FOUR WAVES OF UKRAINIAN EMIGRATION
"The First Wave" (roughly from 1865 to the First World War) is called "labor emigration". Mostly young, single men, poor and illiterate went to look for a better life . They settled in Canada, Brasil, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand
"The second wave of emigration" (between the first and second world wars) was caused not only by economic, but also social and political factors. Its basis was mainly young people who did not want to serve in the Russian or Austrian armies, those who had not agreed with regimes that were established after the war, and those who fought with arms against the Soviets.They were large and medium landowners, industry owners, merchants, officials, priests. Some of them travelled to Canada and South America, but the majority settled in Western Europe -Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Germany. Unlike the first wave, the second had a significant intellectual potential, especially that part of it were known Ukrainian writers, journalists, cultural, educational and scientific figures.
"The third wave," ( the end of the Second World War to the 80s) received the name of "political". To a greater extent it repatriates from English, American, French occupation zones. The most numerous among them were former prisoners of war and Stalin. There were, of course, and refugees with anti-Soviet views. Most immigrants settled in Canada, USA, UK, Australia, Brazil, Argentina and France.
The fourth wave - the so-called guest workers - began in the 1990s. Its main reasons - economic hardship and unemployment in Ukraine. As a result, for temporary work in Europe, America and Russia have left about 7.8 million people. Some of them probably will not return to Ukraine.
The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) is the international coordinating body for Ukrainian communities in the diaspora representing the interests of over 20 million Ukrainians. The UWC has member organizations in 33 countri.