Ukrainian-Czechoslovak relations in the 1920s-1930s.

Abstract

The article examines diplomatic, cultural, and migration relations between Ukraine and Czechoslovakia in the interwar period (1920s-1930s).

It is found that Ukrainian-Czechoslovak relations in the 20s-30s of the 20th century were determined, first of all, by extensive state assistance to Ukrainian emigrants after the First World War, the status of Subcarpathian Rus', the development of cultural relations between the peoples, and the establishment of diplomatic missions of the Czechoslovak Republic in Lviv (at that time a territory controlled by Poland) and the Ukrainian SSR.

It is established that Polish-Czechoslovak relations in 1920 were mainly hostile and tense due to territorial disputes, the main epicenter of which was the Cieszyn conflict. However, this did not prevent the Czechoslovak consulate from being opened in Lviv in 1921, which operated until 1939. The Consul General of the Czechoslovak Republic in Lviv during 1921-1928 was František Štílip, and on October 11, 1928, he was replaced by Jan Jirasek. The last Czechoslovak consuls in Lviv were Vaclav Čech and Karel Macháček.

It was revealed that interstate relations between Czechoslovakia and the Ukrainian SSR developed in parallel. Thus, on June 6, 1922, the Ukrainian SSR and Czechoslovakia signed a trade agreement in Prague. It legally consolidated the exchange of diplomatic and trade missions that had been operating between the states since 1921, and became an important step in breaking through the international isolation of Soviet Ukraine. At the same time, the exchange of trade missions began. The Czechoslovak mission was headed by diplomat and specialist J. Hirsa. Following the conclusion of a trade agreement between the Czechoslovak Republic and the Ukrainian SSR, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Czechoslovakia issued an order renaming the Trade Mission to the Representative Office of the Czechoslovak Republic in the Ukrainian SSR (Kharkiv). V. Beneš was appointed as the representative, and V. Houska became his deputy. However, the Representation of the Czechoslovak Republic in the Ukrainian SSR did not last long: on October 1, 1923, the Embassy of Czechoslovakia in Kharkiv was transformed into a branch of the Embassy of Czechoslovakia in Moscow and was finally and completely liquidated in February 1927. The branch of the embassy in Kyiv was closed under pressure from the Soviet government in February 1924. In 1936, Ukrainian-Soviet-Czechoslovak relations were restored with the opening of the Consulate General of the Czechoslovak Republic in Kyiv, which operated under the leadership of Consul General R. Brabec until 1938.