ACTIVITY PETRO BUBELA’S AT THE FINAL STAGE OF THE STRUGGLE FOR UKRAINIAN STATEHOOD

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to reveal the activity of one of the leading Galician military figures, lawyer by education Petro Bubela (1889 – 1934?) at the final stage of his life. His work in the leading position of the Deputy State Secretary for Military Affairs of the Western Region of the Ukrainian People’s Republic (ZOUNR), participation in the development of the armed forces − the Galician Army (GA), which was forced to resist the Polish armed aggression, is shown. The events of 1919 on the Polish-Ukrainian front are briefly analyzed – the Polish offensives and Ukrainian counteroffensives from January to March 1919, and a radical change in the situation on the front after the arrival of the well-trained and armed by the Entente Polish army under the command of General Józef Haller in Galicia. After retreating beyond the Zbruch River, the Galician soldiers found themselves in the territory controlled by the Army of the Ukrainian People’s Republic. The functions of the “temporary capital” were then performed by Vinnytsia, whose military commandant was P. Bubela. In “big” Ukraine, Galicians had to resist the Russian (“white” and “red”) occupants. P. Bubela’s participation in the complex negotiation missions with the representatives of A. Denikin’s “white” army (M. Bredov, M. Schilling) is covered. The study, based on the archival materials and memoirs, attempts to reproduce the course of events related to the “Odesa” period of P. Bubela’s life and activity. Having left Vinnytsia as a result of the Bolshevik offensive, he found himself in Odesa. After its capture by the “Reds”, he was forced to adapt to the difficult conditions of Soviet reality. In the early 1920s, P. Bubela was arrested by the Bolsheviks and taken to Kharkiv. After his release, he returned to Odesa and worked as a clerk in the Red Cross. During the Stalinist repressions of the 1930s, he was arrested again on March 23, 1931, and sentenced to three years in prison camps. The tragic fate of P. Bubela’s family, whose members were also persecuted after the Soviet occupation of Galicia in 1939, is also briefly revealed. The struggle of Galicians for Ukrainian statehood in the early 20th century convincingly proves that Ukrainian people, like other European nations, are quite capable of state life. During this period, thousands of selfless fighters for the freedom of Ukraine reached national maturity. P. Bubela took an honorable place on this list. Ukrainian historians still owe a great deal to the creators and defenders of Ukrainian statehood in the early 20th century, to the generation of Galicians who had to live during the years of high national upsurge. Therefore, the activity and life of such prominent figures as P. Bubela requires further study and thorough research.