1918 Ukrainian coup d'état

On 29 April 1918, farmers and landowners loyal to Ukrainian lieutenant general Pavlo Skoropadskyi, with the support of the German Empire, launched a coup d'état against the government of the Ukrainian People's Republic, removing the Central Rada and installing Skoropadskyi as hetman. The coup was precipitated by a serious deterioration of relations between the Central Rada (parliament) of Ukraine and German occupational forces over land ownership conflicts, the paralysed status of the country's railway system, and the weak security apparatus of the Ukrainian government. These conditions ultimately culminated in the kidnapping of banker Abram Dobryi, who had helped to negotiate the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk between Ukraine and the Central Powers, by government officials. Ukraine's Prime Minister, Vsevolod Holubovych, as well as other government ministers, were arrested prior to the coup d'état, and the former was later convicted of organising the kidnapping.

The coup d'état was launched as a result of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Congress, which met at the Kyiv circus shortly before noon on 29 April 1918. At the congress, protests calling for the overthrow of the government and the installation of Skoropadskyi as hetman began, leading to Skoropadskyi's arrival at the congress. As the protesters marched on Ukrainian government buildings and Saint Sophia Cathedral, they were met with minimal resistance, owing to the arrest of Minister of War Oleksandr Zhukivskyi for his involvement in Dobryi's kidnapping. Skoropadskyi was anointed by effective metropolitan of Kiev and Galicia Nicodemus (Krotkov), and declared the establishment of the Ukrainian State.

While viewed largely ambiguously by the Ukrainian population as a whole, the coup d'état led to an insurgency by supporters of the Central Rada, ultimately culminating in the Anti-Hetman Uprising in November and Skoropadskyi's abdication a month later.