Second Polish Republic
Poland re-established its sovereignty in 1918 after a century of rule by Austria-Hungary, the German, and the Russian Empires; however, her western and eastern borders were not determined right away. The Bolshevik, Polish and Ruthenian claims over the disputed territories led to the Polish–Ukrainian and Polish–Soviet wars. The end of open warfare was achieved with the logistical aid by France. A formal treaty, the Peace of Riga, was signed on 18 March 1921, establishing Polish borders for the period between the World Wars. A process of economic recovery followed.
After the Polish-Ukrainian War, the eastern part of Galicia and Volhynia were captured by Poland. Ukrainian leaders at that time were retained a strong sense of honor. During the entire time of its existence, there were no cases of mass repressions against national minorities in territories held by the West Ukrainian government.; the Ukrainian forces controlling the city even neglected to arrest Polish nationalist leaders and intelligentsia, enabling the latter to rebel against the Ukrainian government. When Polish forces captured Lviv, they burned and looted the Ukrainian and Jewish sections of the city and killed approximately 270 Ukrainian civilians. In the eastern half of Galicia, Ukrainians made up approximately 65% of the population while Poles made up 22% of the population and Jews made up 12%. Of the 44 administrative divisions of Austrian eastern Galicia, Lviv (Polish: Lwów, German: Lemberg), the biggest and capital city of the province, was the only one in which Poles made up a majority of the population. Ukrainians represented about 16% of the total population of the pre-war Poland. Over 90% of them lived in the countryside, 3–6% were industrial workers, and close to 1% belonged to Inteligentsia. As to religion, 60 percent were Uniate Catholics and 39 percent professed Orthodox faith. While national consciousness among the Galician Ukrainians was very strong, the Ukrainians of Volhynia were largely influenced by strong Russophile trends and had pro-Soviet sympathies, while having little national inclination According to Polish census of 1931 the following areas hosted a large number of Ukrainian population in Poland:
- Lwów Voivodeship; 58% Polish, 34% Ukrainian, 8% Yiddish
- Stanisławów Voivodeship; 69% Ukrainian, 23% Polish, 7% Yiddish, 1% German
- Tarnopol Voivodeship; 49% Polish, 46% Ukrainian, 5% Yiddish
- Wołyń Voivodeship; 68% Ukrainian, 17% Polish, 10% Yiddish, 2% German, 1% Russian, 2% Other
Two contradicting policies towards national minorities were competing in Poland at the time. The assimilationist approach advocated by Roman Dmowski (minister of foreign affairs) and Stanisław Grabski (minister of religion and education) clashed with the more tolerant approach advocated by the Polish chief of State Józef Piłsudski, whose project of creating the Międzymorze federation with other states failed in the aftermath of the Polish-Soviet War. The ultranationalist Roman Dmowski and his National Democrats, with its consistent militantly anti-Ukrainian policies, was supported by the Polish minority in Eastern Galicia.
Read more about this topic: History Of The Ukrainian Minority In Poland
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