Kornilov Affair - Events

Events

It has been thought that after Kerensky had heard reports that a Bolshevik coup was being planned (which he knew to be false) that he could use this as an excuse to get rid of Kornilov who he saw as a threat, he ordered Kornilov to send the Third Cavalry Corps to Petrograd to deal with the 'threat'. This action is what Kerensky claimed as an attempt to 'Overthrow the Government

Believing he would gain the support of the dissenting army chiefs, Alexander Kerensky, the head of the Government, yielded to their demand and reintroduced the death penalty at the front line on July 12. A week later, in an attempt to further appease the growing conservative element within Russian society, he appointed Lavr Kornilov Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army. Kornilov's first act in his new position was to issue a list of demands to the Provisional Government, including the request that he be removed from the control of the government so that he was essentially accountable only to himself. Though these requests were denied, they set the tone for the strained relationship that Kornilov and the Provisional Government were to enjoin in the weeks that followed. Russia's continued participation in the First World War had resulted in continued social unrest and this in turn increased calls for restoration of order from the right wing and intensified their fears of another revolution. It was this fear, as Kornilov later confided to his second in command, which led Kornilov to order troops of the Caucasian Native Division to advance to a position closer to Petrograd on July 7. This order was given without either the knowledge or consent of the Provisional Government and it was not until August 23, following an increased amount of industrial unrest, that Kerensky sent word to Kornilov that this troop movement had government approval.

On August 24 Vladimir Lvov, the former Procurator of the Holy Synod, arrived at Kornilov's headquarters claiming that he had been sent by Kerensky to gauge Kornilov's response to Kerensky's three proposed strategies to strengthen the government.

• A dictatorship under Kerensky
• An authoritarian government, in which Kornilov would be prominent
• A military dictatorship under Kornilov

It is unclear whether Lvov was truly sent by Kerensky or if he was operating under the instructions of others. What is clear however, is that on his return to Petrograd on August 26, Lvov informed Kerensky and the Provisional Government that of the three proposed strategies Kornilov had responded most favourably to the idea of a military dictatorship with himself at the helm. That evening Kerensky, alarmed at the thought of a coup being directed at him, attempted to gain confirmation from Kornilov of his intentions. In a rather confused teleprinter conversation, in which Kerensky impersonated Lvov as well as conversing as himself, Kerensky interpreted Kornilov's responses to his questioning as confirmation of his intention to seize power by force. In response, Kerensky dismissed Kornilov from his position as Commander-in-Chief but with no apparent willing successor available he was reinstated within hours. Kerensky backed out of their deal.

When the telegram to dismiss Kornilov arrived, he believed that Kerensky was acting under intense pressure from the Soviets and consequently the Bolsheviks, therefore he ordered the prior mentioned Third Cavalry Corps to move swiftly (or swifter) to Petrograd to put down what he assumed to be a Bolshevik up rising. At this point press printed accusations of Kornilov demanding that he have all full civil and military power, out raged by this Kornilov asked the Russian people for help in overthrowing the Provsional Government. Kornilov had only tried to overthrow the government after being accused of doing so.