All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee

All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee

Всеукраїнський центральний виконавчий комітет
All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee ; Всеукраїнський центральний виконавчий комітет
Type
Type	Unicameral
History
Succeeded by	Presidium of the Supreme Soviet
Leadership
1st Chairman	Yukhym Medvedev, USDRP (left) ; since December 24, 1917
2nd Chairman	Volodymyr Zatonsky, Bolshevik ; since March 19, 1918
3rd Chairman	Hryhoriy Petrovsky, CP(b)U ; since March 10, 1919
Structure
Seats	variable
Political groups	Communists
Political groups	non-Communists
Meeting place
	Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR (until 1934); Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR (from 1934)

All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee (Ukrainian: Всеукраїнський центральний виконавчий комітет, romanized: Vseukrainskyi tsentralnyi vykonavchyi komitet) was a representative body of the All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets. It was the supreme legislative, administrative, executive controlling state power of Soviet Ukraine (Ukrainian SSR) between the sessions of the Congress of Soviets that acted between 1917 until 1938. In the very beginning this institution was established as the Central Executive Committee of Soviet of Ukraine at the First All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets in Kharkiv on December 24–25, 1917. At the same congress was elected the People's Secretariat of Ukraine.

On March 19, 1919, the committee issued a declaration, in which it passed most of its authority to the Sovnarkom of Ukraine at that time headed by Christian Rakovsky.

Historical scope

The committee was first elected at the 1st All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets on December 24, 1917, under the name of TsVK of Soviet Ukraine. The first committee was accounted for 41 members among which 35 were Bolsheviks and four were Left SRs. One of the members Yukhym Medvedev was the Ukrainian Social-Democratic Labour Party (left deviation). The committee did not last long and on April 18, 1918, was merged with the People's Secretariat into the Uprising Nine, a type of revkom.

TsVK was reanimated once again by the 3rd All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets in Kharkiv on March 10, 1919. On the same session of the congress was adopted the Constitution of Ukrainian SSR which established legal basis for the Soviet power in the state. The committee was named as VUTsVK (for All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee), but often was referred to as TsIKUK. The new committee was almost twice as big while the number of its members continued to grow from one convocation of the congress to another. The committee was reorganized after the adoption of the Constitution of Ukrainian SSR of 1937.

In total there were 14 convocations of the committee, 12 of which were taken place in Kharkiv. For almost 20 years from 1919 to 1938 head of the committee was Petrovsky. He however was overshadowed by more prominent Party leaders such as Vyacheslav Molotov, Lazar Kaganovich, Dmitriy Manuilsky, and others. The other chairmen of the committee served for less than a year.

Chairmen

Central Executive Committee of Soviet Ukraine

Yukhym Medvedev December 24, 1917 – March 18, 1918
Volodymyr Zatonsky March 19, 1918 – April 18, 1918 (2nd All-Ukrainian Congress in Yekaterinoslav)