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Second Coalition Government

A second coalition government was formed on August 6 (July 24) featuring even more socialists, who now constituted a majority, with SR member Kerensky as PM and Defense Minister.

The new cabinet put an end to the so called ‘diarchy.’ The All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies and the Executive Committee of the All-Russian Peasants Union recognized the unlimited power of the Provisional Government.

The PM position has grown in influence (Soviet textbooks used to refer to the rule of Kerensky as a Bonapartist type regime).

The second coalition government organized a broad political forum in August called the State Convention in Moscow, which the Moscow workers responded to with a mass strike. The conference approved Kerensky’s policy to add power to the government and get rid of the Soviets.

Alexander Kerensky (left). Sputnik.

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But as early as August, the government encountered a new threat when General Kornilov staged a mutiny resulting in another political crisis and the breakup of the second coalition government.

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The last Provisional Government was the largest. It comprised 17 ministers, with Kerensky as both the head of the government and commander-in-chief.

The third coalition was a balanced one. The 17 ministers represented the Constitutional Democratic Party, the Socialist Revolutionary Party, and the Mensheviks in about equal proportion.

The coalition assumed responsibilities on October 8 (September 25).

Having suppressed the Kornilov coup, the government could no longer count on support from the right-wing forces. Moreover, there was no consensus on the pressing issues within the government. Minister of Agriculture Maslov’s initiative to partially resolve the agrarian problem was shot down, while Minister of War Verkhovsky was dismissed when he proposed immediately signing a peace agreement.

Demonstration in Petrograd against the Provisional Government. Sputnik

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In the short time in power, the third coalition government managed to start working on a draft of a constitution for the Russian Republic, but never finished it, as it was brought down by the October Revolution.