf Hitler au pouvoir en Allemagne a influencé le contexte international où se retrouvait la Pologne, en donnant des espoirs à la minorité ukrainienne dans son combat pour obtenir l'unité nationale devant le mécontentement des Soviétiques. Keywords: inter-war context, Galicia, Bukovina, political connections, claims, self- determination Introduction Of all the minorities that have lived in Poland, in the period of time between the two world wars, the Ukrainian one was the most important, both as far as number and role in the political life of this country. Polish statistics of that time confirmed the existence of roughly five million Ukrainian inhabitants, two million less than what the Ukrainian polls had estimated2. According to the 1931 census, Ukrainians were representing 14,3% of the total of 32.107.000 inhabitants of Poland3, being the second most numerous population following 2 As evidenced in a document found in the Arhivele Ministerului Afacerilor Externe [Ministry of External Affairs’ Archives, hereinafter AMAE], Fond 71 / URSS (1929 - 1933). Volumul 39. Problema ucraineană [Fund 71 / USSR (1929 - 1933). Volume 39. The Ukrainian issue], p. 262. 3 Compared to Poland’s specific polls, we are highlighting the fact that, according to the 1930 general census, in Romania, Ukrainians were representing 3,2% of the population total, placing themselves, numerically speaking, after Romanians (71,9%), Hungarians (7,9%), Germans (4,1%) and Jewish people (4%). In Bukowina, the The Polish-Ukrainian inter-war confrontation 205 the native (69%) and outnumbering the Jewish (7,8%), Belorussian (3,9%), and German (3,9%)4 populations. Geographically speaking, native Ukrainian communities were to be found in the south-eastern and eastern part of Poland, predominantly in the Stanislawów5, Ternopil6, Lvov7 and Volhinia8 voivodeships, but also in great in the Polesia9 and Lublin10 voivodeships. In the north-eastern part of Poland, the interference of the Ukrainians with the Byelorussians / “white Russians” was visible as far as similar social organisation and political tendencies. In light of the political influence shed upon them, the Ukrainians of Poland were split into two categories: those coming from territories of the former Austrian province of Galicia, attached to Austria in 1772, on the occasion of the first partition of Poland from the Lvov, Ternopil and Stanislawów principalities, and on the other hand, those who originated from the former Russian Empire (the Volhinia, Polesia and Lublin) voivodeships. The three voivodeships mentioned initially, which were forming the Oriental Galicia, had come, in fact, back to Poland in 1919, following the Polish- Ukrainian war between 1918 – 1919. Through the decision of the Ambassadors Conference, date March 14th 1923, Poland has been recognized full sovereignty over the region, having been conferred the partial administration mandate ever since June 15th 1919, by the Peace Conference’s Supreme Court11. The areas majority of the population were natives (44,5%), Ukrainians being almost twice less (27,7%), followed by Jewish (10,8%), Germans (8,9%) and Polish people (3,6%). The data are taken out from a statistical table concerning Romania’s population according to ethnicities and maternal language (rural and urban area), following the 1930 general census, presented in the Minorităţile naţionale din România (1925-1931). Documente [National Minorities in Romania (1925-1931). Documents book]. Coordinators Ioan Scurtu and Ioan Dordea, Bucureşti, 1996, p. 458. 4 Nicolae Mareș, Republica Populară Polonă [The People’s Republic of Poland], Editura Enciclopedică Română, București, 1972, p. 88. 5 Now Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine. 6 In Polish, Tarnopol, now a city in the region of the same name in Ukraine. 7 In Polish Lwów and in Ukrainian Lviv, the most important city in the historical region of Galicia, located at 80 kilometers from the actual border with Poland. 8 The historical region of Western Ukraine. 9 The Polesia region, located in the north, north-western and north-eastern of Kiev, nowadays consists of territories of Ukraine and Belorussia. 10 Nowadays the biggest city in the Eastern Poland. 11 AMAE. Fond 71 / URSS (1929 - 1933). Volumul 39. Problema ucraineană [Fund 71 / USSR (1929 - 1933). Volume 39. The Ukrainian issue], p. 263. 206 Ionuţ Bran inhabited by Ukrainians, which were an integral part of the former Russian Empire, were incorporated to Poland following the Riga Treaty, concluded with Russia, on March 18th 1921. The Polish victory in the Warsaw battle, of August 1920 (considered by the English ambassador in Berlin, Lord d`Abernon, as being the 18th most important battle in the history of the world), the failure of Lenin’s plans, those of installing a communist regime in Poland, as well as the frailty of the political consensus inside of a military victorious Poland, have brought peace within the Central and Easter Europe for the next twenty years12. We even identify differences in the spiritual sense, between the Ukrainians of the Austrian Empire and those of the Russian Empire: those living in the Austrian Galicia were under the jurisdiction of the Greek-Catholic Metropolitan from Lvov, while the Ukrainians living on Polish territories annexed by Russia, had their church life managed by the Russian Orthodox Metropolitan from Warsaw. Whereas the Autonomous Greek-Catholic Church of Galicia had gradually become a Ukrainian National Church, disposing of clergy exclusively made of Ukrainians, those from the Russian areas couldn’t enjoy the support and protection of priesthood, during the national battle. The different political regimes that the Ukrainians from Poland lived in, prior to the First World War, have influenced their national development. Under the Austrian regime, the Eastern and Western Galicia were forming the Krakow Principality, a single autonomous province, with a regional diet and legislative power within the province’s