Communist Party of Western Ukraine (; uk, Комуністична партія Західної України) was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

in eastern interwar

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. Until 1923 it was known as the Communist Party of Eastern Galicia (Komunistyczna Partia Wschodniej Galicji). Young Communist League of Western Ukraine was the youth league of the party. According to Timothy D. Snyder, the Communist Party of Western Ukraine was an illegal and conspiratorial organization in interwar

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

and

Volhynia Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. The ...

. It had a small formal membership, but had a large influence via

front organizations A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy ...

. Its membership was mostly Ukrainian in the countryside and Jewish in towns. The party was more influential during the NEP era in the Bolshevist Russia and the Soviet Union, and the

Ukrainization Ukrainization (also spelled Ukrainisation), sometimes referred to as Ukrainianization (or Ukrainianisation) is a policy or practice of increasing the usage and facilitating the development of the Ukrainian language and promoting other elements of ...

in the

Soviet Ukraine The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

. Its influence faded away in 1930s due to Stalin's regime in the USSR and execution of his policies in Ukraine by Pavel Postyshev and

Lazar Kaganovich Lazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich, also Kahanovich (russian: Ла́зарь Моисе́евич Кагано́вич, Lázar' Moiséyevich Kaganóvich; – 25 July 1991), was a Soviet politician and administrator, and one of the main associates of ...

. At times, the Communist Party of Western Ukraine was split into different wings, the pro-Soviet faction and more independent one. In 1927, the majority of the Central Committee of the CPWU supported the 'nationalist' faction of

Alexander Shumsky Alexander Yakovlevich Shumsky or Oleksandr Yakovych Shumskyi ( uk, Олександр Якович Шумський, russian: Александр Яковлевич Шумский; 2 December 1890 – 18 September 1946) was a Ukrainian communist and ...

in the CPU(B). Consequently, Kaganovich, who was the general secretary of the CPU(B), accused the Western Ukrainian communists of treason. The CPWU split into majority 'nationalist' faction and a pro-Kaganovich minority. On 18 February 1928 the majority-CPWU led by Ivan Krilyk and Roman Turyansky was expelled from the

Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by ...

. By the end of 1928, the CPWU (majority) disbanded itself and its leaders who expressed regrets because of their 'errors' went to the USSR, where they were later repressed. The pro-Soviet minority continued as CPWU. http://iuprc.250free.com/RUS/PAST/MI-upa1-2003.htm In 1938, the Executive Committee of the

decided to disband the Communist Party of Poland, together with the Communist parties of Western Belarus and Western Ukraine. This decision was sparked by accusations that the leadership of those parties had been taken over by 'fascist agents'. Almost all the members of the CPWU who were in the USSR at the time, were repressed. Many activists who remained in

Western Ukraine Western Ukraine or West Ukraine ( uk, Західна Україна, Zakhidna Ukraina or , ) is the territory of Ukraine linked to the former Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, which was part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Austr ...

(Poland) were repressed later in 1939, after the

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military operation by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west. Subs ...

References

1919 establishments in Poland 1919 establishments in Ukraine 1938 disestablishments in Poland 1938 disestablishments in the Soviet Union

Defunct communist parties in Poland Defunct communist parties in Ukraine Political parties disestablished in 1938 Political parties established in 1919 Political repression in the Soviet Union Ukrainian political parties in Poland Separatism in Poland {{Ukraine-party-stub

See also

References