ROADMAP OF UKRAINIAN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE (EXPERIENCE OF THE FIRST LIBERATION STRUGGLES OF 1917–1921)

Abstract

In the article, through the prism of studying the works of representatives of the Ukrainian emigration of the interwar period, the theoretical and practical dimensions of the specifics of the functioning of military security categories in terms of intelligence activities, in particular in the active army, are clarified. It is proved that the interpretation of military intelligence by the participants of the first Liberation Movement 1917–1921 did not concern its foundations, but rather its components – strategic, operational, tactical intelligence, including military intelligence in terms of tactical intelligence. It is established that for the participants of the first Liberation Movement, Ukrainian military intelligence was more of an army foreign intelligence service, whose main task was to secretly collect and analyse intelligence information, create an effective network of agents in enemy territory in time of war and peace. The main groups and categories of intelligence officers and commanders of military intelligence, its organisational structure, competences and tasks are considered. The work of the commander in obtaining intelligence, as well as the participation of women in military intelligence, is also traced. The content of the analysed opinions of the representatives of Ukrainian military and political thought of the interwar period shows that in institutional and organisational terms, the structure of the future military intelligence corresponded to the then ideas about the methods of conducting military intelligence, the order of organisation, processing of intelligence, and the characteristics of military intelligence means. Based on the study of the materials of publications of the 1930s, we assume that the basic model for the creation of the Ukrainian military intelligence was based on the models of the Polish and French armies, in particular, the specifics of the functioning of intelligence departments within the General Staff of the Second Polish Republic (Druga Rzeczpospolita) and the French Republic. It is argued that the generalisations and proposals of the Ukrainian military of the 1930s are of significant importance for the study of the history of Ukrainian military intelligence, its specificity in the context of, firstly, the nationalist underground and, secondly, the veteran (“combatant”) environment of interwar Europe.