“NON RECEVABILITÉ”: THE SUBCARPATHIAN RUTHENIAN QUESTION IN I. KURTYAK’S PETITIONS TO THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS

Abstract

The article aims to explore the Subcarpathian Ruthenian question in Ivan Kurtyak’s petitions to the League of Nations. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, systematicity, and a critical approach to heuristic sources, as well as general scientific and special methods. The scientific novelty lies in reflecting the Subcarpathian Ruthenian question in the petitions of Ivan Kurtyak, a Czechoslo- vak parliament deputy and head of the Autonomous Agrarian Union, to the League of Nations. Conclusions.I. Kurtyak sent three petitions to the League of Nations in 1924, 1928, and 1931. The main demand in Kur- tyak’s appeals to the international organization was the fulfillment of Czechoslovakia’s obligations, stipulated by the Treaty of Saint-Germain, regarding the granting of autonomy to Subcarpathian Rus’ within the Czecho- slovak Republic, and a request to the League of Nations for its intervention in the situation to obtain and ensure proper autonomous status for the Ruthenian population and resolve border issues. Kurtyak’s rhetoricin the petitions regarding Prague’s policy in Subcarpathian Rus’ was critical; he warned against the danger of irredentism, the radicalization of public sentiment, and the intensification of Bolshevik propaganda, and refuted the Czechoslovak theory about the economic and intellectual incapacity of the Ruthenians. He empha- sized to the League of Nations the population’s expectation of the promised autonomy. The deputy’s appeals to the League of Nations demonstrate a vision of Czechoslovakia’s policy and reforms regarding the regionand its population through the lens of the petitioner’s pro-Hungarian stance. Kurtyak believed that granting autonomy to Subcarpathian Rus’, as well as adhering to other international agreements concerning the region and its population, was the only way to resolve the complex situation in the region, improve the position of the Ruthenians, and restore stability. At the same time, under pressure from bureaucratic procedures and Czecho- slovak lobbying in the international arena, none of Kurtyak’s petitions were submitted for consideration by theLeague of Nations, as they were deemed “inadmissible”.