UKRAINIAN EMIGRATION TO GREAT BRITAIN: PERIODS, INSTITUTIONALIZATION AND FEATURES OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE UKRAINIAN DIASPORA

Andrii Hrubinko,

Dr. Habil. (History), Professor,

West Ukrainian National University, Ternopil, Ukraine

 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/2524-048X.2025.32.6

 

Abstract. The purpose of this article is to present the results of research into the history of Ukrainian emigration to Great Britain, including a classification of its periods, institutionalization, and characteristics of the Ukrainian diaspora. The research methodology was based on the principles of historicism, system-based analysis, and objectivity, general research methods such as comparative analysis, and a set of special historical methods, including historiographical analysis, systemic historical analysis, chronological and diachronic approaches, retrospective analysis, and the comparative-historical method. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the study of the historical dynamics of Ukrainian emigration to Great Britain, which expanded significantly in scale during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The periods of Ukrainian emigration to Great Britain are identified and substantiated. The reasons, nature, and qualitative composition of the cohorts of emigrants who moved to the territory of Great Britain and areas of compact settlement, as well as the dynamics of the quantitative dynamics of the emigration movement, are analyzed. The institutional and organizational aspects of the Ukrainian diaspora in this country are considered. The features of the current wave of emigration, which began in connection with the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation in 2022, are examined. Conclusions. The history of Ukrainian emigration to Great Britain in its systemic dimension goes back more than a century. Beginning with the resettlement of several hundred people, mainly from Galicia, most of whom intended to use their stay in the kingdom as a transit stop on their long journey to North America, it experienced two periods of sharp quantitative growth: 1) the second half of the 1940s, which was primarily associated with the arrival of interned soldiers from various military formations of the Second World War and their families, former concentration camp prisoners; 2) after the start of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war on February 24, 2022. It is this latest wave of Ukrainian emigration to the UK that has become the largest in the history of this process. The Ukrainian diaspora in the UK plays a special role in Ukrainian-British relations. It has no noticeable influence on political processes in the country, but it does invaluable work in the humanitarian and cultural spheres. With Ukraine’s independence, these activities gained new momentum. At the same time, the number of Ukrainian emigrants has increased several times over, with labor migrants and refugees predominating, most of whom are temporarily residing in the UK.

Keywords: Ukrainian emigration, emigration movement, migration, diaspora, Union of Ukrainians in Britain, assimilation, refugees.

Submitted 03.09.2025

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