18 July 1917. The New York Times

The New York Times

Ukraine Splits Russian Cabinet

By Harold Williams

Cadet Ministers have just resigned from the Government in a body. The immediate occasion for their resignations was the Ukrainian question.

Ministers Tereschenko, Foreign Affairs, and Tseriteli, Post and Telegraphs, returned today from Kiev, whither they had been sent by the Government to investigate the situation without power to make a decision. They brought with them the draft of a declaration of Ukrainian autonomy in the form of an ultimatum which they demanded that the Government should sign without delay and without uttering a word.

There is a Ukrainian Parliament with a responsible General Secretariat or Government, which has complete executive power within Ukraine. No provision is made in the draft for guaranteeing the execution of orders of the Central Government and there are a number of omissions which in any case, in the opinion of the cadets, make the document unsuitable for publication as an act of a responsible Government.

Terestchenko and Tsereteli after hasty consultation with the Ukrainian leaders demanded of Prince Lvoff by telephone that this declaration should at once be published, as otherwise the consequences might be very grave. The cadets insisted that the Government’s hand should not be forced and that it was impossible to decide such a serious question of state by telephone. Prince Lvoff finally agreed that the Government should await the return of the delegation on order to insure adequate discussion.

On their return this morning Terestchenko and Tsereteli, who had been joined and supported in Kiev by Kerensky, repeated their demand and insisted on immediate publication of the declarations. A special meeting of the Cadet Central Committee was called in the afternoon to consider the situation. The opinion was very forcibly expressed that the Ministers could not, without breaking their oath, decree autonomy of Ukraine and so usurp the prerogatives of the Constituent Assembly.

It was argued that further continuance in the policy of concessions would simply compromise the integrity of all the Ministers concerned without in any way benefiting the country. Concessions to the Ukrainians would encourage the ambitions of other nationalities, and once Ukrainian autonomy were granted there would be no reason for refusing the immediate grant of a score of other autonomies, and the Constituent Assembly would be faced by a dismembered Russia, if, indeed, under such circumstances, it could ever be elected.

The Ukrainian question is of the highest importance. The leaders of the movement claim control of the population of the richest area of European Russia and the coast of the Black Sea. To grant the measure of autonomy claimed would mean splitting up the patrimony of the Russian people.

It was decided that if in the evening sitting of the Provisional Government the Ukrainian issue were forced the Cadet Ministers rather than accept responsibility for a declaration of Ukrainian autonomy should resign. The Cadets left the Government just before midnight. No choice was given. They were left in a minority of five in a vote on the unamended draft of the declaration. The crisis is serious and it is uncertain how it will develop.

For the present Prince Lvoff remains in office, but it is not clear whether an attempt will be made to find some other non-Socialist to take the places of the Cadets or whether the Council of Delegates will assume the task of forming the whole Government.

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Nicholas II

Tsarskoye Selo, Russian Empire

All morning it rained, but at 2 o'clock the weather cleared up; by evening it had become cool. The day went as usual. In Petrograd, these days, there is much confusion and gunfire. Yesterday a lot of soldiers and sailors from Kronstadt started to go against the Kerensky government. See more

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Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich

Gatchina, Russian Empire

After lunch we went to the cinema—“The Vampires.”

In Petrograd they are restoring order, only about 1000 people were hurt, counting women and children, the Cossacks had 20 killed and 70 wounded.

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Grigory Zinoviev

Petrograd, Russian Empire

What stands out in my mind, is a small, fleeting meeting in a choir gallery of the Tavrichesky Palace (by the cafeteria): Vladimir Ilyich, Trotsky, and the one who is writing these lines. “Shouldn’t we try now,” laughing, said Lenin, but immediately added, “no, we cannot take power now, because those on the front are not yet with us. Now, a soldier, deceived by liberals would come and slaughter Petersburg workers.”

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Elizaveta Naryshkina

Tsarskoye Selo, Russian Empire

Today is St. Sergius memorial day. There was a procession, an annual tradition commemorating the eradication of cholera in 1830. They held a prayer service in front of the main entrance. They brought me there in an armchair. There was a mass of people; lots of soldiers and students. They prayed wholeheartedly like in the old days, despite the revolution, and despite the fact that at that very moment in Petrograd, people were killing each other. I heard that yesterday was a very bad day.

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Ariadna Tyrkova-Williams

Petrograd, Russian Empire

The third day of unrest. Everything that the left called for, they got. Bolshevik hooligans, Germans, they’re all running the show. Today the authorities ordered everyone to stay at home, to give them the opportunity to “clean up Petrograd”. Thank God. Let them clean up. See more

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Anatoliy Lunacharskiy Anna Lunacharskaya

apt.17, 25/20, Lakhtinskaya, Petrograd, Russian Empire

I’ve just sent you a telegram so that you’d know at the very least that I’m alive. You’ll know all the details already from the newspapers of course, by the time you receive this letter. I’ve had to show solidarity with the Bolsheviks. But… they ignore my advice. True, the movement sprang up spontaneously, but it was nevertheless right in fighting against the partially armed uprisings prompted by the anarchists and the awful state of Petrograd’s underbelly, in keeping with our prior agreement. See more

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Marina Tsvetaeva

Borisoglebsky lane, 6, Moscow, Russian Empire

Yesterday I was on Tverskaya Street. A huge crowd was chasing away the Bolsheviks with a well-orchestrated whistling. There were shouts from among the soldiers “They’ve been bribed! They want Nicholas II!” “Comrades, shout louder, “Down with the Bolsheviks!””. Cars rushed by, bristling with rifles. The mood was ominous. See more

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17 July

"The Russian offensive has surged back. Brusilov claims that the Russian army will be unable to survive the winter"

Bolsheviks rebellion is suppressed

Prokofiev: "I live calmly 15 miles from Petrograd, where they are shooting and rampaging"