UKRAINIAN ISSUE AT THE NATIONAL MINORITIES CONGRESSES IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 1920-ies (BASED ON THE PERIODICAL «DILO»)

Abstract

The purpose of the research – is to analyze the Ukrainian issue consideration on the basis of the publications in the newsapaper «Dilo», the interethnic relations in Europe in the format of the national minorities Congresses in the second half of the 1920--ies. The methodology of the research is based on the combination of historicism, the objectivity principles and a general scientific method, a special-historical method of the scientific work. The scientific novelty of the research is based on the fact that for the first time the Ukrainian representativesʼ composition  at the National Minorities Congresses, the goals and the results have been researched; the content of discussions, the Ukrainian approaches to the solution of the national minorities problems in Europe in the second half of the 1920-ies have been also investigated. Conclusions. Consequently, the National Minorities Congresses, held annually in Geneva in the second half of the 1920-ies, became a discussion platform for negotiating a wide range of the national minorities problems in the inter-war Europe with the accedence of the League of Nations, which sent its representatives to participate in their discussions. The leaders of the Congress, J. Wilfan, E. Ammende and the others, tried to narrow the discussion of the problems of only those national minorities that were scattered in the European countries and enjoyed the support of their national powers. It was they who formed the agenda of Congresses, imposing debates on the implementation of the idea of the national and the cultural autonomy in various forms in European countries. But in Europe there were national minorities who, in separate countries (in their territories), lived compactly and in some regions constituted the majority without their national powers. The latter belonged to the Ukrainians whose representatives participated in the discussions of the above-mentioned issues. The Ukrainian position at the Congresses was represented by the UNDO representatives – the most influential Ukrainian political party in the 1920-ies (in different years, D. Levytskyi, M. Cherkavskyi, O. Levchanivskyi, D. Paliyiv, O. Maritschak, etc.) and the «Peasant Union» ( P. Vasilchuk in 1926 – 1927), as well as Bukovyna and Transcarpathia representatives. In 1925 – 1927 the Ukrainian representatives were in the status of the observers, and in the subsequent years – the sufficient participants. The Ukrainian delegation at the Congresses advocated broadening the agenda Congresses, discussing the national minorities issue in the context of implementing the principle of the national self-determination, and considering the situation of certain national minorities in the individual states. The Ukrainian delegates did not consider the Ukrainians to be a national minority in Poland, and the format of the Congress was viewed as an opportunity for the Ukrainian issue propaganda on the international scene. The allies of the Ukrainians were often the representatives of the Belarusians, the Lithuanians, and the others.