Provisional Government (Russia)
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| Provisional Government (Russia) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Provisional Government |
| Native name | Временное правительство |
| Formation | March 1917 |
| Dissolved | November 1917 |
| Preceding | Russian Empire |
| Superseding | Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic |
| Jurisdiction | Russian Republic (1917) |
| Headquarters | Petrograd |
| Leader title | Prime Minister |
| Leader name | Georgy Lvov, Alexander Kerensky |
Provisional Government (Russia) was the interim executive authority that assumed control in Petrograd after the abdication of Nicholas II in March 1917, during the wider upheavals of February Revolution. It sought to continue Russia's participation in World War I, implement political reforms, and oversee a transition to a constituent assembly amid pressure from Soviet (council) movements, war fatigue, and rising social unrest.
Background and Formation
The collapse of the Romanov dynasty followed mass protests in Petrograd inspired by food shortages, strikes at factories such as the Putilov Works, and mutinies by units of the Imperial Russian Army and sailors from the Baltic Fleet. Key actors in the crisis included the Duma deputies like Pavel Milyukov and Mikhail Rodzianko, activists from the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic milieu, and leading liberal figures from the Kadets and Octobrists. The abdication of Nicholas II and brief succession attempts by Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich opened space for a temporary authority negotiated between members of the State Duma and representatives of soldiers' and workers' Soviets, resulting in the formation of a cabinet claiming legitimacy until a Constituent Assembly could convene.
Composition and Leadership
The cabinet initially reflected a coalition of constitutionalists and liberals, including ministers from the Constitutional Democratic Party (Kadets), Trudovik deputies, and moderate nationalists such as Georgy Lvov as chair, later replaced by Alexander Kerensky. Prominent figures included Pavel Milyukov, Alexander Guchkov, Vladimir Lvov (prince), Mikhail Tereshchenko, Nikolai Nekrasov, and Kerensky himself who also served as Minister of Justice and later Minister of War. The Provisional Government interacted and sometimes competed with leaders of the Petrograd Soviet such as Lev Trotsky, Yakov Sverdlov, Nikolay Chkheidze, and Mikhail Kalinin, while grappling with pressures from party organizations including the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Bolsheviks), Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Mensheviks), Socialist Revolutionary Party, and Anarchist groups.
Policies and Reforms
The Provisional Government issued a series of liberal legal reforms influenced by thinkers like Pyotr Stolypin's opponents and constitutionalists from the Zemstvo movement. It proclaimed civil liberties championed by activists such as Vladimir Nabokov (senior) and sanctioned the abolition of special courts associated with the Okhrana secret police. Land policy debates involved peasant delegates aligned with the Socialist Revolutionary Party and land committees inspired by the Peasant Union, while nationalities issues engaged representatives from Poland, Finland, Ukraine, and the Baltic provinces. In foreign policy it committed to agreements with Entente powers including France, United Kingdom, and United States allies, while negotiating military matters with commanders like Lavr Kornilov and Aleksei Brusilov.
Challenges and Opposition
The Government faced mounting challenges: war attrition on fronts commanded by generals from the Imperial Russian Army, mutinies such as those involving the Kronstadt sailors, strikes orchestrated by Bolshevik cells influenced by Vladimir Lenin's return, and peasant seizures of estates tied to landlords like members of the Gentry of Russia. Political crises included the April Crisis following Pavel Milyukov's telegram controversy, the July Days unrest in Petrograd, and the attempted Kornilov Affair led by Lavr Kornilov which damaged relations with moderate conservatives and alarmed organizations like the All-Russian Union of Railwaymen. Revolutionary propaganda flowed from newspapers and periodicals linked to Iskra, Pravda, and Russkiye Vedomosti.
October Revolution and Collapse
By autumn 1917 tensions between the Provisional Government and the Bolsheviks escalated, as armed detachments organized by Leon Trotsky and Petrograd garrison units under influence of Moscow Soviet cells moved against government positions in Petrograd. The seizure of key infrastructure including the Winter Palace and telegraph stations occurred amid coordination with military units sympathetic to the Red Guards, sailors from Kronstadt, and revolutionary committees inspired by Lenin's directives from Finland. The Provisional Government's authority disintegrated as the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets affirmed a new power structure headed by the Council of People's Commissars and led to establishment of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
Legacy and Historical Assessment
Historians debating the Provisional Government's record include Orlando Figes, Richard Pipes, Sheila Fitzpatrick, Alexander Rabinowitch, and Marc Ferro, with interpretations ranging from critiques of indecisiveness and commitment to the Entente to arguments about structural constraints posed by wartime collapse and social revolution. Its abolition influenced subsequent policies under leaders like Vladimir Lenin and the consolidation of power by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War. Institutional legacies include debates over constitutionalism inspired by the Constituent Assembly and later Soviet treatment of liberal traditions tied to the Zemstvos and Duma experience. The Provisional Government remains central to studies of 20th-century revolutions, comparative revolutionary theory, and the transformation of Eastern Europe during and after World War I.