The February Revolution completely changed howsocial and political structure of the former Russian Empire. Many power structures were abolished, and a serious reformation of the bureaucracy began. At first, all this sometimes led to very remarkable, strange forms of government. An ideal example is the dual power in Russia in 1917. It is worth discussing its causes and results separately.
So, the Dual Power in Russia 1917- It is a system of government, in which power was distributed between two bodies: the Provisional Government and the Council of Workers 'and Peasants' Deputies. Purely theoretically, such a scheme implied mutual control and the avoidance of “excesses,” advantageous only to some specific social strata. In practice, everything was not so good.
By the way, why did the dual power in general arise?Russia of 1917? The reasons for this are pretty commonplace. Firstly, we have already noted that all the political forces in Russia of that time were eager for the authorities, but they did not succeed in reaching an agreement among themselves.
In addition, there was a complete unwillingness to beartheir actions are responsibility. Is not it a familiar situation? For example, no one could decide to lead the country out of the war, although its hopelessness has long been understood by all sectors of society. While the dual power existed in Russia in 1917, practically nothing was done to actually transfer the land to the peasants, which they had been waiting for since 1861. Naturally, all this set the people against the Provisional Government and the Council.
And because in the declaration, which was adopted 3March 1917, together with it, a full political amnesty was approved, civil liberty and the abolition of capital punishment were proclaimed, class and class discrimination was prohibited, and the Constituent Assembly was announced.
A gross mistake that made diarchy inRussia in 1917, was that the members of these management bodies did not say a word about either stopping a senseless war or confiscating landowners' lands. In addition, the promised proclamation of a democratic Republic did not happen either. Not least, this was due to the fact that the Provisional Government sought, by all means, to concentrate all state power in its hands.
So, diarchy in Russia.1917 in the yard, in the country a lot of unsolved social and economic problems. There were resources for solving them, practically all social strata were in favor of the new authorities, as the tsarist government did nothing at all in recent years, quickly and decisively bringing the country to a crisis. But why did the Provisional Government fail?
Solving the most pressing land issuepostponed until the last, until the convocation of the Constituent Assembly. Therefore, it is not surprising that for the majority of the population the Government has again become hostile and alien. The tension grew, after which the crises of the Provisional Government began.
April 18 P.N.Miliukov, who at that time was the foreign minister, said in a message to the allies that Russia, despite everything, intends to "fight to the bitter end." Thousands of people came out to protest, not wanting to send their loved ones to the war that had become hateful to everyone. Milyukov and the Minister of Defense, A.I. Guchkov, were immediately dismissed. Already in the beginning of May several Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries were included in the Provisional Government.
He said his party, seeing what was happening incountry mess, ready to take all the power in their hands and restore order. Thus, the diarchy in Russia in 1917 began to lose the support of all segments of the population. The policy of the Government and the Council did not like anyone.
The Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries got especially strongbecause they "collaborated with the bourgeoisie" in the face of the Provisional Government. In the working environment, the Bolsheviks have more and more supporters. The events that took place on June 18 demonstrated this most clearly. On this day, the Council planned an action in support of the Provisional Government. The Bolsheviks immediately responded to such a clear threat by convening the workers for a "spontaneous" rally.
In Petersburg alone, no less than five hundred thousand people took to the streets, who "carried to the masses" the slogans known to everyone: "All power to the Soviets!", "Down with the capitalist ministers!", "Down with the war!"
Восьмого июля в ЦК кадетов принято решение о full withdrawal from the "collaborationist government", which at that time was already in full negotiations with the nationalist parties of Ukraine, agreeing on the conditions for the release of this newly-minted country from Russia.
Soon the streets of St. Petersburg were already seething again.multi-thousand demonstrations held under the slogan of the transfer of all power to the Bolsheviks. This time the situation was complicated by the fact that there were many armed soldiers and sailors among the people. In general, the diarchy in Russia in 1917 existed largely due to the people's belief that its deputies would be able to end the war. When this did not happen, the confidence of the electorate was lost immediately.
The government made a fatal decision tothe need to use force. Not less than 700 people were killed, and state administration gradually began to slide into a banal dictatorship. Martial law was introduced, military units were hastily withdrawn from the capital, almost all radical newspapers were completely closed.
A resolution is issued on the early arrest of V.I.Lenin and G. E. Zinoviev, who at that time led the Bolshevik Party. On July 24, a “second edition” of the coalition government was formed, this time including eight “capitalists” and seven “socialists”. The well-known A. F. Kerensky is becoming Prime Minister of the new authority.
Comparison objects | April crisis | June crisis | July crisis |
Causes of what happened | Contradictions between different political forces in the government of the country | The difficult situation in all areas of the economy, industry and agriculture | Complete failure of the offensive in the south-west direction |
Formal reason for the start of demonstrations | Statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs “On war to the bitter end” | The preparation of offensive operations "to raise the patriotic identity" | Huge losses, the beginning of the separatist movement in many subjects of the former empire |
Form of "popular protests" | Anti-war demonstrations | Demonstrations involving soldiers and sailors | Armed demonstrations |
Basic slogans | "Down with Milyukov", that is, the Minister of Foreign Affairs | "Down with the war", "All power to the Soviets" | “All Power to the Soviets” |
In fact, the diarchy in Russia 1917this ended, since after the creation of this government, the state was actually headed by the Mensheviks. Simply put, there was no longer any talk of any division of powers. So, what was the result of the dual power in Russia in 1917? The results were disappointing:
Generally, the dual power in Russia in 1917, the scheme of which has been cited above many times, is an excellent example of how weak and insecure political forces that have “seized” power have been unable to do something really useful. The Bolsheviks and captivated the hearts of people that they chose not only to rant, but also acted.
It was they who stopped the participation of Russia into the war, although they did it by the “Infamous Brest Peace”, as Lenin himself spoke directly about. However, the onset of relative calm and respite for the country were worth it. We hope you have learned about the factors that permanently ceased the dual power in Russia in 1917. The table we quoted above describes the main reasons.
After the diarchy was eliminated,an attempt was made to rally all political forces in the country in order to prevent it from slipping into the chaos of civil war. In mid-August, the Great State Assembly was held, in which all the political forces of the country took part. In addition to the Bolsheviks. Alas, the attempt to reach an agreement failed for the umpteenth time: the Mensheviks called for real reforms and coexistence with the Soviet, while the bourgeoisie insisted on dictatorship and the final liquidation of all socialists.
Under these conditions, a military coup was possible,"At the helm" of which stood General L. G. Kornilov. His program included not only the complete elimination of the leaders of Bolshevism, but also mobilization measures in the economy, the restoration of the death penalty in the navy and in the army. The latter was necessary in order to stop the rapidly developing decomposition of troops. Kornilov miscalculated: almost all political parties rose against him, which were not at all impressed with the restoration of the royal dictatorship. During the week the insurgency was crushed.
