Russian Provisional Government
Russian Provisional Government | |
|---|---|
9th Cabinet of Russia | |
| Date formed | 15 March [O.S. 2 March] 1917 |
| Date dissolved | November [O.S. October] 1917 |
| People and organisations | |
| Head of state | Alexis II (unproclaimed) Michael II (conditionally) Georgy Lvov (de facto) |
| Head of government | Georgy Lvov |
| Member parties | Progressive Bloc Socialist-Revolutionaries Mensheviks Popular Socialists |
| Status in legislature | Coalition |
| Opposition cabinet | Executive Committee of Petrograd Soviet |
| Opposition parties | Bolsheviks Left Socialist-Revolutionaries |
| Opposition leader | Nikolay Chkheidze |
| History | |
| Incoming formation | Golitsyn |
| Outgoing formation | Kerensky I |
| Predecessor | Nikolay Golitsyn |
| Successor | Alexander Kerensky |
The Russian Provisional Government was a provisional government of the Russian Empire and Russian Republic, announced two days before and established immediately after the abdication of Nicholas II on 2 March, O.S. [15 March 1917, N.S.], during the February Revolution. The intention of the provisional government was the organization of elections to the Russian Constituent Assembly and its convention. The provisional government, led first by Prince Georgy Lvov and then by Alexander Kerensky, lasted approximately eight months, and ceased to exist when the Bolsheviks gained power in the October Revolution in October [November, N.S.] 1917.
According to Harold Whitmore Williams, the history of the eight months during which Russia was ruled by the Provisional Government was the history of the steady and systematic disorganization of the army. The Provisional Government was a caretaker government, with its political system and the status of the monarchy remaining unresolved until the election of the Constituent Assembly. This was finally clarified on 1 September [14 September, N.S.], when the Russian Republic was proclaimed, in a decree signed by Kerensky as Minister-President and Zarudny as Minister of Justice.