The early days of the Revolution were a period of steadily increasing confusion. Once the strong hand of the old regime had been removed, there came the task of putting something in its place. A Provisional Government was set up, first under the premiership of Prince Lvov and later of Alexander Kerensky. It was the fond dream of these men and their associates that they could maintain the unity of the country and they even hoped to continue the war more effectively now that the dark forces which were supposed to be working with the Germans had been removed. This was not the dream of large sections of the population. The peasants saw in the Revolution the opportunity to divide the land and to improve their material well-being. This had been their dream in 1905 and now it seemed as if they would be able to carry it out. But there were in Russia also large numbers of minority races and these thought of securing their practical independence or at least of bettering their condition through some sort of a federalized Russia. Under the changed conditions it seemed very possible that all those schemes of federalization which had been put forward by the Society of Saints Cyril and Methodius and later by such publicists as Drahomaniv might have some chance of success. As soon as the Revolution broke out, Prof. Hrushevsky left Moscow and made his way to Kiev. There he got in touch with the Ukrainian Progressive Organization, which had been a secret organization in Russia working for Ukrainian independence, and with the various socialist parties in Ukraine. There was set up without delay the Ukrainian Central Council (Ukrainska Tsentralna Rada) which aimed to crystalize Ukrainian interests and take over the necessary administrative functions in Ukraine and Professor Hrushevsky was elected President. At this period the Rada, or at least its majority, were far more interested in forming themselves into a government which would become part of a federal Russian republic than in full independence. In the meanwhile the chaos throughout Russia continued to increase and the Provisional Government showed itself unable to master the situation. The various Councils of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies were meeting throughout the country and passing resolutions which cut directly at the power of the Provisional Government. These Councils represented all the various radical parties and were by no means in the beginning under Bolshevik influence. Yet they reflected the various currents of popular thought which ranged from desires to secure the land for the peasants to definite local class aspirations. The prime necessity for the Provisional Government was the creation of an armed force that would be disciplined and obedient to it, but it was exactly this that was most neglected.