Alexander Kerensky

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Fyodorovich and the family name is Kerensky.

Alexander Kerensky
Александр Керенский
Kerensky in 1917
Minister-Chairman of the Russian Provisional Government
In office
21 July 1917 – 7 November 1917
Succeeded byPosition abolished; Vladimir Lenin is the next head of state, but the formal position is different due the dissolution of the Provisional Government.
Preceded byGeorgy Lvov
Minister of War and Navy
In office
18 May 1917 – 14 September 1917
[5 May – 1 September 1917 Old Style]
Minister-ChairmanGeorgy Lvov
Himself
Preceded byAlexander Guchkov
Minister of Justice
In office
16 March 1917 – 1 May 1917
[3 March – 18 April 1917 Old Style]
Minister-ChairmanGeorgy Lvov
Preceded byPosition established[a]
Succeeded byPavel Pereverzev
The Vice-Chairman of the Petrograd Soviet[1]
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byMatvey Skobelev
Personal details
Born(1881-05-04)4 May 1881
Simbirsk, Simbirsk Governorate, Russian Empire
Died11 June 1970(1970-06-11) (aged 89)
New York City, U.S.
Resting placePutney Vale Cemetery, London
NationalityRussian
Political partyTrudoviks
Children
Alma materSaint Petersburg State University
Profession
Signature

Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky

N.S.
)

After the

Minister of War, and after July as the government's second Minister-Chairman. He was the leader of the social-democratic Trudovik faction of the Socialist Revolutionary Party. Kerensky was also a vice-chairman of the Petrograd Soviet, a position that held a sizable amount of power. Kerensky became the prime minister of the Provisional Government, and his tenure was consumed with World War I. Despite mass opposition to the war, Kerensky chose to continue Russia's participation
. His government cracked down on anti-war sentiment and dissent in 1917, which made his administration even more unpopular.

Kerensky remained in power until the October Revolution. This revolution saw the Bolsheviks create a government led by Vladimir Lenin, to replace Kerensky's government. Kerensky fled Russia and lived the remainder of his life in exile. He divided his time between Paris and New York City. Kerensky worked for the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

Biography

Early life and activism

Alexander Kerensky was born in Simbirsk (now

serf who had managed to purchase his freedom before serfdom was abolished in 1861. He subsequently embarked upon a mercantile career, in which he prospered. This allowed him to move his business to Moscow, where he continued his success and became a wealthy Moscow merchant.[3][5]

Members of the Kerensky and Ulyanov families were friends; Kerensky's father was the teacher of

Revolution of 1905. At the end of 1904, he was jailed on suspicion of belonging to a militant group. Afterwards, he gained a reputation for his work as a defence lawyer in a number of political trials of revolutionaries.[8]

In 1912, Kerensky became widely known when he visited the goldfields at the

Freemason society uniting the anti-monarchy forces that strived for democratic renewal of Russia.[10][11]
In fact, the Socialist Revolutionary Party bought Kerensky a house, as he otherwise would not be eligible for election to the Duma, according to the Russian property-laws.

During the 4th Session of the Fourth Duma in spring 1915, Kerensky appealed to Mikhail Rodzianko with a request from the Council of elders to inform the tsar that to succeed in the war he must: 1) change his domestic policy, 2) proclaim a General Amnesty for political prisoners, 3) restore the Constitution of Finland, 4) declare autonomy of Poland, 5) provide national minorities autonomy in the field of culture, 6) abolish restrictions against Jews, 7) end religious intolerance, 8) stop the harassment of legal trade union organizations.[12] [13] [14]

In August he became a significant member of the

Nicholas II
.

Kerensky was an active member of the irregular

Grand Orient of France. Kerensky was Secretary-General of the Grand Orient of Russia's Peoples and stood down following his ascent to the government in July 1917. He was succeeded by a Menshevik, Alexander Halpern
.

Rasputin

In response to bitter resentments held against the imperial favourite

Elisabeth, Grand Duchess Victoria and the empress's mother-in-law Maria Feodorovna also tried to influence and pressure the imperial couple[19] to remove Rasputin from his position of influence within the imperial household, but without success.[20] According to Kerensky, Rasputin had terrorised the empress by threatening to return to his native village.[21]

Members of the nobility murdered Rasputin in December 1916, and he was buried near the imperial residence in

Saint Petersburg State Polytechnical University, including the coffin, without leaving a single trace.[25]

Russian Provisional Government of 1917

Further information: Russian Provisional Government
Kerensky as Minister of War (sitting second from the right)

When the February Revolution broke out in 1917, Kerensky – together with Pavel Milyukov – was one of its most prominent leaders. As one of the Duma's most well-known speakers against the monarchy and as a lawyer and defender of many revolutionaries, Kerensky became a member of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma and was elected vice-chairman of the newly formed Petrograd Soviet. These two bodies, the Duma and the Petrograd Soviet, or – rather – their respective executive committees, soon became each other's antagonists on most matters except regarding the end of the tsar's autocracy.

The Petrograd Soviet grew to include 3000 to 4000 members, and their meetings could drown in a blur of everlasting orations. At the meeting of 12 March [O.S. 27 February] 1917 to 13 March [O.S. 28 February] 1917 the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, or Ispolkom, formed a self-appointed committee, with (eventually) three members from each of the parties represented in the Soviet. Kerensky became one of the members representing the Socialist Revolutionary Party (the SRs).[26]

On 14 March [O.S. 1 March] 1917, without any consultation with the government, the Ispolkom of the Soviet issued the infamous Order No. 1, intended only for the 160,000-strong Petrograd garrison, but soon interpreted as applicable to all soldiers at the front. The order stipulated that all military units should form committees like the Petrograd Soviet. This led to confusion and "stripping of officers' authority"; further, "Order No. 3" stipulated that the military was subordinate to Ispolkom in the political hierarchy. The ideas came from a group of socialists and aimed to limit the officers' power to military affairs. The socialist intellectuals believed the officers to be the most likely counterrevolutionary elements. Kerensky's role in these orders is unclear, but he participated in the decisions. But just as before the revolution he had defended many who disliked the tsar, he now saved the lives of many[quantify] of the tsar's civil servants about to be lynched by mobs.[27]

Kerensky sitting next to later Supreme Leader, Alexander Kolchak

Additionally, the Duma formed an executive committee which eventually became the Russian Provisional Government. As there was little trust between Ispolkom and this government (and as he was about to accept the office of Attorney General in the Provisional Government), Kerensky gave a most passionate speech, not just to the Ispolkom, but to the entire Petrograd Soviet. He then swore, as minister, never to violate democratic values, and ended his speech with the words "I cannot live without the people. In the moment you begin to doubt me, then kill me."[28] The huge majority (workers and soldiers) gave him great applause, and Kerensky now became the first and the only one[29] who participated in both the Provisional Government and the Ispolkom. As a link between Ispolkom and the Provisional Government, the quite ambitious Kerensky stood to benefit from this position.[27][30]

After the first government crisis over

Kerensky Offensive against the Austro-Hungarian/German South Army on 1 July [O.S. 18 June] 1917.[33] At first successful, the offensive soon met strong resistance and the Central Powers
riposted with a strong counter-attack. The Russian army retreated and suffered heavy losses, and it became clear from many incidents of desertion, sabotage, and mutiny that the army was no longer willing to attack.

Kerensky in May 1917

The military heavily criticised Kerensky for his liberal policies, which included stripping officers of their mandates and handing over control to revolutionary-inclined "soldier committees" (Russian: солдатские комитеты, romanized: soldatskie komitety) instead; abolition of the death penalty; and allowing revolutionary agitators to be present at the front. Many officers jokingly referred to commander-in-chief Kerensky as the "persuader-in-chief".

On 2 July 1917 the Provisional Government's first coalition collapsed over the question of

Commander-in-Chief
, as well.

On 15 September Kerensky proclaimed Russia a republic, which was contrary to the non-socialists' understanding that the Provisional Government should hold power only until a Constituent Assembly should meet to decide Russia's form of government, but which was in line with the long-proclaimed aim of the Socialist Revolutionary Party.[34] He formed a five-member Directory, which consisted of himself, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mikhail Tereshchenko, Minister of War General Aleksandr Verkhovsky, Minister of the Navy Admiral Dmitry Verderevsky and Minister of Posts and Telegraphs Aleksei Nikitin [ru]. He retained his post in the final coalition government in October 1917 until the Bolsheviks overthrew it on 7 November [O.S. 26 October] 1917.

Kerensky in office

Kerensky faced a major challenge: three years of participation in World War had exhausted Russia, while the provisional government offered little motivation for a victory outside of continuing Russia's obligations towards its allies. Russia's continued involvement in the war was not popular among the lower and middle classes, and especially not popular among the soldiers. They had all believed that Russia would stop fighting when the Provisional Government took power,[

Bolshevik party were promising "peace, land, and bread" under a communist system. The Russian army
, war-weary, ill-equipped, dispirited and ill-disciplined, was disintegrating, with soldiers deserting in large numbers. By autumn 1917, an estimated two million men had unofficially left the army.

Kerensky and other political leaders continued Russia's involvement in World War I, thinking that a glorious victory was the only road forward,[35] and fearing that the economy, already under huge stress from the war effort, might become increasingly unstable if vital supplies from France and from the United Kingdom ceased flowing. The dilemma of whether to withdraw was a great one, and Kerensky's inconsistent and impractical policies further destabilised the army and the country at large.

Furthermore, Kerensky adopted a policy that isolated the right-wing conservatives, both democratic and monarchist-oriented. His philosophy of "no enemies to the left" greatly empowered the Bolsheviks and gave them a free hand, allowing them to take over the military arm or "voyenka" (Russian: Военка) of the Petrograd and Moscow Soviets.[36] His arrest of Lavr Kornilov and other officers left him without strong allies against the Bolsheviks, who ended up being Kerensky's strongest and most determined adversaries, as opposed to the right wing, which evolved into the White movement.

Autochrome portrait by Georges Chevalier, 1921

October Revolution of 1917

Further information: October Revolution

During the

Petrograd workers, and by November most of these armed workers had gone over to the Bolsheviks.[37] On 6–7 November [O.S. 25–26 October] 1917, the Bolsheviks launched the second Russian revolution of the year. Kerensky's government in Petrograd had almost no support in the city. Only one small force, a subdivision of the 2nd company of the First Petrograd Women's Battalion, also known as The Women's Death Battalion, was willing to fight for the government against the Bolsheviks, but this force was overwhelmed by the numerically superior pro-Bolshevik forces, defeated, and captured.[38] The Bolsheviks overthrew the government rapidly by seizing governmental buildings and the Winter Palace.[39]

Kerensky escaped the Bolsheviks and fled to

White Movement.[40]

Personal life

National Press Club
in 1938

Kerensky was married to Olga Lvovna Baranovskaya and they had two sons,

the Internet Movie Database, played his grandfather's role in the 1981 film Reds. Kerensky and Olga were divorced in 1939 soon after he settled in Paris, and, in 1939, while visiting the United States he met and married Lydia Ellen "Nell" Tritton (1899–1946) in a secret wedding, the Australian former journalist who had become his press secretary and translator.[41][42] The marriage took place in Martins Creek, Pennsylvania
.

When Germany invaded France in 1940, they emigrated to the United States.[43] After the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Kerensky offered his support to Joseph Stalin.[44]

When his wife Nell became terminally ill in 1945, Kerensky travelled with her to Brisbane, Australia, and lived there with her family. She suffered a stroke in February 1946, and he remained there until her death on 10 April 1946. Kerensky then returned to the United States, where he spent the rest of his life.[45]

Kerensky eventually settled in New York City, living on the

Russian history, and where he taught graduate courses. He wrote and broadcast extensively on Russian politics and history. His last public lecture was delivered at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in October 1967.[47]

Death

Two white marble gravestones surmounted by Orthodox crosses
The graves of Alexander Kerensky (left), and of his first wife, Olga, and his son Gleb and Gleb's wife, Mary, at Putney Vale Cemetery, London, 2014

Kerensky died of

local Russian Orthodox Churches in New York City refused to grant Kerensky burial rites because of his association with Freemasonry, and because they saw him as largely responsible for the Bolsheviks seizing power.[48] A Serbian Orthodox Church also refused burial rites. Kerensky's body was flown to London, where he was buried at the non-denominational Putney Vale Cemetery.[citation needed
]

Works

  • The Prelude to Bolshevism (1919).
    ISBN 0-8383-1422-8
    .
  • The Catastrophe (1927)
  • The Crucifixion of Liberty (1934)
  • Russia and History's Turning Point (1965)
  • Memoirs (1966)

Archives

Papers of the Kerensky family are held at the Cadbury Research Library, University of Birmingham.[49]

See also

Explanatory notes

  1. Minister of Justice
    of the Russian Empire.
  2. ^ /ˈkɛrənski, kəˈrɛnski/ KERR-ən-skee, kə-REN-skee; Russian: Александр Фёдорович Керенский, IPA: [ɐlʲɪkˈsandr ˈkʲerʲɪnskʲɪj]; original spelling: Александръ Ѳедоровичь Керенскій

References

  1. ^ Сванидзе М. С.: Исторические хроники с Николаем Сванидзе. 1917 год. Александр Керенский. Retrieved 18 July 2023. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  2. ^ a b "Alexander Kerenski". First World War. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Александр Федорович Керенский". Archived from the original on 25 July 2014.
  4. ISBN 978-1-317-74060-5
    .
  5. ^ Encyclopedia of Cyril and Method[permanent dead link]
  6. ISBN 978-1-101-97430-8
    .
  7. ^ A Doomed Democracy Archived 11 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine Bernard Butcher, Stanford Magazine, January/February 2001
  8. ^ Political Figures of Russia, 1917, Biographical Dictionary, Large Russian Encyclopedia, 1993, p. 143.
  9. ^ The Lena Goldfields Massacre and the Crisis of the Late Tsarist State by Michael Melancon [1]
  10. ^ Medlin, Virgil D. (1971). "Alexander Fedorovich Kerensky" (PDF). Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Science. 51: 128. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016.
  11. ^ "Grigori Rasputin: Belied Life – Belied Death". www.omolenko.com. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  12. ^ Governments, Parliaments and Parties (Russian Empire) By Fedor Aleksandrovich Gaida
  13. ^ Fontenot, Michael James. "Alexander F. Kerensky; The Political Career of a Russian Nationalist". Louisiana State University. p. 34. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  14. ^ Transcript
  15. ^ TV-documentary "Russian Revolution seen from Russia" aired at Danish DR K 11.June.2018
  16. ^ "Noteworthy members of the Grand Orient of France in Russia and the Supreme Council of the Grand Orient of Russia's People". Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon. 15 October 2017.
  17. ^ The Russian Provisional Government, 1917: Documents, Volume 1, p. 16 by Robert Paul Browder, Aleksandr Fyodorovich Kerensky [2]
  18. ^ A. Kerensky (1965) Russia and History's turning point, p. 150.
  19. ^ "Alexandra Feodorovna and Romanov Russia, The Real Tsaritsa witten by Lili Dehn – Part One – Old Russia – Chapter V". www.alexanderpalace.org. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  20. ^ The Russian Provisional Government, 1917: Documents, Volume 1, p. 18 by Robert Paul Browder, Aleksandr Fyodorovich Kerensky [3]
  21. ^ A. Kerensky (1965) Russia and History's turning point, p. 163.
  22. ^ Rasputin G. E. (1869–1916) Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. A.G. Kalmykov in the Saint Petersburg encyclopaedia.
  23. ^ Nelipa, pp. 454–455, 457–459.
  24. ^ Moe, p. 627.
  25. ^ "The boiler-building – Images of St Petersburg – National Library of Russia". Archived from the original on 29 September 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  26. ISBN 91-27-09935-0
  27. ^ a b Pipes, p. 110
  28. ISBN 978-1449023317
    .
  29. ^ "What was Russia's last leader before the Bolshevik revolution like?". The Independent. 6 November 2017. Archived from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  30. ^ Whitman, Alden (12 June 1970). "Alexander Kerensky Dies Here at 89". The New York Times.
  31. ^ "Alexander Kerensky". The British Library. Archived from the original on 28 February 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  32. ^ Woods, Alan (7 November 2016). "The Russian Revolution: the meaning of October". Socialist Appeal. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  33. ISBN 978-8087173473
    , pp. 36–39, 41–42, 111–12, 124–25, 128, 129, 132, 140–48, 184–99.
  34. ^ Party manifesto listed in McCauley, M Octobrists to Bolsheviks: Imperial Russia 1905–1917 (1984)
  35. ^ Pipes p. 121
  36. ISBN 978-1-349-03385-0
    .
  37. ISBN 978-1105530036
    .
  38. ^ "Women Soldiers in Russia's Great War". Great War. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  39. ISBN 978-1465445100
    .
  40. ^ "Alexander Kerensky". British Library. Archived from the original on 28 February 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  41. ABC Radio National
    . Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  42. ^ Howells, Mary (1 August 2023). "From Austerity to Prosperity: Trittons in the 1940s". State Library Of Queensland. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  43. ^ Armstrong, Judith. Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Archived from the original on 21 January 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2019 – via Australian Dictionary of Biography.
  44. ^ Soviet's Chances. By Alexander Kerensky. Life, 14 July 1941, pp. 76–78, 81.
  45. ^ Bojic, Dusan (22 September 2003). "Lateline – The Half-Hearted Revolutionary In Paradise". Australian Broadcasting Corp. Archived from the original on 31 July 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  46. ^ a b Whitman, Alden (12 June 1970). "Alexander Kerensky Dies Here at 89". New York Times. Archived from the original on 4 December 2023.
  47. ^ "Alexander Kerensky". CACHE Digital Archive. Kalamazoo College. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  48. ISBN 9781472819864
    . Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  49. ^ "UoB Calmview5: Search results". calmview.bham.ac.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2021.

Further reading

External links

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Political offices
Preceded by Minister-Chairman of the Russian Provisional Government
21 July 1917 – 8 November 1917 		Succeeded by
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