The article is devoted to the analysis of the military construction policy of the UPR’s Directory in the conditions of external aggression and internal struggle in Ukraine at the end of 1918 and in 1919. The main content of the article is a study of the essence of the Directory's military construction policy as an important factor in the state formation of the era of the second Ukrainian People's Republic. The purpose of the article is a comprehensive study of the processes of forming the policy of military construction of the UPR’s Directory, organizational formation and reform of the Armed Forces of the Ukrainian People's Republic. Historical facts show the extremity of the military-political conditions in which the Directory formed and implemented its policy of military construction. The political and ideological approaches of the UPR’s Directory regarding the development and implementation of military construction of this period are analyzed. It is noted that the army in the conditions of permanent aggression against the Ukrainian People's Republic was forced to act in extremely difficult military and political circumstances, when the front had practically no stable line, and the enemies were both external forces and internal opponents. In such conditions, the Armed Forces of the Ukrainian People's Republic performed not only defense functions, but also became a factor in state formation, maintenance of order, mobilization of the population and preservation of territorial integrity. At the same time, the constant lack of resources, the disruption of the supply system, personnel losses and the lack of a unified defense strategy significantly complicated the process of formation of the regular army and its effective functioning. The methodological basis of the study is the principles of historicism, objectivity, systematicity, as well as the application of comparative-historical and historical-chronological methods. The scientific novelty of the work consists in the definition and systematic analysis of the specifics of the military construction of the UPR’s Directory in the conditions of external aggression and internal struggle, in revealing the regularities of the formation and functioning of the army as the basis of the armed force of Ukrainian statehood. The result of this article is the conclusion that the development of the Armed Forces of the UPR’s Directory took place taking into account the historical experience of the Central Rada and the Hetmanate of P. Skoropadskyi, aimed at increasing the combat capability and discipline of the army. Military construction was significantly influenced by both internal and external factors. Despite all external and internal obstacles, the formation of its own Armed Forces remained a constant task.An attempt was made to generalize the complex of factors affecting the effectiveness of military reforms, as well as to assess the contribution of the Directory to the formation of the national army. The military-political and state-building tasks of the Armed Forces of the Ukrainian People's Republic have been determined. The proposed periodization of the comprehensive reform of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

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