CAPTURED AND INTERNED UKRAINIANS IN ROMANIA, BULGARIA AND TURKEY (1918–1923): A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS IN THE CONTEXT OF UNKNOWN DOCUMENTS OF 1921 Anatoliy KOTSUR1 , Tamara SHARAVARA2 , Viktoriia LIULKA2 1Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (Ukraine), 2Poltava State Agrarian Academy (Ukraine) E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] Abstract: Following the rapid collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917, the patriotic forces that fought for Ukraine's independence against the Bolshevik and White Guard troops during 1917-1921, lost the military struggle and were interned in various camps in Europe and other countries. The article identifies two groups of Ukrainian military-political emigration formed during 1918-1923. The first group included the troops of interned Ukrainians, particularly in Romania. The second group was formed by the Ukrainian military, captured along with the White Guard troops interned in Bulgaria and Turkey. The authors pointed out that the Ukrainians interned in Romania had better living and working conditions, while the Ukrainian military members of General Wrangel’ s White Guard Army, held captive in the territories of Bulgaria and Turkey, have suffered greatly from harassment on national and political grounds. The letters published by the authors, written in 1921, which belong to the Ukrainian military in Bulgaria and Turkey and addressed to the officials of the Ukrainian People's Republic, convey their will, conviction, and desire to return to the ranks of the Ukrainian Army and continue the struggle for an independent Ukraine. Keywords: Internment, Ukrainians, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Ukrainian People’s Republic, Army, correspondence. Rezumat: Ucraineni capturați și deținuți în România, Bulgaria și Turcia (1918- 1923): o analiză comparativă în contextul unor documente inedite din anul 1921. În urma prăbușirii rapide a Imperiului Rus, în anul 1917, forțele patriotice care au luptat, în perioada 1917-1921, pentru independența Ucrainei împotriva trupelor bolșevice și a celor aparținând Gărzii Albe, au pierdut în confruntarea lor militară și au fost internate în diferite lagăre din Europa și din alte țări. Articolul identifică două grupuri de emigrație militară- politică ucraineană formate în perioada 1918-1923. Primul grup a inclus trupele ucrainenilor internați, în special, în România. Cel de-al doilea grup a fost format de militarii ucraineni capturați împreună cu trupele Gărzii Albe internate în Bulgaria și Turcia. Autorii Copyright © 2018 “Codrul Cosminului”, XXIV, 2018, No. 2, p. 359-376. 360 Anatoliy Kotsur, Tamara Sharavara, Viktoriia Liulka au reliefat că ucrainenii închiși în România au avut condiții mai bune de viață și de muncă, în timp ce militarii ucraineni din Armata Gărzii Albe a generalului Wrangel, ținuți prizonieri pe teritoriile Bulgariei și Turciei, au suferit foarte mult din cauza urii pe motive naționale și politice. În scrisorile publicate de autori (redactate în anul 1921), aparținând militarilor ucraineni din Bulgaria și Turcia și adresate oficialilor Republicii Populare Ucrainene, transpare voința, convingerea și dorința de revenire în rândurile armatei ucrainene și de continuare a luptei pentru o Ucraină independentă. Résumé : Ukrainiens capturés et détenus en Roumanie, Bulgarie et Turquie (1918-1923) : une analyse comparative dans le contexte des documents inédits de l'année 1921. A la suite de la chute de l'Empire Russe, l'année 1917, les forces patriotiques qui luttèrent, dans la période 1917-1921, pour l'indépendance de l'Ukraine contre les troupes bolchéviques et contre celles appartenant à la Garde Blanche, ont perdu la confrontation militaire et ont été enfermées en divers camps de l'Europe et d'autres pays. L'article ci-joint identifie deux groupes d'émigration militaire-politique ukrainiens formés dans la période 1918-1923. Le premier groupe inclut les troupes des Ukrainiens enfermés, spécialement, en Roumanie. Le deuxième groupe était formé des militaires ukrainiens capturés ensemble aux troupes de la Garde Blanche internées en Bulgarie et en Turquie. Les auteurs ont mis en relief que les Ukrainiens enfermés en Roumanie eurent des conditions meilleures de vie et de travail, pendant que les militaires ukrainiens de l'Armée de la Garde Blanche du général Wrangel, tenus prisonniers sur les territoires de la Bulgarie et de la Turquie, souffrirent beaucoup à cause de la haine sur motifs nationaux et politiques. Les lettres publiées par les auteurs (rédigées pendant l'année 1921), appartenant aux militaires ukrainiens de Bulgarie et de Turquie et adressées aux officiels de la République Populaire Ukrainienne, résulte la volonté, la conviction et le désir de revenir dans les rangées de l'armée ukrainienne et de continuer la lutte pour une Ukraine indépendante. INTRODUCTION The 100th anniversary of the national liberation struggle of 1917-1921 is widely celebrated in Ukraine at state level. After the collapse of the Russian Empire, as a result of the February Revolution of 1917, the power of the Ukrainian Central Rada was established in Ukraine (March 4, 1917 – April 29, 1918). After a short time, it was replaced by P. Skoropadskyi’s Hetmanate (April 29, 1918 – November 30, 1918) and after its overthrow, the Directory came into force (December 19, 1918 – November 12, 1920), which restored the Ukrainian People’s Republic (UPR), and since November 12, 1920 the sole government of the UPR was carried out by S. Petliura. During this period, patriotically minded Ukrainians, guided by the idea of autonomy of the Ukrainian republic created their Captured and Interned Ukrainians (1918–1923) 361 own army and government, while fighting against the White Guard troops and the Bolsheviks. At the end of the bloody struggle, which ended with the defeat of the Ukrainian national troops, from November 1920 the effective army of the UPR crossed the Zbruch River, and since then Ukrainian troops have been interned and resettled in numerous camps in Europe (Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia). Instead, the White Guard military emigration went to Turkey and Egypt. Consequently, assessments of events, aspirations and further plans for the lives of Ukrainians who, by virtue of various circumstances, were captured by the White Guard troops and, with them, were interned in Bulgaria and Turkey – were not properly covered by the scientific literature. Considering this, the purpose of this scientific study will be the publications of the correspondence of Ukrainian military (captured by the White Army) with the Government of the UPR through its diplomatic missions. These documents (correspondence) were not fully published, which actualizes their significance, since every scientist will be able to assess their meaning and thus makes it impossible to bias the assessments of the events of those times. It is the published documents that will make it possible to compare the situation of the captured Ukrainians in Turkey and Bulgaria with that of the ones interned in the camps of Romania. As V. Vlasenko points out, these events gave contemporary historians the opportunity to distinguish three waves of military political emigration: the North- Western, Southern and Far Eastern. He emphasizes that the term “Ukrainian political emigration” in historical literature has two meanings. “In a broad sense, the entire emigration between the two world wars is considered political, because many political factors have played a key role. The second meaning is invested by the scholars, when it comes to a politically motivated, ideologically determined, organizationally structured part of emigration that professed the idea of Ukrainian statehood restoring in its various forms.”1 He notices that “the first wave covers the period from the second half of 1918 to the end of 1919 ... the so-called “French” evacuation from Odessa,” when mostly rich people fled to the Balkans. “The second wave falls on the winter-spring of 1920, when, as a result of defeats of Anton Denikin’s army from Odessa and Novorossiysk, both civilians and Cossacks were evacuated. The third and most massive wave was observed in the autumn of 1920 after the evacuation of the Russian Army of Peter Wrangel from Crimea and the crossing of the 1 В. Н. Власенко, Вторая волна межвоенной украинской политической эмиграции в Румынии (зима-весна 1920 г.) [The second wave of inter-war Ukrainian political emigration in Romania (winter-spring 1920)], in “Русин” [Rusin], 2014, № 2 (36), c. 270-284, c. 272. 362 Anatoliy Kotsur, Tamara Sharavara, Viktoriia Liulka Romanian border by separate units of the Army of the Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR).”2 Such a classification is not untrue and allows us to assume that the subject of the investigation is primarily concerned with the interned and captured Ukrainians, who entered the territory of Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey in the third wave. HISTORIOGRAPHIC APPROACHES The subject of national liberation struggles in Ukraine was properly analysed in historical science. The available historiography allows to distinguish both broad-vector works, which have general assessments of those events, as well as special historical studies devoted to specific aspects of the problem that received attention. First of all, the conditions of the struggle of Ukrainian troops for independent statehood were deeply analysed by historian Ya. Tynchenko3, which laid the foundations for its in-depth study. Conditions of living and political preferences of interned Ukrainians in Polish camps of Kalisz, Lancut, Shypiorno,