Władze RP na wychodźstwie wobec emigracyjnego rządu Ukraińskiej Republiki Ludowej (wrzesień 1939 – styczeń 1940 r.)
The Government of the Republic of Poland in Exile and the Émigré Government of the Ukrainian People’s Republic (September 1939 – January 1940)

Summary/Abstract: Following Poland’s military defeat in September 1939, the Polish government re-formedin France and re-established relations with the émigré government of the Ukrainian People’sRepublic (UPR), an area of Poland’s international relations that had been very activebefore the war. The re-establishment of the relationship was aided by shifts relating to theUkrainian question on the international stage, particularly the growing British interest inthe issue. Despite the financial constraints, the Polish government supported the UPR’sémigré centre led by Vyacheslav Prokopovych and Oleksander Shulhyn, then active as theUkrainian Committee in Paris. Particularly important from the Polish perspective was theCommittee’s clear commitment to the Allied cause; there were also hopes that the termsof a Polish-Ukrainian compromise could be jointly developed and implemented after theend of the war and the liberation of Poland’s eastern territories from Soviet occupation.The Polish side’s objective was to preserve the territorial status quo. In exchange, the Poleswere prepared to make considerable concessions to the Ukrainians, including tentativeplans for a future Polish-Ukrainian federation. Co-operation with Ukrainian émigré groupsmainly occurred in France and Romania. On the Polish side, the Ministerial Committee forthe Interior Affairs, headed by General Kazimierz Sosnkowski, was particularly involved.Sosnkowski drafted a set of guidelines on the Ukrainian question, but the guidelineswere never adopted by the Council of Ministers in exile. The Committee also developedthe concept of a separate Ukrainian military unit to fight alongside the Polish Army inFrance. The article discusses the earliest stage of Polish-Ukrainian contacts in exile untilJanuary 1940.

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