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The Socialist Revolutionary Party

By 1917, the Socialist Revolutionary Party was one of the most popular parties in Russia – it had everything a political movement needed to gain popularity in Russia around the time of the Revolution.

The party’s ground support came mainly from peasants, i.e. the majority of the Russian population. Socialist Revolutionaries outlined a solution for the agrarian issue through socialist reforms, and had stuck to a radical terrorist course of action for a number of years prior to the Revolution, earning support among the radical Russians.

After the February Revolution, the Socialist Revolutionaries, including Alexander Kerensky, became part of the Provisional Government. But the revolutionary turmoil polarized the party, which split at the congress in May, with left Social Revolutionaries later forming an independent one.

Session of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies in the Tavrichesky Palace in 1917. Sputnik
Session of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies in the Tavrichesky Palace in 1917. Sputnik
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While the Right Socialist Revolutionaries worked in the government and delayed pressing reforms until the Constituent Assembly was convened, the Left Socialist Revolutionaries wanted to stop cooperating with the “bourgeois” government, and further develop what the Revolution achieved.

The Right Socialist Revolutionaries bet on the Constituent Assembly and, by and large, won. They managed to get the majority of votes, leaving behind the Bolsheviks and other parties. After the Constituent Assembly was disbanded, the Socialist Revolutionaries started to actively oppose the new ruling party and took part in a number of anti-Bolshevik demonstrations.