The Initial Period of Activity of the Central Council of Ukraine: Since March 3 (16) till the National Congress in April 1917

Abstract

Among many issues related to the phenomenon of the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917–1921, the specifics of the development of the earliest stage of its history attracts special attention of the researchers. It is no accident, because during this period the Ukrainian national movement in the Russian Empire, which was in fact totally banned with the outbreak of the First World War, proved its strength and its ability to become a real factor in mobilizing the masses. The logic of historical events initiated almost immediately by the appearance in early March 1917 in Kyiv of the organizational center of Ukrainians led to a revolutionary transformation of public consciousness in terms of moderate demands made in pre-revolutionary times by a relatively small group of public figures, as well as to a strong assertion of the sovereign will of the Ukrainian people, who had irreversibly embarked on the path of state formation. The demands mainly concerned schooling, basic opportunities for development of national culture and extremely limited forms of local self-government.In view of this, the article considers both the historical context, circumstances and conditions of the establishment of the Central Council of Ukraine, and the peculiarities of positioning the representatives of various political currents during the least documented period: from the end of February 1917 to the All-Ukrainian National Congress (April 6-8, 1917). Based on the analysis of the recollections of participants and witnesses of the process, periodicals and official publications of the Central Council of Ukraine, the names of the Ukrainian figures who were its founding members, were clarified. It was emphasized that, despite the dissatisfaction of the older Ukrainian activists associated with the Society of Ukrainian Progressives, this revolutionary parliament began to form as a broad union of groups, parties and organizations representing the full range of Ukrainian political forces at the time. Particular attention is paid to the fact that at the initial stage of formation of the Central Council of Ukraine the problem of consolidation has become one of the most pressing on the agenda of national life.