Provisional Committee of the State Duma

Provisional Committee of the State Duma was a self-appointed governing body formed by members of the Russian State Duma during the February Revolution of 1917. It emerged as a central political authority in Petrograd following the collapse of the Tsarist autocracy and the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II. The committee played a critical, though transitional, role by attempting to restore order and later establishing the Russian Provisional Government, which assumed formal state power. Its existence marked the brief and final political activation of the Fourth State Duma before the October Revolution and the rise of the Bolsheviks.

Formation and purpose

The committee was formed spontaneously on 27 February 1917 (Old Style) amidst the escalating chaos of the February Revolution. As Imperial Russian Army units mutinied and joined protesters in Petrograd, the State Council and the Duma were prorogued by an imperial decree. Defying this order, members of the Duma's Progressive Bloc and other deputies convened in the Tauride Palace. Faced with a complete power vacuum and the absence of the Tsarist government, they established the committee with the immediate purpose of restoring public order and securing communications with military authorities like the Petrograd Military District. Its foundational aim was to serve as a nucleus for a new governmental authority and to negotiate the political future of the Russian Empire with other revolutionary forces, notably the Petrograd Soviet.

Composition and leadership

The committee comprised twelve prominent members of the Fourth State Duma, representing a spectrum of liberal and moderate conservative parties, though dominated by the Kadets and the Octobrists. Its chairman was Mikhail Rodzianko, the President of the Duma, a key figure who communicated directly with Stavka and the Tsar. Other notable members included Pavel Milyukov of the Kadets, Alexander Guchkov of the Octobrists, Vasily Shulgin of the nationalists, and Alexander Kerensky, who also served as a liaison to the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet. This composition reflected the Duma's political center, largely excluding both far-right monarchists and left-wing socialists, though Kerensky's dual role created a crucial link to the rival Soviet authority.

Key actions and decisions

The committee's most significant action was its decision on 2 March 1917 to form the Russian Provisional Government, effectively appointing its first cabinet, with Georgy Lvov as Minister-Chairman. It was instrumental in the abdication negotiations, sending Guchkov and Shulgin to Pskov to receive the formal renunciation of Nicholas II and later his brother, Grand Duke Michael. The committee issued orders to garrison commanders, took control of the Railways Ministry, and attempted to manage food supply in the capital. It also authorized the arrest of former Tsarist ministers, such as those of the last imperial government, and established the Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry for the Investigation of Illegal Acts by Ministers.

Relationship with the Provisional Government

Initially, the committee acted as a de facto sovereign body, from which the Russian Provisional Government derived its legitimacy. However, after the proclamation of the Provisional Government on 2 March, the committee's role became ambiguous and largely supervisory. It positioned itself as a "private institution" representing the Duma, intended to function until the convocation of a Constituent Assembly. This created a confused duality of power, further complicated by the committee's coexistence with the far more influential Petrograd Soviet. While figures like Mikhail Rodzianko and Pavel Milyukov attempted to use the committee to influence government policy, its authority rapidly waned as the Provisional Government, challenged by the July Days and the Kornilov Affair, sought its own independent standing.

Dissolution and legacy

The Provisional Committee effectively ceased meaningful activity after the July Days of 1917, and it was formally dissolved by the Russian Provisional Government on 6 October 1917, just weeks before the October Revolution. Its legacy is that of a pivotal but short-lived institution that managed the immediate constitutional transition from the Russian Empire to a republic. It demonstrated the inability of the Duma's liberal leadership to establish stable authority in the face of radicalized masses and organized socialist opposition. The committee's failure to control events underscored the depth of the revolutionary crisis and paved the way for the eventual seizure of power by the Bolsheviks under Vladimir Lenin. Its history is primarily studied as a key episode in the collapse of the February Revolution's moderate phase.