The First Provisional Government

Author: The Temporary Committee of the members of the State Duma established the First Provisional Government of Russia. It was first led by Prince Georgy Lvov and later led by Alexander Kerensky.

Context: Formed in Petrograd in March 1917. This was after Nicholas II’s abdication of the throne to his brother, Grand Duke Michael, who deferred the power to what became the First Provisional Government of Russia.

Language: The language is straightforward and clear-cut. The document itself is logically organized and easy to read.

Audience: The audience includes every citizen in Russia as this document represents a change in governance and outlines new individuals and guiding principles.

Intent: The intent of the First Provisional Government was to establish elections to the Assembly in order to create a more stable executive power while sustaining the necessary components of government services after Nicholas II’s abdication.

Message: The First Provisional Government informed the people of Russia the current situation of their government. The Temporary Committee of the State of Duma lists the appointed ministers of the first cabinet. The following section outlined the principles that guided the actions of the cabinet. These principles included freedom of speech, press, and assembly, abolition of all restrictions based on class, religion, and nationality. Also stressed was the immediate action called upon the Constituent Assembly for an equal, direct, and secret ballot election that will determine the type of government and constitution of Russia.

3 thoughts on “The First Provisional Government

  1. I like how you listed the specific sections of the Temporary Committee of the State of Duma. It is clear that Russia’s First Provisional Government sought to not only inform and educate its citizens on their current state of government, but that it also strove to implement a basic system of rights.

  2. We see in this piece that Russia is beginning to progress politically, although much later and slower than their neighboring countries. The clear language and logical structure of the writing attests to the sincerity of the Committee’s effort to inclusively inform all of Russian society of the government’s present condition and what rights were to be given to the people.

  3. The principles set forth in this document take on a different tone of thematically similar documents in France and America. In Russia at this time, like in France and America in the late 1700s, the people are breaking away from their previous form of government, one that involved one ruler with too much of the power. This particular set of principles takes on a very technical and objective tone, as opposed to the more poetic tone that American and French documents did (“life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, “life, liberty, and property).

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