The dissertation presents the results of the study of information confrontation between Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires on Ukrainian lands during the First World War. The propaganda work during the First World War on the South-Western Front was analyzed, features of the propaganda of both empires were determined. The attention was paid to the Ukrainian context of the propaganda war of 1914-1917. It was emphasized that the confrontation between the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires began in the XIX century, not least because of the "Balkan question". In the information struggle, the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires pledged to split into a hostile state, using the factor of multiethnicity of the empires. On the eve of the Great War, both empires expanded the informational presence on the frontier territories of the future enemy. Considering Galicia, Volhynia and Podillya as regions whose population was to be prepared for the upcoming war, and drawn to their side, the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires began an ideological expansion on the territory of their neighbor. The Ukrainian component of the information war was addressed by propagandists of both countries. A significant mass of Russian propaganda is devoted to the issue of Galician Rus. Instead, Austria-Hungary supported the Ukrainian and Polish national movements, with the prospect of spreading separatist sentiments in the southwestern provinces of Russia. The relationship between propaganda measures and military actions is revealed. Compared with other fronts, in the South-Western Front more active military action was carried out. The turn of a maneuverable war with trench warfare directly influenced the conduct of propaganda. Own victories and hostile defeats during the Galician Battle, Gorlitsky, or Brusilov breakthrough gave new material to Austro-Hungarian and Russian propaganda. The study of propaganda as an integral factor in combat operations on the Southwest Front in 1914-1917 gives an opportunity to draw the following conclusions. At the initial stage of the war, propaganda confrontation was dominated by Russia. The offensive of the Russian troops was complemented by the ideological attack of Pan-Slavism. Subsequently, Austria-Hungary and Germany took revenge and deployed a mass-setting counter-propaganda, whose effectiveness could be explained by the aggravation of the internal crisis in the Russian Empire. The higher political and military leadership of Russia underestimated propaganda as an integral component of a new type of war. In contrast, the Austro-Hungarians immediately selected the main plots of their propaganda not own victories (which, in the context of the positional war, became rarities), but anti-war and anti-government motives. It is concluded that although Russian and Austro-Hungarian propaganda of the First World War differed in specific features, but often had similar subjects and performed the same functions - creating a clear negative image of the enemy, forming a patriotic mood among the population, campaigning to help its state to achieve victory.
