Small Diplomacy: Cultural Cooperation As a Factor Alleviating Societal Tensions. The Case of Lviv and Its Polish Partner Cities

ABSTRACT

Poland and Ukraine share a long and complicated history with some really dramatic events which still overshadow relations between both nations, especially those which took place in Volhynia and other areas with a mixed Polish–Ukrainian population during 1943–1945 when soldiers of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), the military wing of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists – Bandera faction (OUN-B), planned and carried out the extermination of the Polish population. What is more, the nationalists killed several hundred Ukrainians as all manifestations of friendliness towards Poles were regarded as acts of collaboration with the enemy and a betrayal of national ideas. The main difference between the approach of Polish and Ukrainian historians is the terminology which they use to describe and evaluate those events. The endless public discussions, often accompanied by negative emotions, continues to heat up the historical debate. The Volhynia massacre, as it is often called in Poland, or the Volhynian tragedy, the term used by more moderate Ukrainian researchers, still overshadows Polish–Ukrainian relations. The echoes of this historical conflict (some historians claim that the Volhynian events were a continuation of the Polish-Ukrainian war of 1918–1919 for control over Lviv and Eastern Galicia) also exert a significant influence on the political decisions made by both countries with regard to commemoration of the victims – for indeed, they have become an element of the Polish–Ukrainian conflict of memory. During the communist period, there was no opportunity to talk openly about the history and conflict that divided the two nations. Nowadays, there are many initiatives aimed at reconstructing the past and building a new future. Many of these are inspired by culture and take advantage of its various forms. This article discusses detailed research on how city twinning and cultural cooperation can become a tool of small diplomacy. The case of Ukrainian Lviv and its six Polish partner cities has been studied.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Project EUBORDERSCAPES, financed though the EU’s 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development 290775.