POLISH-UKRAINIAN DISPUTE ON TERRITORIAL ALLEGIANCE OF THE KHOLM REGION AT THE FINAL STAGE OF WORLD WAR I (FROM CORRESPONDENCE OF THE POLISH EPISCOPATE WITH VATICAN)

Abstract

The multinational territory of the Kholm region was recognized as a part of Ukraine after the negotiations between the Central Powers and the Ukrainian People's Republic in Brest-Litovsk in 1918. The decision caused resolute protests among both the Polish politicians and the Polish public. The church was also involved in the Polish-Ukrainian dispute on the territorial allegiance of the Kholm region. The secession of the Kholm region from Poland was opposed by the Polish episcopate. The Polish bishops proved the Polish nature of the region in the memorandum to the Pope Benedict XV. They also proved historical, national and religious rights of Poles to the Kholm region. They criticized the Galician Ukrainians belonged to the Greek Catholic Church who tried to restore the positions of the Church in the Kholm region and supported its accession to the Ukrainian state. The cooperation with the Russian authorities during the destruction of the Greek Catholic Church in the Kholm region in the 19thcentury, the opposition to the growth of Roman Catholic influence to the Greek Catholic Church in Galicia and close connections between the Greek Catholics and Orthodox Christians were among the points the Polish bishops accused them of. The bishops also believed the Kholm’s accession to Ukraine would create the threat of conversion of the local Polish population to the Orthodoxy. Finally, the Brest arrangements on transfer of the Kholm region to Ukraine havenot been realized. The region remained the part of Poland.