A state entity that existed in Ukraine in 1917–1920.

 

The Ukrainian Central Rada proclaimed the creation of the UPR in Kiev on November 7, 1917, after the overthrow of the Provisional Government in Petrograd. The leaders of the Rada, who did not recognize Soviet Russia, originally envisioned an autonomous status for the UPR as part of a future federal democratic Russia. The supreme legislative body of the UPR was the Central Rada. The government of the republic, the General Secretariat (since January 22, 1918, the Rada of People’s Ministers), was headed by the leader of the Ukrainian Social Democratic Labor Party (USDLP), Vladimir Vinnichenko (from mid-January 1918 he was replaced in this post by the Ukrainian Socialist Revolutionary Vsevolod Golubovich).

 

The de jure UPR consisted of nine governorates: Kiev, Podolsk, Volyn, Chernigov, Poltava, Kharkov, Ekaterinoslav, Kherson, and Tauride (without Crimea). The UPR was in confrontation with the Ukrainian People’s Republic of Soviets, proclaimed on December 12, 1917, in Kharkov, which was in a federal relationship with Soviet Russia. From December 1917 to January 1918 the Reds occupied several industrial centers in eastern and southern Ukraine, began the offensive at Poltava and Kiev. On January 9, 1918, the Central Rada proclaimed the state independence of the UPR and called on the population to fight the Bolsheviks. On the night of January 26, the government of the UPR left Kiev, and on January 27, the city was captured by Soviet troops.

 

On January 27, 1918, a delegation from the Central Rada signed a separate peace treaty with Germany and Austria-Hungary. Under its terms, German troops entered Ukraine, and with their support, the Central Rada returned to Kiev. However, the occupation authorities relied on right-wing conservative forces and broke up the Central Rada on April 28. In place of the UPR, the Ukrainian State was proclaimed, headed by Hetman Pavel Skoropadsky.

 

After the defeat of the Central Powers in the World War I in November 1918, the UPR Directory began an armed struggle with the hetman. On December 14, 1918, troops of the Directorate, led by Symon Petlyura, occupied Kiev, restoring the power of the UPR. On January 22, 1919, the unification of the UPR and the West Ukrainian People’s Republic (WUPR) was declared. On December 1, 1918, the parties signed a preliminary treaty about it in Fastov. There was no real unification of the republics, and cooperation was mainly in the military sphere.

 

In February 1919, the Bolsheviks reoccupied Kiev, and in March the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic was formed with its capital at Kharkov. The UPR government fled to Zhitomir and Vinnitsa. Symon Petlyura became the de facto head of the Directorate. He developed a plan of offensive operations of the UPR and WUPR troops in the direction of Kiev and Odessa (the campaign began on August 14).

 

On August 30, 1919, troops of the UPR entered Kiev, but the next day the troops of the Armed Forces of South Russia (AFSR) under Anton Denikin’s command also entered the city. The command of the AFSR refused to negotiate with Symon Petlyura, and the Directorate troops had to leave the city. On November 6, the AFSR signed an agreement with the WUPR, thus breaking up the alliance between the UPR and WUPR. At the end of 1919, as a result of the Red Army offensive the forces of the AFSR retreated to Crimea, the troops of the UPR were also defeated. The Reds took Kharkov (December 12) and Kiev (December 14).

 

On April 21, 1920, Symon Petlyura, on behalf of the Directorate, concluded a treaty with Poland on joint actions against the Russian SFSR. After the end of the Soviet-Polish war in November 1921, the UPR Directorate effectively ceased to exist.