Consolidation Processes in Ukrainian Diaspora: The Activites of the Pan- American Ukrainian Conference
Authors: VAKHNIANYN Anna 
Published: October 2022

The Ukrainians were politically active in emigration, but for a long time there existed only a well-branched chain of local organizations. They lacked organizational superstructure. In the end, the hierarchy of the Ukrainian diaspora’s organizations was built completely in 1967 with the institution – World Congress of Free Ukrainians. Though the idea of calling up a Congress originated among Ukrainian emigrants in the 1930s, it was realized only in 1967 by the PAUC. Despite the significant role the PAUC played in the process of Ukrainian diaspora consolidation, the institution was not the object of individual research in modern historiography. Dmytro Reshetchenko, Roman Kostyshyn, Ruslan Siromskyi, Andriy Yatsiv partly investigated a few sessions of the PAUC and its other activities. The function of the PAUC must be meticulously examined and clarified, as our study aims to analyze activity of PAUC in 1947–1967 and determine its contribution to the unification processes of the Ukrainian diaspora. The American Ukrainians established the PAUC in 1947 and delegated to it the task of holding the World Congress of Free Ukrainians. We may perceive that after unsuccessful attempts of organizing congress in 1930 the Ukrainians were persistent in bringing the idea to life. To the contrary, the ambition to hold the congress gained even more popularity and relevance after ІІ World War. The first obstacle the PAUC faced in the process of consolidation was the existence of several political centers which held opposite views. Every center wanted to dominate in political life and take its lead in establishing the superstructure. The reason why the activities of the PAUC were limited only to declamatory documents and manifesto іn 1947–1957 was the lack of unity and conflicts among political bodies. The colonel Andriy Melnyk emphasized the necessity of convening the All-Ukrainian congress and establishing a unifying organization for Ukrainian diaspora in his speech in 1957. He asked the Canadian Ukrainians to lead this process. They initiated the 4th session of PAUK, which again announced the World Congress of Free Ukrainians in autumn 1961. They established the Preparatory Committee, including two commissions – Organizational and Program to realize this declaration. The committee worked very intensively according to chairmen Organizational and Program commission reports, announced on the 4th session of the PAUC. Despite this, they were unable to fully perform their duties and organize the congress. The reasons were the same – the rivalry among political centers. On the Preparative Committee conference held in 1966 the date of the World Congress of Free Ukrainians was announced – November, 1967, which was dedicated to the anniversary of proclamation of the Ukrainian National Republic. They also reported about the preparatory state to congress. After that, on January 22, 1967 Manifesto on holding the World Congress of Free Ukrainians was declared. The preparations for the congress was the most hotly discussed topic in the Ukrainian newspapers. To sum up, the PAUC was acting during 1947–1967 with the aim to hold the World Congress of Free Ukrainians and establish the superstructure for the Ukrainian diaspora. Despite a lot of failures, the PAUC did not stop its activities and fulfilled its duty. The most prominent achievement of the PAUC was successful negotiations with the representatives of the leading organizations and the involvement into the work of congress, which gave the World Congress of Free Ukrainians an opportunity to represent all the Ukrainian nation. The World Congress of Free Ukrainians was a permanently active institution, defended rights Ukrainians, and cherished Ukrainian identity.