The coup was precipitated by a serious deterioration of relations between the Central Rada (parliament) of Ukraine and German occupational forces over land ownership conflicts, the paralysed status of the country's railway system, and the weak security apparatus of the Ukrainian government.

These conditions ultimately culminated in the kidnapping of banker Abram Dobryi [uk], who had helped to negotiate the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk between Ukraine and the Central Powers, by government officials.

As the protesters marched on Ukrainian government buildings and Saint Sophia Cathedral, they were met with minimal resistance, owing to the arrest of Minister of War Oleksandr Zhukivskyi [uk] for his involvement in Dobryi's kidnapping.

While viewed largely ambiguously by the Ukrainian population as a whole, the coup d'état led to an insurgency by supporters of the Central Rada, ultimately culminating in the Anti-Hetman Uprising in November and Skoropadskyi's abdication [uk] a month later.

Most educated administrators had been removed from their positions, and the new government was largely made up of a group of young, inexperienced socialists who sought wide-reaching and fast social reforms.

The Central Rada was quick to attack landowners and bourgeois, and these groups were excluded from the government despite making up a substantial portion of educated and experienced voices.

[2] Despite the recapture of Kyiv (and with it the effective re-establishment of the Ukrainian People's Republic), the Central Rada continued to struggle to manage the economy.

German forces in Ukraine, commanded by Hermann von Eichhorn, issued the "Order on Sowing Wheat" in early April.

The candidates were gradually ruled out – Poltavets-Ostrianytsia because he was deemed too adventurous, Mikhnovsky based on his unpredictability, and Lutsenko for his hardline and uncompromising attitude – until only Chykalenko and Skoropadskyi remained.

Restrictions on gatherings, speech, and the press were also put in place by German authorities, and Army Group Eichhorn-Kiev stated it would be working to ensure the protection of individuals in Ukraine.

In a 27 April debate in the Rada, Prime Minister Vsevolod Holubovych, said "This is simply an emphasis of the certain disorientation and inability, and perhaps, even, unwillingness to understand our affairs on the part of these probably quite irresponsible authorities of the German state, which are in the Ukraine.

[4] On 28 April 1918, German soldiers arrested Holubovych, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mykola Liubynsky, and Yurii Haievskyi, one of the secretaries of the Ministry of War, during a meeting of the Central Rada.

[3] At the time of the congress, Skoropadskyi was not present; he was at the Staff Headquarters of the Ukrainian People's Army, preparing to execute a coup d'état the following day.

[7] The initial response to the coup d'état was largely apathetic among the Ukrainian military and population, both groups being primarily concerned with the security situation.

Former Prime Minister Volodymyr Vynnychenko and major general Mykola Shapoval also began formulating a plan for an uprising in September 1918.

[9] With the defeat of the Central Powers, Skoropadskyi's government, lacking a sizeable army due to the unwillingness of Germany and Austria-Hungary, found itself under threat, and, to appease the Allied Powers, on 14 November 1918 Skoropadskyi appointed Serhii Herbel [uk] as Chief Minister and wrote the Federal Charter [uk], establishing Ukraine as a federal subject of White Russian forces.