The Polish Press as a Source of Research on the History of Poles in Ukraine in the First Decades of the Twentieth Century

Abstract

Insufficient coverage of the history of Poles in Ukraine during the war and the revolution is largely due to a narrow source base. The Polish press is an important source for studying the history of the Polish community in Ukraine at the beginning of the twentieth century. The aim of the study is to clarify the importance, ideological orientation, thematic informativeness, representativeness and characteristics of the functioning of the Polish press in Ukraine. The research methodology is based on the analysis of the existing Polish press in Ukraine on the basis of the criteria of popularity and publication period, their genre, thematic and ideological orientation, audience, editorial policy, authors, and content. System-analytical and comparative-historical methods have been applied, thanks to which the characteristics of certain periods of the Polish press functioning have been determined. The scientific novelty lies in the disclosure of the source aspect of the study of the Polish press in Ukraine. It was found out that the Polish press in Ukraine in the first decades of the twentieth century is a significant, often unique source of reliable information about the events of Poles' socio-political, socio-economic, and cultural life. Conclusions. The emergence, development and functioning of the Polish press can be divided into three periods: 1905-1914, 1914-1916, and 1917-1921, which are defined by the beginning of its existence, the significance of the events that influenced the development of society – World War I, the Russian February Revolution and the Ukrainian National Revolution. This influenced the content, character and ideological orientation of materials, and the formation of the editorial staff.