Episodes from the history of Ukrainian military diplomacy
September 23, 2009
Ukraine has a long tradition of authorizing the military to conduct diplomatic assignments which has been known since the times of the Great Scythia (VII - IV centuries B.C.), the Bosphor State (V B.C. - IV centuries A.D.) and the Pontus (302 - 64 B.C.). The ancient Kievan State and its successor, the Galician State, conducted a brisk diplomacy carried out by the professional military in the first place - the boyars and the men-at-arms. The Lower Zaporizhya Army (the Ukrainian Cossack republic) which from the 15th century inherited the Ukrainian state-building traditions on the Dnipro’s islands also maintained diplomatic relations with the adjacent states.
Ukraine has a long tradition of authorizing the military to conduct diplomatic assignments which has been known since the times of the Great Scythia (VII - IV centuries B.C.), the Bosphor State (V B.C. - IV centuries A.D.) and the Pontus (302 - 64 B.C.). The ancient Kievan State and its successor, the Galician State, conducted a brisk diplomacy carried out by the professional military in the first place - the boyars and the men-at-arms. The Lower Zaporizhya Army (the Ukrainian Cossack republic) which from the 15th century inherited the Ukrainian state-building traditions on the Dnipro’s islands also maintained diplomatic relations with the adjacent states.
Bohdan Khmelnitsky’s diplomatic missions were headed by and comprised of the Cossack officers over the period of existence of the Ukrainian Cossack State in the 17th - 18th centuries. The reason is that the Cossack officers’ corps wasn’t lacking highly-educated people who possessed knowledge of other countries’ languages and traditions. Khmelnitsky himself graduated from Lviv Collegium, whereas Col. Morozenko studied at the University of Padua, Italy. Yuri Nemyrych studied in England, Belgium, and Germany. All these people had put their knowledge, experience and even lives on the altar of the independent Ukraine.
After the Ukrainian People’s Republic came to existence in 1917, the new government faced the need to establish foreign connections with other states. The mission has been undertaken by the brand-new Ukrainian - and military - diplomacy.
On 14 December 1917, the General Secretariat of Ukrainian People’s Republic authorized Ukrainian Army officer Y. Gasenko to carry out a special mission abroad and provided him with oral instructions. The first ever military diplomat in the newest history of Ukraine worked in Switzerland, having founded a diplomatic mission of UPR that undertook the functions of the embassy, the consulate and the press-bureau. By this he established an important organizational background for spreading the political presence of Ukraine and its information links abroad.
The strengthening of an effective permanent diplomatic representation of Ukraine abroad, as well as of the military attaché corps owes much to the activities of Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky’s administration. In June 1918, the General Headquarters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were re-organized. It was then that the 1st General Quartermaster Service was established within the General Headquarters. It supervised the Foreign Section, which was supposed to organize the activities of military attaché.
Ukrainian naval attaché were supervised by the Naval General HQ that also incorporated a Foreign Section.
On 4 July 1918, a Law “On appointment of naval agents and establishment of naval agents' positions within embassies of the Ukrainian state” is adopted. According to this Law, naval attaché were accredited under Ukrainian diplomatic missions in Germany (covering Denmark, Holland and Sweden), Austria-Hungary, Romania and Turkey.
On 6 July 1918, Captain 2nd grade S. Bamanov was appointed naval attaché to conduct diplomatic activity in Romania. On 12 August 1918, Captain 1st grade O. Zarudniy was appointed naval attaché in Turkey. On 15 August 1918, Captain 2nd grade L. Dashkevich-Gorbatskiy was appointed naval attaché in Austria-Hungary. The naval diplomats of Ukraine became the first overseas representatives of the restored state’s Armed Forces.
In the autumn of 1918, offices of military attaché began operating under the embassies of Ukraine in Turkey, Romania and Switzerland. The following officers were among the first military attaché that represented the Ukrainian state in the mentioned countries: Colonel V. Vasilyev (Turkey), Colonel V. Seredin (Romania), and Cornet L. Drozdovskiy (Switzerland).
After the Directory came to power in Ukraine in December of 1918, offices of military attaché were established under the embassies of Ukrainian People’s Republic in Poland, France, Italy, and Georgia.
The General HQ of the Army of the Directory incorporated the 2nd Intelligence Board, which had the section of Foreign Liaison in order to coordinate the activities of military diplomatic representatives. It was headed by sotnik (company commander) P. Kryzhanivskiy and had an authorized strength of 9 officers.
Military diplomatic missions of Ukraine in 1917 – 1920
