Kavunnyk V. The Riga peace in the diplomatic correspondences of governments of Ukrainian People's Republic and Ukrainian Socialistic Soviet Republic (August 1920 - March 1921).

Traditional historians consider the Riga peace treaty the event that concluded the war between Poland and the Bolshevik governments in Russia, Ukraine and Byelorussia. However, Polish and Russian historical literature tends to ignore the existence of national governments in Ukraine and Byelorussia at that time that were, unlike the puppet Bolshevik-established governments, legitimate. At the same time, the Riga peace treaty signified the end of the Ukrainian-Russian war, the result of which was that the Bolshevik Russia established a fictitious dependent government by the name of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on the territories of Ukraine occupied by the Russian army. In the Communist literature the events of 1918-1920 are treated as a civil war and struggle against a foreign intervention, and the Riga peace treaty - as a result of the peaceful foreign policy of Russia. After the disintegration of Soviet Union the diplomatic documents of the governments of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, the Ukraine People's Republic and the Ukraine Soviet Socialist Republic ceased to be a state secret and became accessible to historians. An analysis of these archives, documents, and the most recent historical research give us grounds to treat the events of 1918 -1920 in Ukraine as a defensive war of Ukraine against Soviet Russia, as well as a possibility to investigate the policy of the European government Ukraine in connection with this war. On the basis of a number of diplomatic documents of the governments of the Ukrainian People's Republic and Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic the preconditions and consequences of the signing of the peace treaties of October 12, 1920 and March 18, 1921 in Riga have been elucidated in the dissertation. The documents stored in the funds of the Central state archives of Ukraine, published in collections, as well as monographs and papers constitute the basis for the present research. Also have been defined some peculiarities of the Ukrainian, Soviet (Russian) and Polish historiographical traditions in the assessment of the peace negotiations in Minsk and Riga in the period between August 17, 1920 up to March 18, 1921 and their significance for East Europe. On the basis of international treaties and diplomatic documents of the Ukrainian People's Republic government the Riga peace treaties are analyzed in the context of the Ukrainian-Russian war (December 1918 - November 1920). Special attention has been paid to the attitude of the states of Europe to the Ukrainian People's Republic and its war for independence. Within the bounds of the negotiation also are investigated the Polish-Ukrainian international relations because of the existence of a military and political union. On the basis of the existing numerous diplomatic documents of the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic the institualization of C. Rakovsky's Cabinet in Ukraine within 1919-1920 is analyzed along with functioning of the Commissariat of foreign affairs and the role of the diplomats of the government of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic within the Russian delegation in the signing of the Riga peace treaty has been defined. As a result of our sources research it was ascertained that the Riga peace treaty legalized the government of C. Rakovsky on the occupied by the Bolshevist army territory of Ukraine.