Ukrainians under Polish rule

The fate of Western Ukraine was decided at the Paris peace conference (1919). The Ukrainians made of 64% of the region’s ethnic composition, the Poles – 25%, and the Jews – 10%. At the conference Poland promised to grant the Ukrainians autonomy and respect their rights. The Entente powers accepted the Polish proposal and placed Western Ukraine under Polish jurisdiction. France, the major power in Entente, was interested in creating a strong Poland as a counterbalance to Germany. This fact explains why Western Ukraine found itself under Polish rule.

Poland did not keep its promise, however. Western Ukraine did not get autonomy. The number of Ukrainian-language secondary schools was reduced and Ukrainian was pushed out of administrative use. The old Austrian system of Ukrainian elementary schools was transformed into a bilingual one in which Polish was dominant. Ukrainian Studies departments at Lviv University, created under Austrian rule, were abolished. But in contrast to the totalitarian Bolshevik Ukraine, Western Ukraine enjoyed some political liberties under Poland. There were many Ukrainian political parties that existed legally and issued their newspapers. It was allowed to establish private schools with Ukrainian as language of instruction. The Polish parliament had a significant number of Ukrainian deputies, and even its vice-speaker was a Ukrainian. The largest and most influential Ukrainian political party was UNDO (Ukrainian National Democratic Union) which advocated constitutional democracy and favored a compromise with the Poles.

For security reasons Poland tried to gradually eradicate the differences between the Poles and the Ukrainians. The old name of “Western Galicia” was changed into “Eastern Little Poland.” Greek Catholic priests received government orders to change Ukrainian last names in church documents according to Polish samples (for example “Levytskyi” was to be changed into “Lewitski”). There were numerous official attempts to describe the Ukrainians not as a different nation but as a branch of the Polish people, and the Ukrainian language, accordingly, as a Polish dialect. To dissolve the predominantly Ukrainian ethnic composition of Eastern Galicia Polish authorities settled about 200,000 Polish colonists there.

Ukrainian nationalism in Galicia

A new variety of Ukrainian nationalism emerged in the interwar period in Galicia. In the 19^th century, Ukrainian nationalism was mostly of liberal type and the spread of it was quite limited. Now, in the interwar period (1920-1939) it became more radical and more widespread.

In 1920, the secret Ukrainian Military Organization (УВО – in Ukrainian) was founded by veterans of WWI and the civil war, headed by Colonel Ievhen Konovalets. From its very beginning the organization applied terror[8] as a way of destabilizing of Polish control over the Ukrainian population. In 1929, УВО was transformed into a broader underground movement, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN).

The ideology of the OUN was based on the writings of Dmytro Dontsov (1883-1973). Dontsov’s nationalism, which came to be known as integral nationalism, proclaimed that a nation was an absolute value (‘The Nation above All’). Everything, including human lives, should be sacrificed in the name of the nation, according to this teaching. Integral nationalists called for the creation of a new type of Ukrainian, one who was unconditionally committed to the nation and to independent statehood.

According to integral nationalists, the political system of a future state must be based on the rule of one nationalist party (all other parties should be banned) under the leadership of a strong leader (вождь) with unlimited powers. He must be responsible only to God and his consciousness. The nation should be purified and consist of Ukrainians only (‘Ukraine for Ukrainians!’). Democratic ideas were proclaimed decadent. Integral nationalist believed that it was impossible to achieve independence by democratic means. Hence is their skeptical attitude to democracy.

Integral nationalists paid special attention to Ukrainian history which was to be rewritten and mythologized (all negative aspects were to be silenced and the cult of heroes created) with the aim of brining up nationalistic youth. The ideological writings of such Ukrainian national leaders as Drahomanov, Franko, and Hrushevskyi were condemned as too soft and “feminine” (because they praised democracy and humanism). The idea of creating a merciless super human being was widely propagated among youth.

Ukrainian integral nationalism was a typically totalitarian movement with elements of fascism. Similar movements were popular in Europe in the 1920s. Such half-fascist nationalistic movements as the Iron Guard in Romania, the Ustashi in Croatia, the Arrow Cross in Hungary, the Iron Wolves in Lithuania, and related movements in other countries were quite influential in the interwar period. Italian and German fascists gave an example of creating a powerful nationalistic state. Dontsov himself admired Hitler and Mussolini and published their speeches in his journal.

The OUN was quite intolerant to other political views except its own. In its practical activity the OUN carried out acts of terror aimed at Polish officials and those Ukrainians who favored compromise with the Poles. A popular brochure, published in Lviv in 1929 said, “ Треба крові – дамо море крові! Треба терору – учинимо до пекельності. Не встидаймось убивств, грабунків і підпалів. У боротьбі не існує етики. ”

A number of high-ranking Polish politicians and liberal Ukrainians (who cooperated with the Poles) were assassinated. Hatred for OUN enemies (the Poles) was cultivated to unite the nation. Dontsov wrote, “Hatred for the enemy must be felt even if he has done nothing harmful to you”.

The OUN managed to attract widespread support among Ukrainian youth. Its stress on revolutionary action, radical solutions, and the creation of a new type of “super Ukrainians” appealed to youth who wanted to be heroes. The OUN leaders believed that using terror would help them to destabilize the situation in Poland until the government collapsed. Older generation usually condemned the terror unleashed by the OUN. Many parents criticized the OUN for the involvement of their immature and inexperienced teenagers into terrorist activity that often ended tragically. The Creek Catholic church condemned using terror as political means. Its head, metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky, asked Ukrainians to stop killing people as it would bring only harm to Ukraine.[9] All legal Ukrainian parties publicly denounced the terrorist activities of the OUN.

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