The People's Secretariat of Ukraine was the executive body of the Provisional Central Executive Committee of Soviets in Ukraine. It was formed in

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

s thus forming the Ukrainian Soviet government and the opposition to the

Central Rada The Central Council of Ukraine ( uk, Українська Центральна Рада, ) (also called the Tsentralna Rada or the Central Rada) was the All-Ukrainian council ( soviet) that united deputies of soldiers, workers, and peasants deputi ...

and the

General Secretariat of Ukraine The General Secretariat of Ukraine ( uk, Генеральний секретаріат УЦР—УНР) was the autonomous Ukrainian executive government of the Russian Republic from June 28, 1917 to January 22, 1918. For most of its existence ...

. The government claimed the same jurisdiction over Ukraine as the General Secretariat. The Central Executive Committee of Ukraine that was elected by the First All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets canceled the declaration of independence, declared that Ukraine is in a federal subordination to the

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

, and called on to fight against the separatists, the Ukrainian Central Rada and the General Secretariat of Ukraine.

Composition

All secretaries were members of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party and the newly organized RSDRP(b) - Social-Democracy of Ukraine (RSDRP(b)-SDU) that was established on December 3, 1917 at the regional party congress in Kiev. The new party was directed by its Chief Committee (GK SDU) that was headed by

Yevgenia Bosch Yevgenia Bogdanovna; russian: Го́тлибовна) Bosch; russian: Евге́ния Богда́новна Бош; german: Jewgenija Bogdanowna Bosch (née Meisch ; – 5 January 1925) was a Ukrainian Bolshevik revolutionary, politician, ...

. The government was elected at the 1st

All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets The All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets ( uk, Всеукраїнський з'їзд Рад, russian: Всеукраинский съезд Советов) was the supreme governing body of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1917–38. F ...

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

after the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

had captured the city. On March 4, 1918 some changes took place in the cabinet as Bosch resigned in protest to the Brest-Litovsk Treaty and Mykola Skrypnyk was elected as the president of the People's Secretariat. Skrypnyk was also appointed the Secretary of Trade and Industry. The secretary of Internal Affairs was elected Yevhen Neronovych, Labor Affairs - Ivan Klymenko, Social Security -

Georgiy Lapchinsky Georgy (; russian: Георгий, Georgiy; bg, Георги, Georgi) is a Slavic masculine given name, derived from the Greek name Georgios. It corresponds to the English name George. The name Georgi is the most used masculine name in Bulgaria and ...

, Foreign Affairs -

Volodymyr Zatonsky Volodymyr Petrovych Zatonsky ( uk, Володи́мир Зато́нський, russian: Влади́мир Петро́вич Зато́нский ''Vladimir Petrovich Zatonsky''; July 27, 1888 – July 29, 1938) was a Soviet politician, aca ...

(temporarily). The Soviet government relocated to

Yekaterinoslav Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...

and with the advance of the Central Powers to

Taganrog Taganrog ( rus, Таганрог, p=təɡɐnˈrok) is a port city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, on the north shore of the Taganrog Bay in the Sea of Azov, several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: History of Taganrog Th ...

in April 1918. Later Ya. Martyanov (secretary of Postal and Telegraph) was added to the cabinet. On March 7, 1918 the Secretariat of Military Affairs was reformed into the triumvirate as the Petrograd

sovnarkom The Councils of People's Commissars (SNK; russian: Совет народных комиссаров (СНК), ''Sovet narodnykh kommissarov''), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (Совнарком), were the highest executive authorities of ...

and included Vladimir Antonov and Yevhen Neronovych. Antonov was appointed the Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Ukrainian military. Although the government had its own Secretariat of Internal Affairs the state security was conducted by the All-Russian Extraordinary Committee. Both Bosch and Antonov took orders only from Lenin as the last one performed duties of People's Commissar of Russia and Ukraine. At the Second All Ukrainian Congress of Soviets (see Central Executive Committee of Ukraine) that took place in March 1918 with the advance of the Central Powers armed forces across Ukraine the People's Commissariat declared Soviet Ukraine independent from Soviet Russia. However, with the rapid advance of the forces of Central Rada and Central Powers, the Soviet government withdrew to

Stalin vs. Skrypnyk

On April 4, 1918

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

telegraphed

with the following: The next day Zatonsky sent the copy of that notice to the Ukrainian representative in Russia

Mykola Skrypnyk Mykola Oleksiiovych Skrypnyk ( uk, Микола Олексійович Скрипник; – 7 July 1933), also known as Nikolai Alekseyevich Skripnik (russian: Никола́й Алексе́евич Скри́пник), was a Ukrainian Bolshe ...

. On April 6 Skrypnyk sent his answer to the

Sovnarkom The Councils of People's Commissars (SNK; russian: Совет народных комиссаров (СНК), ''Sovet narodnykh kommissarov''), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (Совнарком), were the highest executive authorities of ...

and the All Russian Central Executive Committee where he recited Stalin's words. He also mentioned that on April 3 the Sovnarkom accepted the Extraordinary delegation of the Ukrainian Soviet Federation and accepted the decision to recognize the People's Secretariat and the Ukrainian Republic. Further Skrypnyk said, "We have to announce the most decisive protest against the speech of

Narkom A People's Commissariat (russian: народный комиссариат; Narkomat) was a structure in the Soviet state (in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, in other union and autonomous republics, in the Soviet Union) from 1917– ...

Stalin. We have to announce that the Central Executive Committee and the People's Secretariat as motive for their actions do not reflect any particular attitudes to whichever Narkom of the Russian Federation, but rather only the will of the toiling masses of Ukraine that is presented in the declaration of the II All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets. Announcements similar to the one presented by Stalin are directed to undermine the Soviet power in Ukraine and cannot be perceived by the representative of the Soviet government of neighboring republic. The toiling masses of Ukraine lead their struggle with their bourgeoisie counterrevolutionary independently from any decisions of whichever Sovnarkom of the Russian Federation, yet the Soviet power right now is undermined by the bayonets of the German troops. And if somebody dares to call the struggle of the Ukrainian toiling masses ''the game that is time to leave'' while in actuality the same masses of Ukraine think otherwise and those delegations that turn to us even from the occupied by Germans territories of Ukraine confirm that as the same struggle that is led by our forces. The friendly relationship to which the Soviet of People's Commissars of the Russian Federation joined in regards to the Ukrainian Republic request not to allow such announcements aimed to undermine the Soviet power in Ukraine and directed to the benefits of enemies of the Ukrainian toiling masses. Selected groups and parts of the Russian Federation that fragment away from it (Crimea, Don, etc.) now propose to the Ukrainian People's Republic to create the South Soviet Federation. However the People's Secretariat has always tried to unite for the struggle against the Central Rada the toiling masses of localities at which that Central Rada has laid its eye and has no intentions to involve in its fight the Russian Federation nor its separate parts. In regards to the request of Narkom Stalin for the People's Secretariat evacuated out of

, we only underline that Taganrog is part of the Ukrainian People's Republic and only the population of this territory can decide to which particular Soviet Federation it wish to belong: Russian or Ukrainian. According to the above declared we're asking the government of Russian Federation to make appropriate explanations in regards to the announcement of Narkom Stalin and with that cancel the consequences of his announcement which so adversely may influence the struggle of the Ukrainian toiling masses for socialism. Extraordinary Authorized Embassy of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Federation. Chairman of People's Secretary M.Skrypnyk People's Secretaries Kotsiubynsky, Vrublevsky" Note: The letter is translated from its original copy that can be found in the Ukrainian Central State Archives of the Supreme Bodies of Power.

Further developments

On April 18, 1918 it was disbanded and reorganized together with the Central Executive Committee into the Povstanburo (Insurgency Bureau). The bureau consisted of nine members: four were

s ( Andriy Bubnov,

Heorhiy Pyatakov Georgy (Yury) Leonidovich Pyatakov (russian: Гео́ргий Леони́дович Пятако́в; 6 August 1890 – 30 January 1937) was a leader of the Bolsheviks and a key Soviet politician during and after the 1917 Russian Revolution ...

), four -

left SR The Party of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries (russian: Партия левых социалистов-революционеров-интернационалистов) was a revolutionary socialist political party formed during the Russian Revo ...

s ( Serhiy Mstyslavsky, Opanas Sieverov-Odoyevsky, M.S

Notes

{{Authority control Early Soviet republics Political history of Ukraine Government of Ukraine Ukrainian governments 1917 in Ukraine 1918 in Ukraine Communism in Ukraine Post–Russian Empire states Russian Revolution in Ukraine