Organizational and National Aspects of the Union for the Liberation of Ukraine Activities in the Camps for Captured Ukrainians of the Tsarist Army in Germany between 1914 and 1918

Ihor Sribnyak; Natalia Yakovenko; Viktor Matviyenko

doi:10.18778/1644-857X.24.01.05

Authors

Ihor Sribnyak Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9750-4958
Natalia Yakovenko Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3493-5950
Viktor Matviyenko Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0012-5175

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1644-857X.24.01.05

Keywords:

captured Ukrainians, prisoner-of-war camp, Union for the Liberation of Ukraine, national awareness, Ukrainian community, Germany

Abstract

The article aims to analyse selected aspects of organisational and national activities of the Union for the Liberation of Ukraine (ULU) in the Prisoner-of-War Camps of Captured Ukrainians from the Tsarist Army during the First World War. To accomplish this task, the ULU involved a number of Galician and Bukovyna intellectuals (educators and writers), whose actions initially provided for a selection of captured Ukrainians in multinational camps and who were transferred to the future Ukrainian camps in Rastatt, Wetzlar and Salzwedel between May and November 1915. In each of these camps, the ULU educational departments were established and their members were engaged in uniting prisoners in Ukrainian communities and acted as mediators between camp commandants and camp residents in addition to conducting various educational presentations and courses. They were in direct contact with the Heads of the Ukrainian communities of the camps, seeing them daily for joint meetings. The free course of Ukrainian life in the camps caused the development of a national worldview among the vast majority of prisoners of these camps. Soon after, the elected representative bodies of Ukrainian prisoners took over not only the functions of educational departments, but also the general leadership of Ukrainian communities. Due to this, it became possible to raise among the prisoners nationally conscious citizens for the future Ukrainian state, ready to come forward with weapons in their hands to defend Ukraine against the Bolshevik attacks.

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Author Biographies

Ihor Sribnyak, Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University

Prof. Ihor Sribnyak – Doctor of Science (History), Head of Department of World History at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities of the Borys Hrinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University. Author of books: Обеззброєна, але нескорена: Інтернована Армія УНР у таборах Польщі й Румунії (1921–1924 рр.) (Київ– Філядельфія 1997); Encyklopedia jeniectwa: ukraiński Łańcut (Warszawa–Paryż 2018); Enzyklopädie der Kriegsgefangenschaft: Das ukrainische Rastatt. Zur Gründung und Tätigkeit der Gemeinschaft “Die Unabhängige Ukraine”, 1915–1918 (München–Paris 2020).

Research interests include history of Ukrainian political emigration of the midwar period; Ukrainian POWs’ and interned soldiers’ everyday life at camps in Central and Eastern Europe throughout the First World War and its aftermath.

Natalia Yakovenko, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

Prof. Natalia Yakovenko – Doctor of Science (History), Professor of the Institute of International Relations, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Author of books: A Concise British History (Kyiv 1999); Велика Британія в сучасній системі міжнародних відносин: заявка на європейське лідерство (Київ 2003); British History: Advanced Reading (Kyiv 2007); Велика Британія в міжнарод- них організаціях (Київ 2011); Європейська політика сусідства: роль та місце України (Київ 2012); Міжнародні організації в сфері безпеки НАТО ОБСЄ (Київ 2020).

Research interests concern contemporary trends of European politics of integration, in particular, UK’s special position in Europe, Brexit and its impact on European integration, Ukraine-UK bilateral relations, Ukraine’s diplomacy and participation in the activities of international organizations (NATO, the EU, CoE, OSCE etc.).

Viktor Matviyenko, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

Prof. Viktor Matviyenko – Doctor of Science (History), Head of Department of International Organizations and Diplomatic Service, Institute of International Relations, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Author of books: Українська дипломатія в 1917–1921 рр.: на теренах постімперської Росії (Київ 2002), and Дипломатична історія України (Київ 2018).

Research interests embrace problems of Ukraine’s history, policy and diplomacy, its activities in international organisations, the political course of Ukraine towards Euro-Atlantic integration.

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