Radio and Telegraph Communication as One of the Areas of Information and Propaganda Activities of the Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) in 1920

In the formation of the Ukrainian State, the period of 1917–1921 is extremely valuable, unique, albeit rather ambiguous and full of contradictions. This period saw the Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) proclamation and establishment as a sovereign, self-sufficient, and integral entity with a peculiar political and territorial organisation. Events of such high social significance required prompt delivery of information to the Ukrainian and world community, clear and constant articulation of the idea of Ukrainian, given the evolution of Ukraine's formation on the maps of Europe in the second decade of the twentieth century. The Ukrainian state was in dire need of a regular and sophisticated communication system between the authorities and the internal and external communities. To this end, close attention was paid to establishing an effective communication system inside and outside the country. The primary role in these processes was assigned to information and propaganda activities, which were to be carried out by the governmental institutions of the UPR. Because of the above, the purpose of the study is to clarify the place and role of such crucial means of information and propaganda activities of the UPR as radio and telegraph communication. The attempts to establish the transmission of important socially significant information through the radiotelegraph are considered the first step towards the emergence of Ukrainian national radio broadcasting. To achieve this goal, the following methods were used: the method of studying empirical material (archival documents), the descriptive method, and the generalisation method. The materials of the Central State Archive of Higher Bodies of Power and Administration of Ukraine revealed that the bulk of information and propaganda work was entrusted to two structural units – the Ministry of Press and Propaganda and the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs [hereinafter all words are capitalised following the documents of the time – author's note]