Politics of the Ukrainian SSR/USSR on Ukrainian Emigration in Czechoslovakia (1920s)

Abstract

During the 1920s, the leadership of the Ukrainian SSR / USSR conducted an active policy of eliminating, including physical, emigration from the former Russian Empire. Emigration was regarded as a threat to the existence of the USSR, it was organized on the rejection of Bolshevism. It was a means of propaganda against Bolshevism in the world scene. To reduce the activity of emigrants, amnesties were periodically proclaimed; another powerful form of struggle was the powerful propaganda of the achievements of the communist regime by influence agents. In the 1920s, Czechoslovakia became the center of activity for various Ukrainian political parties and movements. Ukrainian higher educational institutions functioned here and until 1923 there were organized military formations (Soviet agitators were active among students and interned military. Soviet diplomatic missions and consular offices controlled and supported (both ideologically and financially) their activities. To a large extent and as a result, Ukrainian emigrants in Czechoslovakia did not create a single association, and most of them recognized the Soviet government and returned to the Ukrainian SSR / USSR.

Keywords: Ukrainian SSR, Ukrainian emigration, Czechoslovakia, repatriation