Directorate of Ukraine

The Directorate, or Directory (Ukrainian: Директорія, romanized: Dyrektoriia) was a provisional collegiate revolutionary state committee of the Ukrainian People's Republic, initially formed on 13–14 November 1918 during a session of the Ukrainian National Union in rebellion against the Ukrainian State. During the Anti-Hetman Uprising, it was named as the Executive Council of the State Affairs. Its authority was extended by the Labor Congress of Ukraine on 23–28 January 1919.

After unsuccessful attempts to gather members of the committee, it dissolved on 10 November 1920. On 12 November 1920 by the Law on the Temporary Supreme Authority and the Legislative System of the UNR, the executive council was reformed into a single-person government position.

The Directorate was formed until a new council was to be elected to form the professional government. It was decided not to restore functioning of the Central Rada which was favored by the SR-centrists Mykhailo Hrushevsky and Vsevolod Holubovych. The new council, the Labor Congress, appointed the Directorate as the Extraordinary Government Body in the protection of the republic. It was charged to enact laws in the absence of the Labor Congress due to the political situation in the country, while the Council of the People's Ministers was invested with the executive powers. The Directorate consisted of five delegates from various parties and representation groups.

Vynnychenko left the government (10 February 1919) in the hope that the Directorate would establish friendly talks with representatives of the Entente while Petliura left the SDPists, thus demonstrating that the Ukrainian government had changed its political agenda and was not the same one that had signed the treaty in Brest-Litovsk on 9 February 1918. In light of that a new Prime Minister was appointed as well, Serhiy Ostapenko, who headed his non-socialist government from 11 February 1919. When talks failed, Ostapenko was replaced by Borys Martos on 9 April 1919.

 : Chairman of the Directorate

Over two years (December 1918 to November 1920) there were five governments before the Directorate went into official exile at the end of 1920. Between 15 December and 25 December 1918 a stand-off took place between the Revolutionary Committee in Kyiv and the provisional Executive Council of State Affairs (TRZDS) in Vinnytsia. It took couple of weeks before the new government was formed on December 26 headed by Volodymyr Chekhivsky as President of the Council of People's Ministers (Prime Minister).

In December 1918 Hetman of the Ukrainian State Pavlo Skoropadskyi was deposed after the Directorate was established.

With the defeat of the Central Powers in World War I, Skoropadsky could no longer rely on Germany and Austria-Hungary's support. On 13 November 1918 Skoropadky's opponents set up a rival body known as the Directorate, whose forces were headed by the newly reformed Sich Riflemen. Most of Skoropadsky's troops joined with the Directorate during a month-long Ukrainian Civil War. Skoropadsky then turned to some of the Russian officers who were fighting alongside Anton Denikin, forming them into a Special Corps, but these troops were not able to face the Directorate's troops. On 19 December 1918, the Directorate's troops took Kyiv and overthrew Skoropadsky's regime.