The Beginning of the "Second Imperialist War" and the "Ukrainian Question": Some Diplomatic, Political, and Military Aspects
World War II and Ukraine: Problems and Searches
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15407/uhj2019.05.004Keywords:
World War II, Germany, USSR, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Ukraine, international relations, “appeasement” policy, Munich Agreement, Molotov – Ribbentrop Pact, historiography.Abstract
Abstract. The purpose of the study is to analyze the interpretations of the beginning of World War II and the Ukrainian factor in it in contemporary scientific discourse and to cover international relations before and after the global conflict in September 1939. The methodology is based on the application of interdisciplinary (historical, political, military) approaches to the interpretation of the events of the second half of the 1930s, as well as theoretical and conceptual developments of leading domestic and foreign specialists and modern terminological apparatus. Conclusions. Based on the analysis of a significant array of literature and sources of various types and contents, the article examines the beginning of the World War II, the reasons for which are primarily related to the imperfect world structure that developed in the form of the Versailles-Washingtonsystem of international relations following the World War I. As a result of this, as well as the global economic crisis of 1929–1933, authoritarian, military dictatorial and totalitarian regimes were established in many European countries, dragged humanity into the military-political crisis of the 30s, and then in World War II. The purpose of the article is to analyse historiographic interpretations of the beginning of World War II and the Ukrainian factor in modern scientific discourse and emphasize international relations on the eve of the global world conflict and during its beginning in September 1939. Authors focus their attention on the significance and consequences of the Munich Agreement of 1938 and the Molotov – Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 in the history of World War II, controversial opinions on these events in modern historiography and discussions about the date of the beginning of the war, as well as the deployment of training and military operations of Germany and the Soviet Union against Poland. The article emphasizes the responsibility of all the leading states of the world, primarily Germany, Japan, Italy, USSR, Great Britain, France, and USA, as well as “secondary” actors in international relations (Poland, Hungary, Romania) for тunleashing the World War II.
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