Ukrainian People’s Republic

The Ukrainian People’s Republic (UPR), or Ukrainian National Republic (UNR), was a country in Eastern Europe that existed between 1917 and 1920. It was declared following the February Revolution in Russia by the First Universal. In March 1917, the National Congress in Kyiv elected the Central Council composed of socialist parties on the same principles as throughout the rest of the Russian Republic. The republic’s autonomy was recognized by the Russian Provisional Government. Following the October Revolution, it proclaimed its independence from the Russian Republic on 22 January 1918 by the Fourth Universal.

During its short existence, the republic went through several political transformations – from the socialist-leaning republic headed by the Central Council of Ukraine with its general secretariat to the socialist republic led by the Directorate and by Symon Petliura. Between April and December 1918, the socialist authority of the Ukrainian People’s Republic was suspended, having been overthrown by the pro-German Ukrainian State of Pavlo Skoropadskyi, who was elected as a Hetman by a congress of peasants. From late 1919, the UNR operated as an ally of the Second Polish Republic. On 10 November 1920, the state lost the remainder of its territory to the Bolsheviks. The 18 March 1921 Peace of Riga between the Second Polish Republic, Soviet Russia (acting also on behalf of Soviet Belarus), and Soviet Ukraine sealed the fate of the Ukrainian People’s Republic.

After the October Revolution, many governments formed in Ukraine, most notably the Ukrainian People’s Republic of Soviets (1917–1918) based in Kharkiv, and its Soviet successors. This force, along with the Ukrainian Republic (based in Kyiv), plus the White Movement, Poland, Green armies, and the Anarchists, fought constantly with each other, which resulted in many casualties among Ukrainians fighting in a 1917–21 Ukrainian Civil War as part of the wider Russian Civil War of 1917–23. The Russian SFSR would (after the 1921 Treaty of Riga) extend control over what would ultimately become the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and (in 1922) a founding member of the Soviet Union.

History

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Revolutionary wave

On 10 June 1917, the Ukrainian Central Council declared its autonomy as part of the Russian Republic by its First Universal at the All-Ukrainian Military Congress. The highest governing body of the Ukrainian People’s Republic became the General Secretariat headed by Volodymyr Vynnychenko. The Prime Minister of Russia Alexander Kerensky recognized the Secretariat, appointing it as the representative governing body of the Russian Provisional Government and limiting its powers to five governorates: Volyn, Kyiv, Podolie, Chernigov, and Poltava. At first Vynnychenko protested and left his post as Secretariat leader, but eventually returned to reassemble the Secretariat after the Tsentralna Rada accepted the Kerensky Instruktsiya and issued the Second Universal.

After the October Revolution the Kyivan faction of the Bolshevik Party instigated the uprising in Kyiv on 8 November 1917 in order to establish Soviet power in the city. Kyiv Military District forces attempted to stop it, but after the Tsentralna Rada threw its support behind the Bolsheviks, the Russian forces were eliminated from Kyiv. After expelling the government forces, the Rada announced a wider autonomy for the Ukrainian Republic, still maintaining ties to Russia, on 22 November 1917. The territory of the republic was proclaimed by the Third Universal 20 November 1917 (7 November by Old Style) of the Tsentralna Rada encompassing the governorates: Volyn, Kyiv, Podolie, Chernigov, Poltava, Kharkov, Yekaterinoslav, Kerson, Taurida (not including Crimea). It also stated that the people of the governorates: Voronezh, Kholm, and Kursk were welcome to join the republic through a referendum. Further the Tsentralna Rada in its Universal stated that because there was no Government in the Russian Republic after the October Revolution it proclaimed itself the Supreme governing body of the territory of Ukraine until order in the Russian republic could be restored. The Central Council of Ukraine called all revolutionary activities such as the October Revolution a civil war and expressed its hopes for the resolution of the chaos.

After a brief truce, the Bolsheviks realized that the Rada had no intention of supporting the Bolshevik Revolution. They re-organized into an All-Ukrainian Council of Soviets in December 1917 in an attempt to seize power. When that failed due to the Bolsheviks’ relative lack of popularity in Kyiv, they moved to Kharkiv. The Bolsheviks of Ukraine declared the government of the Ukrainian People’s Republic outlawed and proclaimed the Ukrainian People’s Republic of Soviets with capital in Kyiv, claiming that the government of the People’s Secretaries of Ukraine was the only government in the country. The Bolshevik Red Army entered Ukraine from the Russian SFSR in support of the local Soviet government. As the relationships between members within the Tsentralna Rada soured, a series of regional Soviet republics on the territory of Ukraine proclaimed their independence and allegiance to the Petrograd sovnarkom (Odessa Soviet Republic (southern Ukraine), Donetsk-Krivoi Rog Soviet Republic (eastern Ukraine)). The Donetsk-Kryvoi Rog Republic was created by a direct decree of Lenin as part of the Russian SFSR with its capital in Kharkiv. That decree was successfully implemented by Fyodor Sergeyev who became the chairman of the local government as well as joining the Soviet government of Ukraine, simultaneously. Unlike Fyodor Sergeyev’s Republic, the Odessa Republic was not recognized by any other Bolshevik governments and on its own initiative had entered a military conflict with Romania for control over the Moldavian Democratic Republic, whose territory it was contesting.

Timeline

The following information is based on the exposition of the Museum of Soviet occupation in Kyiv (Memorial (society) in Kyiv)

Spring 1917

• 8–12 March – February Revolution in the Russian Empire, victory of the democratic forces
• 17 March – establishment of the Ukrainian Central Council
• 4 April – recreation of Prosvita, establishment of the Ukrainian Cooperative Committee, and the Temporary Military Council, liberation of the people of Galicia, particularly Andrey Sheptytsky
• 9 April – Mykhailo Hrushevsky returns from exile to head the Ukrainian Central Council
• 10 April – the Ukrainian Central Council supported the convocation of the Ukrainian National Congress
• 11 April – establishment of the Ukrainian Military Society of Hetman Polubotok headed by Mykola Mikhnovsky, organization of the 1st Ukrainian Volunteer Regiment of Bohdan Khmelnytsky
• 13 April – a big demonstration took place in Kyiv with over 100,000 people, establishment of the Ukrainian National Council in Petrograd
• 2–4 May – the Ukrainian National Congress took place in Kyiv, involving about 900 delegates, the Congress confirmed the composition of the Ukrainian Central Council of 150 members headed by Mykhailo Hrushevsky
• 17 May – the commander of the Southwestern Front General Brusilov permitted the organization of the Bohdan Khmelnytsky Regiment which drafted 3,574 volunteers
• 18 – 1 May Ukrainian Military Congress took place in Kyiv attended by over 700 delegates. The Congress elected the Ukrainian General Military Committee of 18 members headed by Symon Petliura

Summer 1917

• 10–15 June – the 1st All-Ukrainian Peasant Congress took place in Kyiv in which 2,200 delegates participated
• 11 June – extraordinary congress of the council of Ukrainian Military Society of Doroshenko in Simferopol decided to create a separate Ukrainian Regiment
• 18–24 June – ignoring the prohibition of the Russian Provisional Government, the 2nd Ukrainian Military Congress took place in Kyiv. The congress accepted the declaration of a detailed plan of Ukrainization of the Russian Army, leaving Symon Petlyura as the head of the Ukrainian General Military Committee. The congress showed its support to the Ukrainian Central Council. The council of Kharkiv Governorate recognized the Ukrainian Central Council as a government authority in Ukraine
• 24 June – announcement of the 1st Universal (Declaration) of the Ukrainian Central Council at Sofiyivska Ploshcha (Sofia Square)
• 28 June – the Ukrainian Central Council elects the General Secretariat of Ukraine as an authority of state power
• 11 July – a delegation of the Russian Provisional Government (Kerenskyi, Tereshchenko, and Tsereteli) arrived in Kyiv
• 14 July – the Ukrainian Central Council adopted that Petty Council consisting of 40 representatives from Ukrainian and 18 from national minorities
• 16 July – the Petty Council adopted the 2nd Universal (Declaration) of the Ukrainian Central Council
• 29 July – the Petty Council adopted the Statute of the Highest Government of Ukraine
• 8 August – a terrorist attack took place at the railroad station “Post-Volynsky” (Kyiv) where the newly formed Bohdan Khmelnytsky Regiment was attacked by the Moscow cuirassiers and Don Cossacks
• 17 August – the Russian Provisional Government issued a temporary instruction (Instruktsia) for the General Secretariat of Provisional Government in Ukraine where it recognized the competency of the General Secretariat over five Governorates (Gubernias): Kyiv, Volyn, Poltava, Chernihiv, and Podillia

Autumn 1917

• 22 September – the Petty Council adopted the declaration about the Ukrainian Constituent Assembly. The representatives of national minorities in the Petty Council condemned the intentions of Ukraine to separate from Russia
• 27 September – start of the State Democratic Convention in Petrograd
• 13 October – by the petition of the Kyiv Court Chamber the Russian Provisional Government initiates investigation against the General Secretariat for the intention to convene the Ukrainian Constituent Assembly
• 7 November – October Revolution in Petrograd. Petty Council created of the Regional Committee in Protection of Revolution in Ukraine. The committee announced the extension of its powers over the nine Ukrainian governorates
• 8 November – the Ukrainian Central Council adopted a resolution which condemned the revolution. In protest, the Bolsheviks left the Regional Committee and the Ukrainian Central Council
• 9 November – the commander of the Kyiv Military District General Kvetsinsky refused to recognize the Regional Committee which in turn was dissolved transferring all its powers to the General Secretariat
• 11 November – arrested Bolsheviks of a revolutionary committee. The Ukrainian Central Council adopted a bill about elections to the Ukrainian Constituent Assembly handing to the Petty Council to finalize the law and conduct the elections
• 14 November – the Ukrainian Central Council and the General Secretary are recognized as state authorities. The General Secretary of Military Affairs Symon Petliura subordinates the Kyiv militia (law enforcement) to the Ukrainian government
• 20 November – after the announcement of the 3rd Universal (Declaration) the deputies of Russian Cadets V. Krupkov and Polish Kolo V. Rudnytsky surrendered their mandates of the Ukrainian Central Council
• 21 November – the General Secretary of Military Affairs Symon Petliura appoints General Pavlo Skoropadsky a commander of the Right-bank Ukraine armed forces
• 22 November – in the presence of the French, Italian, and Romanian diplomatic missions, the 3rd Universal (Declaration) was announced at Sofiyivska Ploshcha (Sofia Square)
• 27 November – the Ukrainian Central Council adopted a resolution regarding the Kholm Governorate protesting its annexation by Poland
• 30 November – General Secretariat announced that Sovnarkom is not a legal authority of Russia. The Petty Council adopted the Law “About the Ukrainian Constituent Assembly” where it was established its composition of 301 members:
  • Kyiv Governorate – 45
  • Volyn Governorate – 30
  • Podillya Governorate – 30
  • Yekaterinoslav Governorate – 36
  • Poltava Governorate – 30
  • Kherson Governorate – 34
  • Kharkiv Governorate – 35
  • Tavria Governorate – 9
  • Chernihiv Governorate – 27
  • Ostrohozh district – 15

(Each deputy represents 100,000 of population, a right of vote have citizens of 20 years and older; established the Central Election Commission to the Ukrainian Constituent Assembly)

Winter 1917–18

• 14–15 December – the Petty Council adopted the Law about the General Court, the highest judicial institution of the Ukrainian People’s Republic. International diplomatic missions transferred their offices from Mohyliv-Podilsky to Kyiv. The government of France on 18 December announced its intention to have a diplomatic relationship with Ukraine. England declared a similar intention
• 19 – 1 December Congress of Soviets of Workers’, Soldiers’, and Peasants’ deputies of Ukraine expressed its complete trust to the Ukrainian Central Council and General Secretariat and condemned the Ultimatum of Lenin-Trotsky
• 22 December – the Petty Council adopted the Law on taxes and collections, with which all taxes and collections belonged to the State Treasury of Ukraine
• 23 December – the General Secretariat determined the composition of the Ukrainian delegation to the peace talks in Brest-Litovsk
• 25 December – the Peace Conference in Brest-Litovsk sent in a telegram for Ukraine to join the negotiations
• 3 January – General Georges Tabouis was appointed the Commissar of French Republic to the Government of Ukrainian People’s Republic
• 6 January – start of the peace negotiations in Brest. The head of Ukrainian delegation Vsevolod Holubovych requests recognition of Ukraine as a sovereign state, adding of the Kholm Governorate, and conducting a plebiscite on the territory of Austria-Hungary where dominated the Ukrainian population to add that territory to Ukraine
• 9 January – 171 delegates were elected to the Ukrainian Constituent Assembly
• 10–12 January – the Central powers recognized the Ukrainian delegation at the talks in Brest as a separate and plenipotentiary to conduct negotiations on the behalf of Ukrainian People’s Republic
• 16 January – the Petty Council adopted the law about creation of the Ukrainian National Army and its composition based on a militia principle
• 22 January – the Petty Council adopted the law about the National-Individual Autonomy. For the last text of the 4th Universal (Declaration) voted: “for” – 39 voices, “against” – 4 voices, “abstained” – 6
• 29 January – Battle of Kruty
• 9 February – the Brest peace treaty was signed with Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria
• 10 February – Due to advance of the Russian Bolshevik forces the government of Ukraine was evacuated to Zhytomyr from Kyiv
• 21 February – the Ukrainian delegation issued a declaration about reasons for the arrival of German forces in Ukraine
• 27 February – the Ukrainian Central Council adopted the law about the introduction in Ukraine a new style of calendar according which a time moves 13 days ahead. The Petty Council adopted the law about the new monetary system. The monetary unit became hryvnia that had 8.712 units of pure gold. Adoption of the law about the coat of arms of the Ukrainian People’s Republic – Trident (Tryzub)

Spring 1918

In April 1918 troops loyal to the Ukrainian People’s Republic take control of several cities in the Donbass region.

• 2 March – the Petty Council adopted the law about citizenship of Ukraine, the law about new administrative system. The Russian established gubernias were to be replaced by new administrative unit – zemlia (land)
• 18 March – several perished student-veterans of Kruty were reburied in Kyiv
• 11 April – 12 May 1918 was designated as the first convocation of the Ukrainian Constituent Assembly
• 13 April – Adoption of the Ukrainian Central Council resolution condemning the annexation of Bessarabia by Romania
• 23 April – an economic treaty is signed between Ukraine and Germany with Austria-Hungary
• 25 April – Adoption of the law about the Central Economic Council of Ukraine
• 29 April – Adopted a bill on the Constitution of Ukraine. The All-Ukrainian Agrarian Congress elects Pavlo Skoropadsky the Hetman of Ukraine

Independence

Due to the aggression from Soviet Russia, on 22 January 1918, the Tsentralna Rada issued its Fourth Universal (dated 22 January 1918), breaking ties with Bolshevik Russia and proclaiming a sovereign Ukrainian state. Less than a month later, on 9 February 1918, the Red Army seized Kyiv.

Besieged by the Bolsheviks and having lost much territory, the Rada was forced to seek foreign aid, and signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on 9 February 1918 to obtain military help from the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires. Germany helped the Ukrainian Army force the Bolsheviks out of Ukraine. On 20 February 1918 the council of the Kuban People’s Republic accepted the resolution for a federal union of Kuban with Ukraine as Bolshevik forces pushed towards Yekaterinodar. It was agreed to forward the resolution for ratification to the Ukrainian government.

After the treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Ukraine became a virtual protectorate of the German Empire which at that time seemed more favorable than being overrun by the Soviet forces that were spreading havoc in the country. Germany was anxious about losing the war and was trying to speed up the process of food extraction from Ukraine, so it decided to install its own administration in the person of Generalfeldmarschall von Eichhorn who replaced the Colonel General Alexander von Linsingen. On 6 April the commander of the Army group Kijew issued an order in which he explained his intentions to execute the conditions of the treaty. That, of course, conflicted with the laws of the Ukrainian government, which annulled his order. By April 1918 the German-Austrian Operation Faustschlag offensive had completely removed the Bolsheviks from Ukraine. The German/Austro-Hungarian victories in Ukraine were due to the apathy of the locals and the inferior fighting skills of Bolsheviks troops compared to their Austro-Hungarian and German counterparts.

The Germans arrested and disbanded the Tsentralna Rada on 29 April 1918 to stop the social reforms that were taking place and restarted the process of food supply transfer to Germany and Austria-Hungary. The German authorities also arrested the Ukrainian Prime Minister, Vsevolod Holubovych, on terrorist charges, and thus disbanded the Council of People’s Ministers. Prior to this, the Rada had approved the Constitution of the Ukrainian People’s Republic. Concurrently with all these events and a few days prior to the change of powers in the country on 24 April 1918 the government of Belarus confirmed the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce in Kyiv headed by Mitrofan Dovnar-Zapolsky on the initiative of the Belarusian secretary of finance Pyotr Krechevsky.

Hetmanate

After the coup, the Rada was replaced by the conservative government of Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky, the Hetmanate, and the Ukrainian People’s Republic by a “Ukrainian State” (Ukrayinska derzhava). Skoropadsky, a former officer of the Russian Empire, established a regime favoring large landowners and concentrating power at the top. The government had little support from Ukrainian activists, but unlike the socialist Rada, it was able to establish an effective administrative organization, established diplomatic ties with many countries, and concluded a peace treaty with Soviet Russia. In a few months, the Hetmanate also printed millions of Ukrainian language textbooks, established many Ukrainian schools, two universities, and the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences.

The Hetmanate government also supported the confiscation of previously-nationalized peasant lands by wealthy estate owners, often with the help of German troops. This led to unrest, the rise of a peasant partisan (guerrilla) movement, and a series of large-scale popular armed revolts. Negotiations were held to garner support from previous Rada members Petliura and Vynnychenko, but these activists worked to overthrow Skoropadsky. On 30 July, a Russian Left Socialist-Revolutionary, Boris Mikhailovich Donskoy, with help from the local USRP succeeded in assassinating von Eichhorn, blowing him up in downtown Kyiv at a broadlight.

Due to the impending loss of World War I by Germany and Austria-Hungary, Skoropadsky’s sponsors, the Hetman formed a new cabinet of Russian Monarchists and committed to federation with a possible future non-Bolshevik Russia. In response, the Ukrainian socialists announced a new revolutionary government, the Directorate, on 14 November 1918.

Timeline

Spring 1918

• 29 April – All-Ukrainian Agrarian Congress elects Pavlo Skoropadsky as the Hetman of Ukraine
• 30 April – Mykola Vasylenko was appointed the Chairman of Council of Ministers and tasked with the formation of government
• 7 May – the Council of Ministers confirmed its intentions to add Crimea to the Ukrainian State
• 15 May – Signing of a treaty between governments of Ukraine from one side and Germany and Austria-Hungary from another to provide a loan in amount of 400 million karbovanets for acquiring the Ukrainian food
• 18 May – the Council of Ministers adopted the law about a creation of the State Guard
• 23 May – started peace negotiations between representatives of Ukraine and Russia
• 28 May – to Kyiv arrived the plenipotentiary delegation of the Regional Council of Kuban headed by Mykola Ryabovol with proposition of unification of Kuban with Ukraine
• 30 May – the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Doroshenko petitioned with a special letter to the Ambassador of Germany in Ukraine, baron Alfons Mumm von Schwarzenstein, to include Crimea to Ukraine

Summer 1918

• • 12 June – the Congress of Landowners and Agrarians of Tavria Governorate that took place in Simferopol supported the proposition to include Tavria to Ukraine
  • 20 June – the All-Ukrainian Church Council took place in Kyiv
  • 1 July – adopted the decision about a creation of the Ukrainian university in Kamianets-Podilsky
  • 2 July – adoption of the law about citizenship of the Ukrainian State
  • 8 July – creation of the State Senate of the Ukrainian State as the supreme judicial institution
  • 9 July – creation of the commission in development of project of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences
  • 10 July – Kyiv Orthodox clergy lifted the anathema on Hetman Mazepa
  • 24 July – Ukraine and Germany ratified the Brest Peace Treaty, adoption of laws about the general military obligation, criminal responsibility for exceeding the maximum established prices and speculation, appointments to government service
  • 27 July – due to the anti-Ukrainian policies of the Crimean government of Sulkevich the Ukrainian State established an economical blockade of the peninsula
  • 1 August – adoption of laws about supreme government and political position of military servicemen
  • 2 August – adoption of the law about the creation of fund of the National Library of Ukrainian State
  • 6 August – the All-Ukrainian Church Council called for the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Church
  • 10 August – confirmed the statute of the Ukrainian State Bank and its base and reserve capitals
  • 17 August – adopted the law about a restriction on import of the Russian monetary units
  • 22 August – in Vienna Turkey and Ukraine exchanged documents that ratified the Brest Peace Treaty
  • 10 September – signing of an economic agreement between Ukraine, Germany, Austria-Hungary for the 1918–1919 fiscal years
  • 18 September – temporary stop of custom war with Crimea on the petition of the Sulkevich government
  • 5 October – in Kyiv started negotiations between Ukraine and Crimea about the conditions of Crimea inclusion to Ukraine
  • 6 October – Kyiv State Ukrainian University is opened
  • 16 October – Hetman of Ukraine issued declaration on the revival of cossackdom
  • 17 October – adopted a declaration about organization of volunteer militia on upholding the order of law
  • 21 October – Hetman of Ukraine met with the extraordinary mission of the Kuban regional government headed by Colonel V. Tkachov
  • 6 November – the German authorities transferred the ships of the Black Sea fleet to the Ukrainian State
  • 13 November – the Soviet Russia annulled the Brest Peace Treaty and refused to recognize the independence of the Ukrainian State
  • 13–16 November – signing of agreement about trade, consulate, and sea relationships, railway and financial treaties between the government of Ukraine and the extraordinary mission of the Kuban regional government
  • 14 November – anti-Hetman Uprising