ACTIVITIES OF THE AFFILIATE OF THE CENTRAL INFORMATION BUREAU AT THE DIRECTORY OF THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC IN OF THE TOWN OF KOLOMYIA

Abstract

The article analyzes the activity of the affiliate of the Central Information Bureau at the Directory of the Ukrainian People’s Republic in of the town of Kolomyia in March – May 1919.

One of the first steps in promoting the unity of the Ukrainian lands in Eastern Galicia was the estab- lishment in February 1919 of branches of the Central Information Bureau under the Directory of the Ukrainian People’s Republic. They were to conduct coordination of information and propaganda activities of the young Ukrainian state. One of such centers was a affiliate in of the town of Kolomyia, which aimed to conduct information and propaganda work among the citizens of Pokuttya, Zakarpattia and Bukovyna.

It was planned to provide objective information on the course of political events, to explain and dissemi- nate the normative documents of the Ukrainian People’s Republic and the Western region Ukrainian People’s Republic; through the interpretation of laws, to assist the activities of Ukrainian organizations on the ground; to inform about all cases of governmental, national-state and political-economic nature, etc.

The affiliate of the Central Information Bureau under the Directory of the Ukrainian People’s Republic in of the town of Kolomyia has created information centers in more than ten settlements of Pokuttya and Galician Hutsul region. Its newspaper mouthpieces were the magazines “News. Information diary” and “Pokutsky Herald”. These newspapers constantly contained reports of the Ukrainian Press Bureau on the most important events in the socio-political life of the region, Ukraine and the world. Thus, there was a clear scheme of reporting on political and military events, the first place in which was occupied by references to a particular Press office or agency.

The newspaper articles of the Kolomyia affiliate of the Central Information Bureau under the Directory of the Ukrainian People’s Republic contained information about the socio-economic, socio-political and cultural-educational situation of the region’s residents. These materials are almost the only reliable source that informed about the life of the settlements of Pokuttya and Galician Hutsul region at that time.

The establishment of a affiliate of the Central Information Bureau under the Directory of the Ukrainian People’s Republic in of the town of Kolomyia was one of the ways to strengthen the position of Ukrainian statehood in the complex domestic and international socio-political context of the time. Reports from the correspondents of the agency’s branches helped to sharpen public attention to government decisions and the problems of the then population, to unite the Ukrainian national intelligentsia with a common goal.

Keywords: Central Information Bureau under the Directory of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, affiliate, Ukrainian Press Bureau, Galician Information Bureau, newspaper, agency, questionnaire