Russian Provisional Government

Formation

The Provisional Government was established on 15 March 1917 (2 March, Old Style) through the cooperation of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma and the Petrograd Soviet. The previous day the Provisional Committee appointed 24 commissars and, headed by Mikhail Rodzianko, suspended the activity of the Fourth State Duma; the committee announced the creation of a new government on 13 March. The government replaced the Council of Ministers of Russia that had presided in the Mariinsky Palace, and was led first by Prince Georgy Lvov and then by Alexander Kerensky. The Bolsheviks protested its formation. Charged with continuing the war and preparing elections to the Constituent Assembly, it stood in a dual-power relationship with the Petrograd Soviet. War Minister Alexander Guchkov said the government had "only the appearance of authority; the real power lies with the Soviet."

Crises of 1917

• April Crisis: When Foreign Minister Pavel Milyukov sent a note to the Allied governments promising to continue the war to a victorious conclusion, mass demonstrations of workers and soldiers broke out, forcing the resignations of Milyukov and Guchkov; on 22 April a coalition government with 6 socialist ministers was formed.
• June Offensive and July Days: Kerensky's offensive collapsed within three days. The heavy casualties and loss of territory produced the July Days; the government suppressed the uprising, but the soldiers' and workers' confidence in the pro-war moderate socialist leaders was destroyed. The government imposed martial law in Petrograd, and the Bolshevik leadership was arrested or driven into hiding.

Personnel and the Kornilov affair

• Lvov resigned on 21 July and Kerensky became Prime Minister; on 24 July (6 August) a second coalition cabinet, composed mostly of socialists, took office.
• On 19 July Kerensky appointed Kornilov Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Kornilov demanded the government's resignation and emergency powers and advanced a military dictatorship program; at the Moscow State Conference of 12-15 August he displayed political ambitions and clashed with Kerensky. Kornilov's armed move failed in late August, and in suppressing it Kerensky's government gave the left an opportunity to arm. The Soviet could not disarm the Red Guard formed in those days, and those weapons were used in the October Revolution.

Proclamation of the Republic and the Constituent Assembly

Despite progressive legislation, including democratic freedoms and the separation of church and state, the government's ability to resolve the problems it faced was limited. On 1 September (Old Style, 14 September New Style) the Russian Republic was proclaimed, and from 25 September a third coalition government was formed. The Constituent Assembly elections were postponed and set for 12 November. In the October Revolution the Provisional Government was overthrown and power passed to the soviets.

Historiography

Assessments of the Provisional Government divide in two directions. One emphasizes its incapacity and its continuation of the war; the other that it passed the most progressive legislation in Europe even under severe structural constraints. Both evaluations are attempts to explain the fundamental reason the Provisional Government lost the competition for power with the Soviet.