The Congress of Working People Ukraine (January 1919) by the Leaflets Collection of the Old and Rare Books Department of Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine

The scientific relevance of the topic of this article is caused by importance of the study of the sources on the history of the Ukrainian revolution of 1917-1921 th. One of these sources is the leaflets from the collection of the department of old printed and rare editions of the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine. The article deals with the problem of the activity of Congress of Working People Ukraine on the materials of the collection of leaflets of VNLU. Among this collection are 18 copies of one-sheet editions which represent preparation, progress and regulations of The Congress of Working People Ukraine. In article author proposes to divide the existing leaflets by their content into sociopolitical, normative, instructional and informational. It was established that these editions were published by various printing houses of Ukraine, mainly on request of the CentralInformation Bureau of the Directory of the Ukrainian People’s Republic. Attention has been drawn to the typographical particularities of this one-sheet editions as a type of printed editions of the era of the Ukrainian Revolution. Among one-sheet editions, that devoted to the Congress of Working People Ukraine, many copies with large sizes, which means that they were focused on the mass reader, for posting in crowded places.The directions of the state policy of Congress of Working People Ukraine, which were reflected in the leaflets of January 1919, are examined. One-sheet editions with texts of constitutional acts and laws adopted by the the Congress of Working People Ukraine («Universal of the The Congress of Working People Ukraine to the Ukrainian people», «Note of the The Congress of Working People Ukraine to the peoples to the World») are analyzed. Publicistic essays in the leaflets in which the Congress is mentioned are considered. The reaction of the leading parties of that time to the Congress activities through leaflets has been followed. The author comes to the conclusion that leaflets were part of the policy of government informing the population of the country and ensured the rapid dissemination of the Directory’s political program.