Kornilov Affair

Kornilov Affair. The Kornilov Affair was a pivotal political and military crisis in late August 1917 that fatally destabilized the Russian Provisional Government. The incident centered on an attempted right-wing military coup led by the Russian Army's Commander-in-Chief, General Lavr Kornilov, against the government of Alexander Kerensky. Its failure dramatically increased the influence of the Bolsheviks and radicalized the Petrograd Soviet, directly paving the way for the October Revolution.

Background

Following the February Revolution, the Russian Republic was governed by the dual authority of the moderate Russian Provisional Government and the socialist Petrograd Soviet. The government, led initially by Georgy Lvov and then Alexander Kerensky, faced immense pressure from continued Russian involvement in World War I, economic collapse, and growing radicalism. By summer 1917, military discipline on the Eastern Front had deteriorated severely following the failed Kerensky Offensive. General Lavr Kornilov, appointed Commander-in-Chief in July, advocated for restoring order through harsh measures, including the death penalty at the front and suppressing the Bolsheviks. Kerensky, fearing both a left-wing uprising and a right-wing dictatorship, engaged in ambiguous negotiations with Kornilov, creating a climate of mutual suspicion and miscalculation.

The Coup Attempt

On August 27 (O.S.), Alexander Kerensky, interpreting troop movements toward Petrograd as the start of a coup, dismissed Lavr Kornilov from his post and declared him a traitor. Kornilov, believing Kerensky was acting under duress from the Petrograd Soviet, refused to stand down and ordered the III Cavalry Corps under General Alexander Krymov to advance on the capital. With the Russian Army seemingly in revolt, Kerensky was forced to turn for help to the very socialist forces he had previously sought to marginalize. The Petrograd Soviet, including the Bolsheviks who were recently persecuted after the July Days, organized the defense, arming thousands of Red Guards and dispatching agitators to confound the advancing Cossacks. The coup attempt collapsed without major bloodshed as Krymov's forces were persuaded to halt their advance and he subsequently committed suicide after a tense meeting with Kerensky.

Aftermath

Lavr Kornilov and several of his senior officers, including Anton Denikin, were arrested and imprisoned in the Bykhov Fortress. The immediate aftermath saw a catastrophic collapse of authority for the Russian Provisional Government and the center-right political parties like the Kadets. The Bolsheviks, who had played a leading role in organizing the capital's defense, were released from jail and saw their public prestige soar, with Leon Trotsky becoming chairman of the Petrograd Soviet in September. The Russian Army's officer corps was left deeply embittered towards Kerensky, fatally weakening military support for the government on the eve of the October Revolution.

Impact on the Russian Provisional Government

The Kornilov Affair irrevocably shattered the credibility of Alexander Kerensky and the Russian Provisional Government. Kerensky was perceived by the left as having initially conspired with Kornilov and by the right as a treacherous betrayer, leaving him politically isolated. The government's reliance on the Petrograd Soviet and radical militias to survive destroyed its claim to independent authority and demonstrated its practical impotence. This paralysis accelerated the radicalization of the masses in Petrograd and Moscow, creating a direct power vacuum that was swiftly filled by the Bolsheviks in the following weeks.

Role of Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks

Although Vladimir Lenin was in hiding in Finland during the events, the Kornilov Affair perfectly served the Bolshevik strategy. The party, following Lenin's arguments in his April Theses, had consistently denounced the Russian Provisional Government and the "bourgeois" Kadets. By leading the practical defense of Petrograd, the Bolsheviks under leaders like Leon Trotsky transformed from persecuted radicals into apparent defenders of the revolution, gaining massive support in the Petrograd Soviet and among factory workers and soldiers. The affair validated Lenin's thesis that a peaceful transition was impossible and that the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries were hopelessly compromised, setting the stage for the Bolshevik Central Committee to plan the armed insurrection of the October Revolution.

Category:Russian Revolution of 1917 Category:Coups d'état in Russia Category:Conflicts in 1917 Category:August 1917 events