THE INFLUENCE OF ENTENTE PEACEKEEPING MISSIONS ON THE COURSE OF THE POLISH-UKRAINIAN WAR (NOVEMBER – JUNE 1918–1919)

Abstract

The article considers the issue of the Polish–Ukrainian war in the context of the impact on its course of the Entente peacekeeping missions. The activity of the first unofficial mission under the leadership of the French lieutenant Henri Willem is analyzed. The role of the first official military–diplomatic missions of the Entente countries in resolving the Polish–Ukrainian military conflict has been studied. The position of the governments of the Western Ukrainian People's Republic and Poland in assessing the determination of the status of Eastern Galicia by foreign delegates is indicated. The recommendations of the Entente delegations on the standardization of the Polish-Ukrainian military confrontation were voiced. In particular, the activities of the first official mission in Galicia under the leadership of British Colonel Harry Wade were analyzed in detail. It has been investigated that the mission arrived in Galicia to clarify the situation in the region, as well as to establish a Polish–Ukrainian armistice under the auspices of the Entente by establishing a demarcation line between the warring parties. The influence of the policy of France, Great Britain and the USA on Eastern Galicia is described. The political views of these states and their attitude to the Polish-Ukrainian military confrontation in Galicia, and the ideas of the Entente countries about the future of the disputed territories are traced. The contacts of the representatives of the ZUNR government with the governmental circles of the victorious states in the First World War are described. The main aspects of the activities of the missions headed by Joseph Barthelemy are studied and the time frame of the stay of two separate missions in early 1919 in Lviv, headed by a French general, is determined. It was found that these missions differed in both quantitative composition and subordination, as well as tasks and powers. It was also established that the key tasks of J. Barthelemy's first mission were to study the circumstances of the Jewish pogrom in November 1918 in Lviv, the real degree of Polish–Ukrainian confrontation and the possibilities of military assistance to Poland by the French government. In contrast, the main task of Barthelemy's second mission was to cease hostilities between the warring parties as soon as possible, to establish a temporary truce and a demarcation line.