Ukrainian Central Rada

The Rada was formed in Kyiv on 17 March 1917 on the initiative of Ukrainian parties and organisations, with Mykhailo Hrushevsky elected chairman. From some 150 members after the national congress in April it grew by summer to over 800 deputies, while the Little Rada handled current business. It announced its decisions in Universals: the First (June 1917) declared autonomy, and the agreement with the Provisional Government in July recognised its General Secretariat as the authority in Ukraine. The Third Universal of 20 November 1917 proclaimed the Ukrainian People's Republic.

The Fourth Universal, dated 22 January 1918, declared independence. In February the Rada's delegation made peace with the Central Powers at Brest, and the Rada itself, driven out of Kyiv by the Bolsheviks on 8–9 February, returned under the protection of German and Austro-Hungarian troops. Its socialist land policy and disputes over grain deliveries set it against the occupiers. On 29 April 1918, the day of Hetman Skoropadsky's coup, the Rada ceased to exist.