The issue of Crimea in the Ukrainian geopolitical doctrines of the first half of the twentieth century

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the coverage of the Crimea issue for the existence and development of Ukrainian statehood in the geopolitical teachings of Ukrainian thinkers of the first half of the twentieth century. For them, the "Crimean issue" is part of the theoretical search for geopolitical directions of Ukraine’s development in the past, present and in the future. It is emphasized that the consideration of the geographical factor as an important factor in politics has a significant historical tradition. It is noted that Ukrainian geopolitical theorists of the first half of the twentieth century assumed that the conquest of the northern Black Sea coast provided Ukraine with access to the communication space in terms of defense, political interaction with its partners and trade and economic ties. It is noted that the works analyzed in this article state that the geopolitical significance of the Crimean peninsula, the Black Sea area and the Ukrainian lands is virtually unchanged in different historical epochs from antiquity to the events of the early twentieth century. It is noted that the loss of Crimea in 1918 was seen by Ukrainian geopolitical thought of the first half of the twentieth century as a strategic defeat, which was due, among other things, to the quality of the then domestic political elite and its lack of fundamental geopolitical knowledge. At the same time, thinkers draw attention to the fact that the then political partners of the young Ukrainian state were guided in their actions, primarily on the basis of their own national geopolitical interests. It is concluded that the theoretical work of representatives of Ukrainian political thought of the first half of the twentieth century in the situation around Ukraine and throughout the Eastern European region, including the issue of deoccupation and return of the Crimean peninsula to Ukrainian jurisdiction.