When
Nicholas II abdicated on 13th March, a Provisional
Government, headed by Prince George Lvov,
was formed. Members of the Cabinet included Paul
Miliukov, leader of the Cadet Party,
was Foreign Minister, Alexander Guchkov,
Minister of War, Alexander Kerensky,
Minister of Justice and Peter Struve,
Ministry of Trade.
The
Petrograd Soviet recognized the authority
of the Provisional Government in return for its willingness to carry
out eight measures. This included the full and immediate amnesty for
all political prisoners and exiles; freedom of speech, press, assembly,
and strikes; the abolition of all class, group and religious restrictions;
the election of a Constituent Assembly by universal secret ballot;
the substitution of the police by a national militia; democratic elections
of officials for municipalities and townships and the retention of
the military units that had taken place in the revolution that had
overthrown Nicholas II.
In
May, 1917, Alexander Kerensky became
Minister of War and appointed General Alexei
Brusilov as the Commander in Chief of the Russian
Army. He toured the Eastern Front
where he made a series of emotional speeches where he appealed to
the troops to continue fighting. On 18th June, Kerensky announced
a new war offensive. Encouraged by the Bolsheviks,
who favoured peace negotiations, there were demonstrations against
Kerensky in Petrograd.
The
Provisional Government made no real attempt to seek an armistice with
the Central Powers. Lvov's unwillingness
to withdraw Russia from the First World War
made him unpopular with the people and on 8th July, 1917, he resigned
and was replaced by Alexander Kerensky.
Kerensky
was still the most popular man in the government because of his political
past. In the Duma he had been leader of
the moderate socialists and had been seen as the champion of the working-class.
However, Kerensky, like George Lvov, was
unwilling to end the war. In fact, soon after taking office, he announced
a new summer offensive.
Soldiers
on the Eastern Front were dismayed at
the news and regiments began to refuse to move to the front line.
There was a rapid increase in the number of men deserting and by the
autumn of 1917 an estimated 2 million men had unofficially left the
army.
Some
of these soldiers returned to their homes and used their weapons to
seize land from the nobility. Manor
houses were burnt down and in some cases wealthy landowners were murdered.
Kerensky and the Provisional Government issued warnings but were powerless
to stop the redistribution of land in the countryside.
After the
failure of the July Offensive on the Eastern
Front,
Kerensky replaced General Alexei
Brusilov
with General Lavr Kornilov, as Supreme
Commander of the Russian
Army.
The two men soon clashed about military policy. Kornilov wanted Kerensky
to restore the death-penalty for soldiers and to militarize the factories.
On 7th
September, Lavr Kornilov demanded the
resignation of the Cabinet and the surrender of all military and civil
authority to the Commander in Chief. Kerensky responded by dismissing
Kornilov from office and ordering him back to Petrograd.
Kornilov
now sent troops under the leadership of General Krymov to take control
of Petrograd. Kerensky was now in danger and so he called on the Soviets
and the Red Guards to protect Petrograd.
The Bolsheviks, who controlled these
organizations, agreed to this request, but in a speech made by their
leader, Vladimir Lenin, he made clear they
would be fighting against Kornilov rather than for Kerensky.
Within
a few days Bolsheviks had enlisted
25,000 armed recruits to defend Petrograd. While they dug trenches
and fortified the city, delegations of soldiers were sent out to talk
to the advancing troops. Meetings were held and Kornilov's troops
decided to refuse to attack Petrograd. General Krymov committed suicide
and Kornilov was arrested and taken into custody.
Kerensky
now became the new Supreme Commander of the Russian
Army.
His continued support for the war effort made him unpopular in Russia
and on 8th October, Kerensky attempted to recover his left-wing support
by forming a new coalition that included more Mensheviks
and Socialist
Revolutionaries.
However, with the Bolsheviks controlling
the Soviets, and now able to call on 25,000
armed militia, Kerensky was unable to reassert his authority.
On 7th
November, Kerensky was informed that the Bolsheviks
were about to seize power. He decided to leave Petrograd and try to
get the support of the Russian
Army
on the Eastern Front. Later that day
the Red Guards stormed the Winter Palace
and members of the Kerensky's cabinet were arrested. The Provisional
Government was now replaced by an administration headed by Vladimir
Lenin.
The policy
of the Provisional Government alternated between ineffective reforms
and stern repressive measures. An edict from the Socialist Minister
of Labour ordered all the Workers' Committees henceforth to meet only
after working hours. Among the troops at the front, 'agitators' of
opposition political parties were arrested, radical newspapers closed
down, and capital punishment applied - to revolutionary propagandists.
Attempts were made to disarm the Red Guard. Cossacks were spent order
in the provinces.
In September
1917, matters reached a crisis. Against the overwhelming sentiment
of the country, Kerensky and the 'moderate' Socialists succeeded in
establishing a Government of Coalition with the propertied classes;
and as a result, the Mensheviki and Socialist Revolutionaries lost
the confidence of the people for ever.
Week by
week food became scarcer. The daily allowance of bread fell from a
pound and a half to a pound, than three-quarters, half, and a quarter-pound.
Towards the end there was a week without any bread at all. Sugar one
was entitled to at the rate of two pounds a month - if one could get
it at all, which was seldom. A bar of chocolate or a pound of tasteless
candy cost anywhere from seven to ten roubles - at least a dollar.
For milk and bread and sugar and tobacco one had to stand in queue.
Coming home from an all-night meeting I have seen the tail beginning
to form before dawn, mostly women, some babies in their arms.
(4)
Statement issued by the Petrograd
Soviet (9th April, 1917)
We are
appealing to our brother proletarians of the Austro-German coalition.
The Russian Revolution will not retreat before the bayonets of conquerors
and will not allow itself to be crushed by military force. But we
are calling to you, throw off your yoke of your semi-autocratic rule
as the Russian people have shaken off the Tsar's and then by our united
efforts we will stop the horrible butchery which is disgracing humanity
and is beclouding the great days of the birth of Russian freedom.
Proletarians of all countries unite.
(5)
Maxim Gorky,
letter to his son (April, 1917)
Remember, the revolution just began, it will last for
a long time. We won not because we are strong, but because the government
was weak. We have made a political revolution and have to reinforce
our conquest. I am a social democrat, but I am saying and will continue
to say, that the time has not come for socialist-style reforms. The
new government has inherited not a state but its ruins.
(6)
Paul Milyukov, Foreign Minister
of the Provisional Government, letter
sent to all Allied ambassadors (5th May, 1917)
Free Russia
does not aim at the domination of other nations, or at occupying by
force foreign territories. Its aim is not to subjugate or humiliate
anyone. In referring to the "penalties and guarantees" essential
to a durable peace the Provisional Government had in view reduction
of armaments, the establishment of international tribunals, etc.
(7)
Harold Williams, Daily
Chronicle (22nd March, 1917)
Kerensky
is a young man in his early thirties, of medium height, with a slight
stoop, and a quick, alert movement, with brownish hair brushed straight
up, a broad forehead already lined, a sharp nose, and bright, keen
eyes, with a certain puffiness in the lids due to want of sleep, and
a pale, nervous face tapering sharply to the chin. His whole bearing
was that of a man who could control masses.
He was
dressed in a grey, rather worn suit, with a pencil sticking out of
his breast pocket. He greeted us with a very pleasant smile, and his
manner was simplicity itself. He led us into his study, and there
we talked for an hour. We discussed the situation thoroughly, and
I got the impression that Kerensky was not only a convinced and enthusiastic
democrat, ready to sacrifice his life if need be for democracy - that
I already knew from previous acquaintance - but that he had a clear,
broad perception of the difficulties and dangers of the situation,
and was preparing to meet them.
(8)
E. H. Wilcox was very impressed with Alexander
Kerensky and praised him in his book, Russia's Ruin (1919)
Kerensky
became the personification of everything that was good and noble in
Russia. He was no longer the leader of the political Party, but the
prophet of a new faith, the high priest of a new doctrine, which were
to embrace all Russia, all mankind. Whatever he may have been before
or after, during this dazzling and intoxicating interlude he had in
him true elements of greatness.
(9)
Robert Wilton, The
Times (19th March, 1917)
I regret
to have to say that some students of both sexes are blindly cooperating
in this anarchistic propaganda. However, today the outlook is distinctly
more hopeful and it is possible that a breach between the extremists
and the moderates may be avoided, both agreeing to support the present
Temporary Government until a Constituent Assembly decides the fate
of Russia by the votes of all her 170 million people. The organization
of this gigantic general election will naturally take time.
(10)
General Peter
Wrangel went to St. Petersburg after the February Revolution and
the creation of the Provisional Government.
The first
thing I noticed in Petersburg was the profusion of red ribbon. Everyone
was decorated with it, not only soldiers, but students, chauffeurs,
cab-drivers, middle-class folk, women, children, and many officers.
Men of some account, such as old generals and former aides-de-camp
to the Tsar, wore it too.
I expressed
my astonishment to an old comrade of mine at seeing him thus adorned.
He tried to laugh it off, and said jokingly: "Why, my dear fellow,
don't you know that it's the latest fashion?"
I considered
this ridiculous adornment absolutely useless. Throughout my stay in
the capital I wore the Tsarevich's badge, the distinguishing mark
of my old regiment, on my epaulettes, and, of course, I wore no red
rag.
(11)
Albert Rhys Williams described the
arrival of troops to put down the Bolshevik uprising in July, 1917,
in his book, Through the Russian Revolution.
On the
third day the troops arrive. Bicycle battalions, the reserve regiments,
and then the long grim lines of horsemen, the sun glancing on the
tips of their lances. They are the Cossacks, ancient foes of the revolutionists,
bring dread to the workers and the joy to the bourgeoisie. The avenues
are filled now with well-dressed throngs cheering the Cossacks, crying
"Shoot the rabble". "String up the Bolsheviks".
A wave
of reaction runs through the city. Insurgent regiments are disarmed.
The death penalty is restored. The Bolshevik papers are suppressed.
Forged documents attesting the Bolsheviks as German agents are handled
to the press. Leaders like Trotsky and Kollontai are thrown into prison.
Lenin and Zinoviev are driven into hiding. In all quarters sudden
seizures, assaults and murder of workingmen.
(12)
In his book, My Reminiscences of the Russian Revolution, Morgan
Philips Price described the demonstrations that took place in
Russia on 1st May, 1917.
I do not
think I ever saw a more impressive spectacle than on this occasion.
It was not merely a labour demonstration, although every socialist
party and workmen's union in Russia was represented there, from anarcho-syndicalists
to the most moderate of the middle-class democrats. It was not merely
an international demonstration, although every nationality of what
had been the Russian Empire was represented there with its flag and
inscription in some rare, strange tongue, from the Baltic Finns to
the Tunguses of Siberia. The First of May celebration, 1917, in Petrograd
and throughout the length and breadth of Russia was really a great
religious festival, in which the whole human race was invited to commemorate
the brotherhood of man. Revolutionary Russia had a message to the
world, and was telling it across the roar of the cannons and the din
of battle.
(13)
Edward T. Heald, letter to his wife (2nd
May, 1917)
The sudden
burst of radical propaganda, which has developed during the past week,
is attributed to a man named Lenin who has just arrived from Switzerland.
He came through Germany, and rumour is that he was banqueted by Emperor
Wilhelm. As he entered the country through Finland, he harangued the
soldiers and workingmen along the way with the most revolutionary
propaganda. One of the Americans who came through on the same train
told us how disheartening it was. Lenin's first words when he got
off the train at Petrograd were "Hail to the Civil war."
God knows what a task the Provisional Government has on hand without
adding the trouble that such a firebrand can create.
(14)
Arthur Ransome was in Russia during the
October Revolution.
Before the end of August it was obvious that there would be
a Bolshevik majority in the Soviets that would be reflected in the
composition of the Executive Committee. During the 'July Days' the
weakness of the Government had been manifest. Kerensky had been weakened
by the double failure, military and diplomatic, disasters in Galicia
and failure to bring the warring powers together in conference at
Stockholm. Both these failures had brought new strength to the Bolsheviks,
and a swing to the left was inevitable.
(15)
Alfred Knox believed that Alexander
Kerensky was a vital member of the Provisional Government.
There is
only one man who can save the country, and that is Kerensky, for this
little half-Jew lawyer has still the confidence of the over-articulate
Petrograd mob, who, being armed, are masters of the situation. The
remaining members of the Government may represent the people of Russia
outside the Petrograd mob, but the people of Russia, being unarmed
and inarticulate, do not count. The Provisional Government could not
exist in Petrograd if it were not for Kerensky.
(16)
Morgan Philips Price, My Three Revolutions
(1969)
The fall
of Miliukov caused Prince Lvov to reconstruct the Provisional Government.
A coalition government was formed of moderate Socialists from the
Soviet and seven Liberals. The Socialists were Mensheviks and Socialist
Revolutionaries. The Liberals were from the Cadets and other groups.
Kerensky became War Minister. He was a lawyer who made a great name
for himself in defending victims of Tsarist oppression and was generally
very popular. The Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries believed
that at that stage of the Revolution the workers and soldiers of the
Army were unable to run the country alone and needed the co-operation
of the middle-class Liberals.
(17)
Alfred Knox, diary entry (20th July, 1917)
Events
have moved with dramatic quickness. Kerensky returned from the front
last night and, in a stormy meeting of the Ministry, demanded dictatorial
powers in order to bring the army back to discipline. The socialists
disagreed. Lvov and Tereshchenko did their utmost to reconcile the
diverging views. While addressing the men he was handed a telegram
telling him of the disaster on the South-West Front, where the Germans
have broken through. He took back the telegram to the Ministerial
Council and the attitude changed. Lvov has resigned and Kerensky will
be Prime Minister and Minister of War.
(18)
In her book The Red Heart of Russia, Bessie
Beatty described how the Russian people left their factories in
order to defend the Bolshevik Revolution from the threatened attack
by troops led by Alexander Kerensky.
The factory
gates opened wide, and the amazing army of the Red Guard, ununiformed,
untrained, and certainly unequipped for battle with the traditional
backbone of the Russian military, marched away to defend the revolutionary
capital and the victory of the proletariat. Women walked by the side
of men, and small boys tagged along on the fringes of the procession.
Some of the factory girls wore red crosses upon the sleeves of their
thin jackets, and packed a meague kitbag of bandages and first-aid
accessories. Most of them carried shovels with which to did trenches.
I will
cite here the most characteristic passage from a whole series of articles
published in Rabochi Put by Lenin, a state criminal who is
in hiding and whom we are trying to find. This state criminal has
invited the proletariat and the Petrograd garrison to repeat the experience
of 16-18 July, and insists upon the immediate necessity for an armed
rising. Moreover, other Bolshevik leaders have taken the floor in
a series of meetings, and also made an appeal to immediate insurrection.
Particularly should be noticed the activity of the present president
of the Petrograd Soviet, Trotsky.
The policy
of the Bolsheviki is demagogic and criminal, in their exploitation
of the popular discontent. But there is a whole series of popular
demands which have received no satisfaction up to now. The question
of peace, land, and the democratization of the army ought to be stated
in such a fashion that no soldier, peasant, or worker would have the
least doubt that our Government is attempting, firmly and infallibly,
to solve them.
The Provisional
Government has never violated the liberty of all citizens of the State
to use their political rights. But now the Provisional Government
declares, in this moment those elements of the Russian nation, those
groups and parties who have dared to lift their hands against the
free will of the Russian people, at the same time threatening to open
the front to Germany, must be liquidated.
(22)
Nikolai Sukhanov, The Russian Revolution
of 1917 (1922)
Antonov-Ovseenko's plan was accepted. It consisted in
occupying first of all those parts of the city adjoining the Finland
Station: the Vyborg Side, the outskirts of the Petersburg Side, etc.
Together with the units arriving from Finland it would then be possible
to launch an offensive against the centre of the capital.
Beginning
at 2 in the morning the stations, bridges, lighting installations,
telegraphs, and telegraphic agency were gradually occupied by small
forces brought from the barracks. The little groups of cadets could
not resist and didn't think of it. In general the military operations
in the politically important centres of the city rather resembled
a changing of the guard. The weaker defence force, of cadets retired;
and a strengthened defence force, of Red Guards, took its place.
(23)
Pavel Manlyantovich was Minister
of Justice in the Provisional Government. He was arrested by Vladimir
Antonov-Ovseenko and the Red Guards
on 25th October, 1917. He later wrote about the incident in his book,
In the Winter Palace (1918)
There was a noise behind the door and it burst open like
a splinter of wood thrown out by a wave, a little man flew into the
room, pushed in by the onrushing crowd which poured in after him,
like water, at once spilled into every corner and filled the room.
"Where
are the members of the Provisional Government?"
"The
Provisional Government is here," said Kornovalov, remaining seated."What
do you want?"
"I
inform you, all of you, members of the Provisional Government, that
you are under arrest. I am Antonov-Ovseenko, chairman of the Military
Revolutionary Committee."
"Run
them through, the sons of bitches! Why waste time with them? They've
drunk enough of our blood!" yelled a short sailor, stamping the
floor with his rifle."
There were
sympathetic replies: "What the devil, comrades! Stick them all
on bayonets, make short work of them!"
Antonov-Ovseenko
raised his head and shouted sharply: "Comrades, keep calm!"
All members of the Provisional Government are arrested. They will
be imprisoned in the Fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul. I'll permit
no violence. Conduct yourself calmly. Maintain order! Power is now
in your hands. You must maintain order!"
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