Chairman of the Petrograd Soviet in the dual-power era, face of revolutionary defencism
"Deprived of direct contact with his people, he lost his power of resistance. Even a mighty oak, overturned by a storm and torn from the soil that fed it, withers. So it was with Chkheidze." — Irakli Tsereteli at his funeral, 1926
A Georgian nobleman and Menshevik who produced the first Georgian translation of the Communist Manifesto. In 1917 he chaired the Petrograd Soviet during dual power but opposed the October Revolution; he went on to lead Georgia's independence and its government-in-exile in Paris.
Career Timeline
- 1890년대Joined Mesame-dasi; first Georgian translation of the Communist Manifesto
- 1898–1907Batumi city duma deputy, municipal hospital inspector; joined RSDLP (1898), Menshevik from 1903
- 1907–17Deputy, Third and Fourth State Dumas (Tiflis); head of the Menshevik faction
- 1917.2–9Chairman, Petrograd Soviet; Chairman, All-Russian Central Executive Committee (from June)
- 1918–21Chairman, Transcaucasian Seim and Georgian Constituent Assembly; signed independence declaration
- 1919Georgian delegate to the Paris Peace Conference
- 1921–26Exile in France; head of the Georgian government-in-exile
Related historical events
Dual Power and Revolutionary Defencism in 1917
On 27 February 1917 (O.S.), Chkheidze joined the Provisional Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet and was elected its chairman, while also joining the Duma's Provisional Committee. He refused the post of Minister of Labour in the Provisional Government, but upheld 'revolutionary defencism' (the position that the war against Germany must continue to defend the revolution) and gave the Provisional Government conditional support. This drew fierce criticism from Lenin, who demanded an immediate end to the war and the transfer of all power to the Soviets. After the July Days, Chkheidze denounced the Bolsheviks as 'conspirators' and declared the Soviets' full support for the Provisional Government; during the Kornilov affair, as a member of the Committee for the People's Struggle Against Counter-Revolution, he appealed to the Kronstadt sailors for help. But on 6 September, when the Petrograd Soviet adopted the Bolshevik resolution 'On Power,' Chkheidze resigned together with the entire Menshevik-SR presidium, and the chairmanship passed to Trotsky. This was a pivotal moment that cleared the Bolshevik path to the October Revolution.