Provisional Committee of the Duma
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| Provisional Committee of the Duma | |
|---|---|
| Name | Provisional Committee of the Duma |
| Native name | Прoвизиoнальный комитет Государственной Думы |
| Formation | March 1917 |
| Dissolution | March–April 1917 |
| Predecessor | Fourth State Duma |
| Successors | Russian Provisional Government, Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet |
| Location | Petrograd, Russian Empire |
| Leaders | Mikhail Rodzianko, Prince Georgy Lvov, Alexander Guchkov |
Provisional Committee of the Duma The Provisional Committee of the Duma was an ad hoc body formed in March 1917 during the collapse of the Russian Empire and the abdication crisis involving Nicholas II, tasked with assuming authority in the vacuum left by the failure of the imperial administration. It operated concurrently and contentiously with revolutionary organs such as the Petrograd Soviet and transitional institutions like the Russian Provisional Government, influencing the course of the February Revolution and the early weeks of the Russian Revolution of 1917.
Background and Formation
The committee emerged against the backdrop of military setbacks on the Eastern Front, political crises tied to the Duma and the weakening of the Tsarist regime after the February Revolution and the mass unrest in Petrograd centered on sites like the Putilov Factory, the Nevsky Prospekt demonstrations, and the breakdown of order traced to clashes involving the Imperial Russian Army, Imperial Guard, and striking workers. Key triggers included the failures of cabinets associated with figures such as Ivan Goremykin and Pyotr Stolypin’s legacy, the informational shock of defections by generals like Lavr Kornilov (later) and the political maneuvering of State Duma leaders reacting to reports from Mikhail Rodzianko, Aleksandr Kerensky, and deputies from the Fourth State Duma.
Membership and Leadership
The committee’s nucleus comprised leading deputies of the Fourth State Duma and prominent conservative and liberal aristocrats and zemstvo activists, including chairmen like Mikhail Rodzianko and prominent figures such as Alexander Guchkov and Pavel Milyukov alongside moderate nobles like Georgy Lvov (Prince Lvov) and military-minded deputies linked to circles around General Aleksandr Krymov and General Nikolai Ruzsky. Other associated personalities included Vladimir Nabokov, Fyodor Kokoshkin, and liberal reformers connected to the Constitutional Democratic Party (the Kadets) and organizations such as the Union of Zemstvos and the All-Russian Union of Cities.
Role in the February Revolution
Acting in the immediate revolutionary interregnum, the committee coordinated with commanders like General Pavel Dmitriyevich-era contemporaries and appealed to institutions including the Ministry of War and the State Council, declaring the need to restore order, secure armories such as those at the Peter and Paul Fortress and the Kronstadt approaches, and to manage food shortages linked to supply lines from regions like Rostov-on-Don and Kiev Governorate. Its actions intersected with the initiatives of revolutionary leaders such as Alexander Kerensky, the socialist deputies in the Petrograd Soviet like Nikolay Chkheidze, and socialist intellectuals engaged with the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks including Vladimir Lenin (then in exile) and later returning radicals associated with Leon Trotsky and Grigory Zinoviev.
Legal Authority and Actions
Claiming legitimacy as representatives of the Duma after the de facto disintegration of the Imperial Cabinet, the committee issued proclamations, attempted to regularize the succession crisis around the abdication of Nicholas II and the short-lived offer to Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia, and sought to authorize emergency measures including control over police forces such as the Okhrana remnants and the Gendarmes. It reached out to legal and political channels including the Chairmanship of the State Duma, the Cossack hosts leadership, and bureaucratic centers in Moscow and Kazan to validate its decrees, while interacting with liberal legalists like Konstantin Pobedonostsev’s critics and constitutional advocates from the Kadets and Trudoviks.
Relations with the Petrograd Soviet and Other Bodies
Relations between the committee and the Petrograd Soviet were fraught and cooperative in turns: the committee sought practical recognition from the Soviet leadership under figures like Nikolay Chkheidze and Matvei Skobelev, negotiated the dual power (dvoevlastie) arrangements that characterized the interregnum, and competed with other emergent organs including the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, the Moscow Soviet, military committees from garrison units such as the Pavlovsk Regiment, and municipal associations like the St. Petersburg City Duma. International reactions involved envoys and observers from capitals such as Paris, London, and Washington, D.C. and military missions including liaison interactions with representatives of the Allied Powers.
Dissolution and Legacy
Within weeks the committee ceded executive authority to a Provisional Government dominated by figures such as Prince Georgy Lvov and ministers from the Kadets and liberal blocs, while revolutionary momentum continued through soviet mechanisms culminating in the October events associated with October Revolution later that year. The committee’s brief tenure influenced debates on legality, constitutionalism, and the role of parliamentary deputies during crises involving actors like Pavel Milyukov, Alexander Kerensky, and later military confrontations implicating Lavr Kornilov. Its legacy is reflected in historiography by scholars analyzing continuity from the Duma to provisional authority, the tensions between liberal reformers and socialist soviets, and the eventual disintegration of imperial institutions across regions such as Ukraine, the Baltic Governorates, and Finland.