The Image of Ukraine in Great Britain during 1919–1920s

Abstract

The article examines the evolution of the image of Ukraine in the intellectual discourse of the British Empire immediately after the First World War, i.e., during 1919–1920s. This period was marked, on the one hand, by the continuation of the national liberation struggle within Ukraine and, on the other hand, by discussions on the post-war arrangement of Europe and the world at the Paris Peace Conference. Great Britain, as one of the victors in the war, as well as one of the most powerful states at the time, took an active part in these discussions, and the future of Ukrainian lands significantly depended on its position. Therefore, it seems interesting to trace the image of Ukraine that has developed among British intellectuals and politicians at this time, because it also made impact on the attitude of British diplomats to the Ukrainian question at the Paris Peace Conference. To achieve that goal, the article will analyze the attempts of the UPR Directory to establish contacts with British diplomats, the works of the famous British geographer and geopolitician Gelford Mackinder, the views of a prominent British statesman of the 20th century, and during 1919–1920s the Minister of War Winston Churchill, a booklet on Ukraine, issued by the Foreign Office in 1920, as well as the position of the then first man in the UK, British Prime Minister David Lloyd-George. Such a comprehensive view will provide a better understanding of the British vision of the Central and Eastern Europe region in general, and Ukraine in particular, in the context of that time.