Development of foreign units of the organization of ukrainian nationalists in 1948 - 1951

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to elucidate the development of foreign units network of the Organization of Ukrainian nationalists in 1948 – 1951, the legal public organizations established by the Ukrainian nationalists, and the network of mass media. The research methodology is based on the application of the principles of historicism, objectivity, and scientificity, using concrete historical, comparative historical, problem chronological, and structural systemic methods. The scientific novelty consists in the fact that for the first time, on the basis of previously unavailable documents from the OUN archives, there has been elucidated the organizational structure development of the foreign units of the OUN and the system of public organizations and mass media networks established by them in emigration during the specified chronological period. Conclusions. It has been determined that the process of mass resettlement of the Ukrainians with the status of relocated people within Europe and other countries overseas had a significant impact on the organizational development of foreign units of the OUN in 1948 – 1951. As a result, field organizations in Germany and Austria lost a significant number of members and ceased to be basic. After the resettlement of the former participants of Division 1 of the United National Army from Italy, the field organization of Great Britain became basic in Europe. At the same time, the process of resettlement made it possible to develop the Foreign Units of the OUN in the USA, Canada, Argentina, and Australia, which practically had not existed there before 1948. As tools of an external activity, the Foreign Units of the OUN also developed a wide system of legal public organizations, a network of printed mass media, organized their own underground radio station, and after its closure, the Ukrainian department as part of the Spanish radio station. This allowed them to effectively increase their public influence and spread the ideas of national liberation among the Ukrainian emigration and foreign citizens in the countries of settlement.