The problem raised in the title of the paper asks for an answer on two levels: how did the relationships between these two entities work out 1) on the administrative level–the day-to-day relationships and 2) on the ideological/political one. I shall be very brief in answering the first problem and somewhat more lengthy in answering the second one. My reasons for doing so may become obvious as I go along.

The Provisional Government, which held power from March to November 1917, had little effect on Lithuania. This was not due to the Russian government's attempt to carry on the war in the midst of internal rebellion and general chaos, but rather to Lithuania's having been overrun by the German army, which occupied the country for the entire period. Nevertheless, this period provides a glimpse into the forces at work, which were to effect profoundly Lithuania to the present. The Lithuanians were trying to establish an independent state of their own against the wishes of the Poles, Russians, and Germans, and in order to understand the situation properly, it is necessary to go back much further in history.

In the new situation created by the collapse of the Tsarist regime in March 1917, the non-Russian peoples directed their efforts towards the realization of their national goals. Ukrainians, who took an active part in the overthrow of the Tsarist rule in Petrograd, were among the most active in asserting their national aspirations and laying foundations for a new relationship with Russia. Leadership of the Ukrainian national movement was in the hands of the Ukrainian Central Rada. The Rada was formed on March 17, 1917, with the participation of representatives of principal Ukrainian organizations. It established a broader base when the All-Ukrainian National Congress convened in Kiev on April 19–21, 1917. The Congress was attended by 900 delegates and some 600 other participants, representing peasant, professional, military, and cultural-educational organizations, in addition to political parties, municipalities, and zemstvos, within as well as beyond the Ukraine.