Abstract
The purpose of the article is to analyze the activities of the Prometheus organization, which was established in Warsaw in 1928 and united non-Russian emigrants of the former Romanov Empire under Polish suzerainty. Its activities developed in line with the concept of Prometheism of the camp of J. Pilsudski, aimed at the dismemberment of the Soviet Union into separate national republics and their unification into a federation with Poland. Special attention in the context of the study is paid to the Ukrainian Petliura emigration, which was assigned the main role in the implementation of the concept of Prometheism. The research methodology is based on the use of general scientific and purely historical research methods, including problem-chronological and comparative-historical approaches. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that using the above methods, the activities of the branches of the Prometheus organization are revealed, in particular in Paris, Helsinki, Istanbul and Harbin. Analysis of the policy of J. Pilsudski and his associates, which was focused on uniting the efforts of anti-Soviet emigration, showed that it had a great-power character and was aimed at building a greater Poland “from sea to sea”. A necessary and sufficient condition for the implementation of these intentions was the liquidation of the USSR with its subsequent division into states semi-dependent on Poland. Thus, Ukraine, Crimea, Georgia, Azerbaijan and other republics were to arise on the national outskirts, united in a federation or confederation with Poland. It was envisaged that the territory of the USSR would be limited to the borders of the Moscow Kingdom of the 16th century. Conclusions. Thus, the Prometheus organization was founded with the aim of practical implementation of the Polish concept of Prometheism, which had a clearly expressed anti-Russian, anti-Soviet and anti-communist orientation. Its activities were carried out with the tacit support of the Polish special services, which developed strategies for using the national liberation movements of non-Russian peoples of the USSR in their own geopolitical interests. The ultimate goal of implementing this concept was the national-territorial dismemberment of the Soviet Union and the formation of the project of "Greater Poland", based on federal ties with Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Crimea and other republics. The policy of Prometheism envisaged the creation of a number of semi-independent national states on the ruins of the USSR with the further orientation of their development to the dominant interests of the Polish state. At the same time, one of the strategic mistakes of the ideologists of Prometheism was the overestimation of the internal weakness of the Soviet Union. The beginning of World War II actually stopped the implementation of Poland's Promethean plans.