The highest body of state power in Russia, which emerged during the February Revolution in the course of negotiations between the Provisional Committee of the State Duma and the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet. Thus, the Provisional Government formally became the only generally recognized body of supreme power in the country until the convocation of the Constituent Assembly, which was supposed to address issues of the state structure. It was not accountable to any other body, and its powers were unlimited. However, in reality, from the first days of its existence, the Government had to reckon with the influence of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies in the capital, as well as various regional bodies of power in the country, in particular in ethnic regions.

 

Prince Georgy Lvov, who had headed the Chief Committee for the supply of the army of the All-Russian Zemstvo and Town Unions (Zemgor) during World War I, became the Head of the cabinet and Minister of Interior. The first composition of the Provisional Government was dominated by Kadets (members of the Constitutional Democratic Party) and Octobrists (members of the Union of October 17). The only representative of the Socialists was the Socialist Revolutionary (SR) Aleksander Kerensky, who took over as Minister of Justice. On March 3, the Provisional Government announced an amnesty for political and religious cases, broad civil liberties, the abolition of class, national and religious restrictions, and the replacement of the police by the people’s militia.

 

On April 18, 1917, the Foreign Minister of the Provisional Government, the leader of the Kadet Party, Pavel Milyukov, sent a note (an official diplomatic appeal) to governments of the powers allied in World War I. The document reaffirmed Russia's loyalty to all treaties and commitments made to the allies by the tsarist government, and its readiness to wage war to the finish. The note contradicted the previous agreements between the Government and the Petrograd Soviet (waging a defensive war until the establishment of peace based on the self-determination of peoples). The subsequent political crisis resulted in the resignation of Milyukov and the leader of Octobrists, Minister of War and Navy Aleksander Guchkov. May 5 saw the first coalition government formed, which included six representatives socialist parties, inter alia the SR leaders Aleksander Kerensky and Viktor Chernov and the Mensheviks leader Irakli Tsereteli. However, on July 2, the coalition collapsed: the Kadets left the government in protest against the granting of broad powers to the Ukrainian Central Rada against the backdrop of the defeat of the Russian army at the front.

 

On July 8, after the July political crisis, the cabinet was headed by Aleksander Kerensky, who formed a second coalition government on July 24. The new cabinet consisted of 5 Kadets, 5 SRs, 2 Mensheviks, 2 Popular Socialists, and others. General Lavr Kornilov affair (at the end of August), supported by the military and right-wing circles, including the Kadets, caused a collapse of the government: most of the ministers resigned. This political crisis resulted in the establishment of the Directorate, which consisted of five officials headed by Aleksander Kerensky (September 1, 1917). Russia was proclaimed a republic. In September, a Democratic Conference was convened to strengthen the power of the Government. As a result, the Provisional Council of the Russian Republic (Pre-Parliament) was established. It was an advisory body under the Provisional Government chaired by SR Nikolay Avksentiev. On September 25, Kerensky established the third coalition government, which included 4 Kadets, 2 Socialist Revolutionaries, 3 Mensheviks, and others.

 

In the context of the growing national crisis, the Bolshevik Party gained predominant influence in the Soviets in Petrograd, Moscow, and other cities and embarked on a course of armed seizure of power. During the October coup of October 24–26, 1917, the Provisional Government in Petrograd was overthrown and Soviet power was established.