Agitational and propagandistic activities of soviet underground members and partisans in the Lviv region (1942–1944)

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to undertake a rigorous analysis of the strategic preparation and practical implementation of agitation and propaganda initiatives orchestrated by Soviet underground networks and partisan detachments operating within the Lviv region during the period of German occupation. The methodology of the research employs a carefully considered synthesis of fundamental scientific methods and specialized historical inquiry approaches, directed towards the identification, detailed description, and critical explanation of the underlying causes and mechanisms driving the aforementioned agitation and propaganda activities executed by participants in the Soviet underground-partisan movement. The scientific novelty of this study lies in the primary introduction into public scholarly discourse of previously unexamined archival sources drawn from the holdings of the Central State Archive of Public Associations of Ukraine and the State Archive of the Lviv Region. These primary materials facilitate a critical reassessment of established ideological tenets within Soviet historiography and afford an opportunity for a more objective evaluation of the principal agents engaged in the military-political contestation unfolding in the German-occupied rear—specifically within the territory constituting the former Lviv Region of the Ukrainian SSR, which formed an integral part of the "Galicia" District under the General Government of occupied Polish lands. The conclusions of this investigation demonstrate the circumscribed presence of Soviet partisan and underground organizations within the Lviv region. Emphasis is placed on their tenuous connections with the indigenous Ukrainian populace, a circumstance attributed to the biographical trajectories of the movement's organizers and a significant portion of its participants, who predominantly originated from the eastern regions of the USSR and the Ukrainian SSR or comprised local Polish individuals. The study further elucidates the organizational and propagandistic interdependencies between Soviet underground combatants and partisans, and the Polish anti-Nazi resistance movement, which espoused pro-Soviet ideological orientations. Particular scholarly attention is devoted to the pivotal role played by the latter in the initial developmental phases of the Soviet underground in Lviv and its immediate vicinity during the years 1942–1943. The article provides a detailed analysis of the diverse forms and methodological approaches characterizing the agitation and propaganda activities undertaken by Soviet underground operatives and partisans in the Lviv region throughout the German occupation, alongside an assessment of their discernible impact on the local population. It is posited that contemporary instruments designed for the study of modern public opinion are ill-suited for accurately gauging the nature and extent of communicative influence on public consciousness during the exigencies of the Second World War. Nevertheless, through the synthesis of data concerning the dissemination of printed propaganda materials and publications, it can be asserted that Soviet underground structures engaged in systematic endeavors to shape the socio-political attitudes of the local, notably Polish, population — through explicit appeals for resistance against the Nazi occupation regime and, more specifically, through targeted opposition to the OUN–UPA. While the overarching objective of broadening the social base of support for Soviet formations and augmenting their numerical strength via intensive informational and psychological influence – primarily through the medium of printed propaganda – was not fully realized, from a historical vantage point, certain latent strategic aims were partially accomplished. This was particularly evident during the spring and summer of 1944, through the intensification of Ukrainian–Polish antagonisms.