Ukrainian national identity on the territory of Western Ukraine under Polish rule in the interwar period (1918-1939)

The national politics of interwar Poland aimed at the full assimilation of the national minorities, including Ukrainians who lived in the occupied region of Eastern Galicia. This thesis studies the political basis, tools and outcomes of polonization policy during the period between 1918 and 1939 on the territory of Eastern Galicia and its main city Lviv. Deep analysis of Polish and Ukrainian political doctrines, Polish legislation, books, articles and periodical of the interwar period, as well as of modern historiography (both Polish and Ukrainian) resulted in developing of a comprehensive understanding of why the policy of polonization, aimed on population of Eastern Galicia failed to change historical Ukrainian identity. The data gathered in the analysis proves that the Polish government used tremendously rigid, if not brutal, tools of assimilation, and it resulted in rejection of the Polish national identity by Ukrainians. Moreover, confidence in the fact that Ukrainians are nothing more than underdeveloped Poles-to-be rise led to the rise of Ukrainian radical nationalism on the eve of the Second World War. Keywords Ukraine, Poland, National Identity, Assimilation, Polonization, Interwar Perio