Ukrainian Diplomacy in the Process of Repatriating Ukrainian Prisoners of War from the Territories of Germany and Austro-Hungary (1918 - 1919)
Ukrainian Diplomacy in the Process of Repatriating Ukrainian Prisoners of War from the Territories of Germany and Austro-Hungary (1918 - 1919)

Summary/Abstract: Signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk by the Ukrainian People’s Republic (URP) triggered the process of repatriating Ukrainian prisoners of war from Ukrainian and multinational camps in Austro-Hungary and Germany. In order to facilitate the process, the Ukrainian government sent military and sanitary missions to those countries. Unfortunately, the Ukrainian prisoners’ mass repatriation in 1918 was seriously impeded by the fact that a considerable number of them worked at industrial plants in Germany and Austro-Hungary, and there was no one to replace them. In 1919, Ukrainian diplomats did not have much opportunity to effectively help the Ukrainian prisoners of war due to unfavorable international political conditions. Despite all the efforts of the military and sanitary missions sent to Germany and Austro-Hungary by the Directorate of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, the assistance given to the Ukrainian prisoners of war was limited and did not meet the government’s expectations. The mass repatriation of the Ukrainian POWs was further complicated by the UPR’s insufficient financial resources, which forced the government to withdraw all of its military and sanitary missions in 1920.

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