All-Ukrainian National Congress

Its importance was determined by the very purpose of convening the forum - to make the Central Rada the governing body of the Ukrainian national movement and to expand its social base, to refocus the priorities of activities from cultural and educational to state-centered.

All Ukrainian society of that time, its leadership, also felt the need to transform the Central Rada into a more authoritative and competent body than the one created in early March 1917, mainly by representatives of Kyiv NGOs.

The leaders of the Central Rada intended to hold a congress on the principles of territorial representation with the participation of all regions of Ukraine in order to transform the organization into a nationwide one.

The congress should give it the latest form, select it in its permanent composition… in a word, systematize and bring to the system and order an all-Ukrainian national organization."

There were rumors throughout the city that the Central Rada could be dispersed by military force to prevent the National Congress from being convened and Ukraine's autonomy proclaimed.

At a meeting with the Kyiv Executive Committee, Mykhailo Hrushevsky and Dmitry Antonovich expressed the desire of Ukrainian Central Council to build their activities on a legal basis and assured that the Congress did not aim to proclaim the autonomy of Ukraine.

But it recognized the cases of Finland, Poland, the Caucasus noon so clear to himself that it thought it possible to immediately decree his political rights to them, without waiting for the Constituent Assembly.

So, we needed to demonstrate the nation-wide imperative nature of Ukrainian claims, perhaps vividly and unequivocally… Through the heads of our Kyiv enemies and slanderers, we needed to show not only the Provisional Government, but all Russian citizenship, that our claims are common, popular and the people await their fulfillment impatiently, take every wire to heart, and joke with such a delay "to the Constituent Assembly," which, when unknown, is not entirely safe."

The Congress was widely represented by delegates from all Ukrainian provinces, different sections of the population, many political parties (USSR, USDP, UPSF, UPP, social movements, peasant unions, student communities, cooperative organizations).

Representatives of Ukrainian communities of Petrograd, Moscow, Kuban, Voronezh region, Bessarabia, Saratov and other territories outside Ukraine also attended the meeting.

Famous Ukrainian cultural and social figures - Mykhailo Hrushevsky, Volodymyr Vynnychenko, Serhiy Yefremov, Ilia Shrah, Petro Stebnytsky, Liudmyla Starytska-Cherniakhivska, Dmytro Doroshenko, Motepan, took the honorary place among the delegates who arrived at the congress.

The meetings of the All-Ukrainian Congress were held in Kyiv in the hall of the Merchant Assembly (now the National Philharmonic of Ukraine, Volodymyr Uzviz, 2).

The activity of delegates can be characterized as turbulent - in three days more than 300 public speeches took place, not counting the huge number (more than 350) of greetings received at the congress from almost all corners of Ukraine and from beyond its borders.

On April 7, the congress delegates heard the reports: As a result of the following considerations and provisions, the resolution was adopted following the results of the second day of Congress: "1) The Ukrainian National Congress, recognizing the Russian Constituent Assembly the right to sanction a new polity in Russia, including the autonomy of Ukraine, and the federal system of the Russian Republic, believes, however, that prior to the convening of the Russian Constituent Assembly supporters of the new order in Ukraine cannot remain passive, but in agreement with the smaller peoples of Ukraine, they must immediately create the grounds for her autonomous life.

3) The Ukrainian Congress, recognizing the right of all nations to political self-determination, considers: a) that the borders between states should be established in accordance with the will of border people; b) that in order to ensure this, it is necessary that, in addition to the representatives of the belligerent states, the representatives of those peoples on the territory of which war is taking place, including Ukraine, should be admitted to a peace conference."

Although Mykhailo Hrushevsky later criticized the level of the papers delivered and discussed them, the academic form of the national congress proved to be quite productive, given the conditions under which the Ukrainian Revolution took place.

This form, on the one hand, helped to effectively enrich the liberation movement with the latest theoretical assets, to outline the line of struggle, and on the other - to immediately test to the general public how well the course of the revolution was chosen.

6) The Ukrainian National Congress, having heard resolutions passed to it from the meeting of the Peasant Union concerning the prohibition, sale and mortgage of land and forests, as well as the long-term lease of underground treasures (coal, ores and others), decides to submit them to the Central Council for a corresponding statement to the Provisional Government."