March 1917 - the War to End All Wars is in its third year. The great powers continue to tear themselves apart in brutal trench warfare, and on the home front, the peoples of Europe are increasingly agitated, struggling to meet the demands of total war. In Petrograd, the centuries-old Romanov dynasty has been ousted, and Russia seems on the brink of collapse. Yet as the Muscovite phoenix turns to ash, hope for a new order emerges. In Kyiv, a Central Council, or Rada, has emerged to lead Ukraine through the crisis. Though the now-democratic Russia for now keeps a watchful eye over its most prized imperial possession, the Rada – and the Ukrainian people – yearn for revolutionary change.

 

 The dream of an independent state that stands for all Ukrainians, from the poorest peasant to the highest intellectual, seems closer than ever before, but can the Rada win its freedom, let alone keep it?