"The Ukrainian women's union" in Rivne (1926 - 1938): structure, public activities, relations with the government

Abstract

The purpose of the research. The article highlights the emergence, forms of activity, and circumstances of the women’s organization “The Ukrainian Women’s Union” winding up with its centre in Rivne and its branches in the territory of Volyn Voivodeship. It has been determined that the women’s organization represented the socio-political and socio-cultural practices of women in Western Volyn. The methodology of the research is based on historical cultural, chronological methods, as well as methods of analysis and systematization, which made it possible to consider the conditions for the women’s organization emergence, its relations with the Polish authorities, forms of work and significance to the national self-awareness of the local Ukrainian population. The method of prosopography has been applied in order to find out the names of the women’s organization members. The scientific novelty of the article consists in the fact that the archival documents and interwar periodicals were found and researched, which made it possible to elucidate the peculiarities of the programme principles, forms of work, relations with the Polish authorities of “The Ukrainian Women’s Union” with its centre in Rivne, and to find out the names of the Ukrainian women activists. The Conclusions. In the first half of the 1920s activation of the women’s movement in Western Volyn was associated with the women’s section emergence at povits “Prosvita”, and later on with the women’s organization functioning – “The Ukrainian Women’s Union” with its centre in Rivne and its branches, the foundators of which were the local Ukrainian women and political emigrants of the Ukrainian People’s Republic. As a result of the Polish authorities ban on the Galician-Volyn women’s organization establishment, “The Ukrainian Women’s Union” in Rivne extended its influence only to Volyn Voivodeship, establishing a number of departments. “The Ukrainian Womens’ Union” in Rivne was aimed at the national activity, the organization kept in touch with “The Ukrainian Women’s Union” in Galicia, which led to persecution by the Polish authorities. Under conditions of the “Volhynia Experiment” brought in by Henryk Józewski and the idea of the “Sokal border” in opposition to “The Ukrainian Women’s Union” in Rivne, a pro-government women’s organization “The Ukrainian Women’s Union of Public Work” was founded in Lutsk as its centre. The situation, internal contradictions, as well as the passivity of a part of women, led to the final winding up of The Ukrainian Women’s Union.