All-Ukrainian National Congress became the first representative forum of the Ukrainian national movement in Ukraine and the first step towards the creation of Ukrainian National State. The congress was organized by the Ukrainian Central Rada and took place on . The congress took place about a month after the creation of the Central Council of Ukraine and the 1917 March events in Petrograd. There were 1,500 delegates that participated in the congress and included 700 delegates with a decisive vote rights, 200 had consultative vote rights, and the rest were guests and invited participants. The key purpose of the congress was to recognize the Central Council of Ukraine as the All-Ukrainian National representative authority and widen its competency over the whole territory of Ukraine (until mid-April, decisions of the Central Council of Ukraine de facto had power only for the city of Kyiv).
The purpose and preparation of Congress
The All-Ukrainian National Congress was convened on April 6–8, 1917 in Kyiv. 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.
The growth of the national movement
During the month of the revolution, after a series of national demonstrations, and in particular the Freedom Day in Kyiv, the Ukrainian liberation movement gained such a magnitude that the Ukrainian Central Rada, in its original composition, could no longer count on its successful leadership. 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. At the same time, leading politicians wanted to demonstrate in a unique way their potential on an all-Ukrainian scale and to identify with the support of a reputable national body the principle line of the national liberation struggle, which inevitably became more evident.
Organization of the congress
The first notice of the convening of the congress was published on March 19, 1917, in the newspaper "Visti from the Ukrainian Central Council". On March 28, the «Kievskaya Mysl» newspaper published a program of the congress and instructions for its election, prepared by Mikhaylo Hrushevsky. The congress is scheduled for Easter holidays - April 6, 7, 8 (Thursday, Friday and Saturday of Easter). 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.
In his article "On the All-Ukrainian Congress", published on March 29, 1917, Mykhailo Hrushevsky called on Ukrainians and non-Ukrainians "of all regions, territories and nooks and crannies of our national territory standing on the Ukrainian political platform" to take an active part in its work, which will contribute to the successful fulfillment of its expectations. The author emphasized:
«The central task of the congress is to complete our organization. The Central Rada, created in Kyiv by representatives of all Kyiv strata and supplemented by delegates of extracurricular organizations, is now recognized as a central Ukrainian government by all Ukrainian conscious people. 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» [1]
The preparation of the forum took place under intense circumstances. 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. At the time, they considered this case a task of the future.
The hidden purpose of the Congress
However, in his memoirs, Mikhaylo Hrushevsky cites some facts that reveal the "internal logic" of congressional preparation.
The Chairman of the Central Rada noted that the initiators of the action wanted to conduct it as soon as possible in order to document the seriousness and inaccessibility of the Ukrainian social claims to the central government: