Kerensky, Alexander Fyodorovich

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KERENSKY, ALEXANDER FYODOROVICH

(1881–1970), leading figure of the Provisional Government in 1917.

Alexander Kerensky was born on May 4, 1881, in Simbirsk, Russia. He studied history and law at St. Petersburg University. In 1906 he became a defense lawyer in political cases and soon became a well-known public figure. In 1912, Kerensky was elected to the Fourth Duma. Although he described himself as a socialist and associated with the Socialist Revolutionary Party (SRs), he was the mildest of socialists, his views constituting a blend of moderate socialism with left-wing liberalism.

During the February Revolution he seemed to be everywhere—giving a speech here, haranguing soldiers there, scurrying in and out of meetings, issuing orders, dramatically arresting members of the old regime and equally dramatically rescuing others from mob violence. A young man of thirty-five, he emerged as the popular hero of the February Revolution and the new government, the object of public adulation; his face adorned postcards and store windows. When the Petrograd Soviet was formed on March 27, he was elected vice-chairman. He was the only Socialist to enter the Provisional Government when it was formed on March 2 and more and more became its key figure, serving in succession as minister of justice (March–May), minister of war (May–September), and minister-president (July–November), and adding the title of commander in chief of the army in September. Indeed, more than any other political figure of 1917 he identified completely with the Provisional Government and in turn came to be identified with it, both in 1917 and after.

In May and June 1917 he became the government's focal point for preparing a major military

offensive, taking long tours of the front to stimulate fighting enthusiasm among soldiers. Despite the unpopularity and disastrous outcome of the offensive, Kerensky's personal reputation survived, and he became minister-president of the new, second coalition government. Moreover, as other leading political figures left the government, Kerensky became more and more dominant within it. Even as Kerensky achieved complete leadership of the government, however, both its and his own popularity eroded as the government failed to solve problems and to fulfill popular aspirations (despite its substantial achievements). The Kornilov Affair in September, a conflict growing out of the complex relation between Kerensky and General Lavr Kornilov that many saw as a counterrevolutionary attempt, earned Kerensky the enmity of both left and right and completed the destruction of his reputation. Crowds that earlier had cheered him as the hero of the revolution now cursed him Kerensky remained head of the government after the Kornilov Affair, but his popularity was gone, and his personal authority swiftly declined. His fateful decision was to move against the Bolsheviks on the eve of the Second Congress of Soviets; this sparked the October Revolution, which swept him from power.

After the Bolshevik Revolution, Kerensky spent several weeks underground, trying unsuccessfully to organize an anti-Bolshevik movement. In May 1918, he made his way out of the country and lived the rest of his life in exile, where he was active in emigré politics, delivered lectures, and wrote several accounts of the revolution and his role in it. He died on June 11, 1970, in the United States.

Kerensky was both the heroic and the tragic figure of the Russian Revolution of 1917. Thin, pale, with flashing eyes, theatrical gestures, and vivid verbal imagery, he was a dramatic and mesmerizing speaker with an incredible ability to move his listeners. Huge crowds turned out to hear him. As the year wore on, however, Kerensky's oratory could not compensate for the government's failures. The same speech-making that had made him a hero in the spring earned him scorn and a reputation as an empty babbler by autumn's end. The new paper currencies issued by the Provisional Government under his leadership were popularly called "Kerenki," and because inflation quickly made them worthless, his name thus took on something of that meaning as well. It was a tragic fall for the hero of February.

See also: february revolution; kornilov affair; october revolution; provisional government