3. The Kornilov affair and its impact on the govt and the Bolsheviks

Question 1

General Lavr Kornilov

Answer 1

• Appointed commander-in-chief of Russia’s armies
• Owed appointment to reputation for toughness and popularity among middle and upper classes
• Fighting general from humble origins

Decorated for gallantry in Russo-Japanese war and current war against Germany

Commander of Petrograd military district - wanted to restore order - by force if needed

Question 2

Downside of Kornilov

Answer 2

• Suicidally brave - political grasp limited

- Indicated he would take up post only if series of conditions met

Question 3

What conditions did Kornilov want to be met to take up the post?

Answer 3

• Desertion and acts of treason in rear areas of battle-zone punishable by death
• Army commander-in-chief accountable for actions not to govt bus to his conscience and the people
• No interference by civilian politicians in military affairs
• Railway workers + workers in defence-related industries - placed under army control (made subject to military punishments)
• Strikes in all industries banned for duration of war (violations punishable by death)

Question 4

How did Kerensky react to Kornilov’s terms?

Answer 4

• Didn’t break off negotiations - reluctant to alienate army’s leaders (knew he might have to call on them to suppress disorder in Petrograd)

Question 5

Further demands by Kornilov in August 1917

Answer 5

• Reported to Kerensky that Kornilov upped stakes further - called for imposition of martial law (military govt) in Petrograd
• Kornilov intent on making himself a military dictator

27 August - dismissed as commander-in-chief

Question 6

How did Kornilov respond to his dismissal?

Answer 6

• Ordered detachment of troops under General Krymov’s command to march on Petrograd (counter-revolution in the making)

Kerensky forced to turn to PS for assistance

Question 7

Petrograd Soviet’s assistance to PG against Kornilov

Answer 7

• Soviet duly mobilised defence of capital - considerable resources:
• Soldiers of Petrograd garrison
• Kronstadt sailors
• Red Guards (issued w/ weapons on Kerensky’s order)

Question 8

What happened to Krymov’s advance on Petrograd as a result of the Soviet’s defence?

Answer 8

• Petered out without a shot being fired
• Railwaymen loyal to Soviet held up troop trains heading towards capital
• Representatives of the PS, many Bolsheviks, infiltrated Krymov’s advancing forces

Succeeded in turning ordinary soldiers against their officers

Kornilov placed under arrest (escaped from custody during Oct Rev - killed in early battle of civil war)

Question 9

Overall impact of Kornilov affair on the govt

Answer 9

• Left Kerensky badly damaged - found himself under fire from left and right

Question 10

How was Kerensky under fire from the left after Kornilov?

Answer 10

• Suspected of having been willing participant in Kornilov’s schemes
• Another claim - Kerensky had shown himself to be an enemy of the working class (through apparent willingness to place worker’s under military control)
• Indication of left-wing disillusionment w/ Kerensky after Kornilov affair was resignation of Chernov (SR leader) as minister of agriculture

Question 11

How was Kerensky under fire from the right after Kornilov?

Answer 11

• Those clamouring for restoration of order and discipline - industrialists, nobility, senior army officers and propertied classes
• Accused Kerensky of political cowardice - right-wing argument that he should have stood by Kornilov (implement his programme, having done the right thing by appointing him)

Question 12

Big winners in Kornilov affair

Answer 12

Bolsheviks:

• Able to project themselves in their propaganda as saviours of the revolution
• In position to go back to the attack
• Surge in popularity for Bolsheviks
• Polled strongly in city council elections (Aug and Sept)
• 33% of vote in Petrograd, 51% Moscow
• Winning control of soviets in major cities

Question 13

Trotsky

Answer 13

• Returned from exile in May - became chairman of Petrograd Soviet at end of September

Question 14

Moscow Soviet

Answer 14

Controlled by Bolsheviks by the end of Sept

Question 15

Who dominated Soviets after elections in Aug and Sept?

Answer 15

• Loose coalitions of Bolsheviks, Left SRs and Menshevik Internationalists in several other cities

Stranglehold of mainstream SRs and ‘revolutionary defences’ Mensheviks on the soviets - BROKEN

Question 16

Other than the Kornilov affair, what were the other reasons for shifting opinion in 1917?

Answer 16

• Bolsheviks better led and organised
• Bolsheviks had fewer internal divisions
• Policies Lenin set out in April Theses grew in appeal
• Increasing polarised society
• Entry into Bolshevik ranks of Trotsky was significant - arguably best-known revolutionary in Russia (and an electrifying public speaker)