The Archives of the Ministry of Polish Affairs of the Ukrainian People’s Republic (1917–1918): an Attempt of Reconstruction

The aim of the study is to reconstruct the key stages in the formation, functioning, relocation, and preservation of the collection of sources that emerged from the activities of the Ministry of Polish Affairs of the Ukrainian People's Republic and the structural divisions of the General Secretariat that preceded it. The methodological foundation of the study is a combination of general scientific, historical, and interdisciplinary research methods. The historical-genetic method was most intensively employed in reconstructing the history of the Archives of the Ministry of Polish Affairs. The use of the historical-systematic method enabled the establishment of connections among the surviving parts of the archive. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of individual documents allowed for determining the informational value of each surviving segment of the Ministry's archives and evaluating its overall informational potential. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that, for the first time, a comprehensive analysis of the Archives of the Ministry of Polish Affairs as a governmental institution of the Ukrainian People's Republic has been conducted. On one hand, this sheds light on the functioning of governmental archives during the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917–1921. On the other hand, it allows the attribution of specific documents or their collections as parts of the archive of an institution whose activities had a significant impact on the development of Ukrainian-Polish relations during the specified period. The article also evaluates the extent of material losses from this archive and the informational potential of the surviving fragments. Conclusions. The Archives of the Ministry of Polish Affairs of the Ukrainian People's Republic suffered significant losses and was dispersed shortly after its dissolution. Parts of this archive are currently preserved in the collections of three archival institutions in Ukraine and Poland. The identified and attributed portions of the archive possess high informational potential, with a substantial part of the documents they contain yet to be introduced into scholarly circulation.