Activities of the UNR diplomatic mission in Latvia in 1920–1921
Keywords:
Baltic States, diplomatic mission, Ukrainian People's Republic, Ukraine, Ukrainians, LatviaAbstract
Background. Ukraine and Latvia are not close neighbours and do not share a border, but despite their geographical distance, the two countries have much in common. We have strong and mutually beneficial political, military, economic and cultural ties. Today's friendly relations between our countries have a deep historical foundation, laid more than a hundred years ago, when, after the collapse of the Russian Empire, Ukraine and Latvia embarked on the path of independent development. The activities of the Diplomatic Mission of the Ukrainian People's Republic, which operated in Riga in 1920-1921, were of great importance for the establishment of Ukrainian-Latvian relations. Unfortunately, historiography lacks special works on this issue, so this article relies on a wide source base - previously unknown documents of the Diplomatic Mission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the UPR, which are now stored in the Central State Archive of the Supreme Authorities of Ukraine in Kyiv. They reveal the peculiarities of the activities of the UPR Diplomatic Mission in Latvia in 1920-1921. The choice of sources determined the thematic focus of the article, which reflects the Ukrainian view of the work of the diplomatic mission in Riga.
Methods. The methodological basis of the study is based on the basic ideas of the epistemology of the historical process and the principle of historicism, which together allowed it to investigate the process of formation and activity of the Ukrainian diplomatic mission in Latvia in the relevant historical context of the 20s of the twentieth century.
Results. During the short period of its activity, the Diplomatic Mission of the Ukrainian People's Republic managed to achieve impressive success in extremely difficult conditions. Its main achievements were the diplomatic recognition of Ukraine's independence by Latvia and the full participation of the Ukrainian delegation in the Fourth Conference of the Baltic States, held in the suburbs of Riga in August-September 1920.
Conclusions. However, the defeat of the Ukrainian troops at the front in late November 1920 crossed out the positive expectations and actually put an end to the great geopolitical project.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/1728-2640.2022.156.7
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