Ivan Franko’s Geopolitical Perspectives on Polish-Ukrainian Relations

Abstract

This article analyzes two of Ivan Franko’s journalistic pieces concerning Polish-Ukrainian relations from a geopolitical perspective. It examines the nature of the author’s critical stance, considering that he spoke on behalf of a people lacking statehood and possessing almost no national rights. At that time Franko spoke as an intellectual representative of a stateless nation that was largely deprived of basic national, political, and cultural rights under imperial rule. Franko’s reflections on Polish-Ukrainian relations reveal a complex understanding of national interests within the broader geopolitical structure of Central-Eastern Europe. The article highlights the evolution of Franko’s ideology and worldview, which influenced his views on Poles and Poland and traces the evolutionary trajectory of Franko’s ideology and broader worldview, demonstrating how his socio-political development directly informed and refined his views on Polish society, statehood, and historical destiny.

The study also examines the analytical nature and ethical grounding of Franko’s critical stance, taking into account the unique historical context in which he wrote. His arguments reflect an attempt to reconsider the place of Poland and Ukraine within the changing geopolitical configuration of Europe. It demonstrates that Franko envisioned Poland’s historical and geopolitical future primarily as a state firmly rooted along the Baltic coast and in the Oder Valley. This positioned the Polish nation as responsible for the fate of the Western Slavs – and, in the past, for the Prussians, who were ultimately destroyed by the German eastward expansion. Poland’s primary historical mission was to defend the territory between the Oder and the Vistula rivers against German encroachment. Conversely, Poland’s aggressive policies in the East – specifically in the lands of Rus and Lithuania – proved catastrophic in the long run. The article argues that Franko envisioned a future for Ukraine and Poland based on harmony between two great Slavic nations, both bearing responsibility for the destiny of all Central-Eastern Europe.