2019 №3 (64) Article 5

Roman Yurkovsky

POLISH COMMUNITY AND THE TREATY OF BREST-LITOVSK WITH THE UKRAINIAN CENTRAL RADA (FEBRUARY 9, 1918)

UDC 327(438:477):940.439

The article focuses on the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed by the Central Powers with Ukraine on February 9, 1918 and the reaction of Polish community to the formation of the Ukrainian State. The article centers on the members of the Ukrainian delegation and the claims they made during the negotiation. Ukrainian territorial claims were not limited to the lands of the former Russian Empire, but involved some lands belonging to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The article explains why Germany and Austro-Hungary offered concessions to Ukraine. The deliveries of Ukrainian bread were not entirely plausible. The author maintains that Ukraine accepted the possibility of German and Austrian occupation. The article shows the reaction of Polish political powers and Polish community to the conditions of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. It analyzes the attitude of Polish political parties to the Treaty. The news that Ukraine got lands populated by Poles provoked indignant protests in German-occupied Poland. Territories that were to be transferred to Ukraine were engulfed by demonstrations and strikes. The author underlines the intense political and civic engagement of people in the territories occupied by Central Powers on the eve of the declaration of Poland’s sovereignty.

 

World War I; Treaty of Brest-Litovsk; Ukrainian People’s Republic; Germany; Austro-Hungary; Polish community; public opinion

REFERENCES

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