The government of the Russian Republic was dissolved after the Bolsheviksseized power by force on 7 November 1917. Nonetheless, a partially democratic election of the Constituent Assembly still took place later in November. On 18 January 1918, this assembly issued a decree, proclaiming Russia a democratic federal republic, but was also dissolved by the Bolsheviks on the next day after the proclamation.[2]
The Bolsheviks also used the name "Russian Republic" until the official name "Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic" was adopted in the Constitution of July 1918. The term is sometimes used erroneously for the period between the abdication of the EmperorNicholas II on 3 March 1917 (16 March, N.S.) and the declaration of the Russian Republic in September. However, during that period the status of the Russian political system was unresolved, left up to be decided by a future elected Constituent Assembly.[3]
Officially, the Republic's government was the Provisional Government, although de facto control of the country was contested between it, the soviets (chiefly the Petrograd Soviet), and various ethnic-based separatists (such as the Central Council of Ukraine). Soviets were political organizations of the proletariat, strongest in industrial regions, and were dominated by left-wing parties. Soviets, whose influence was supplemented with paramilitary forces, were occasionally able to rival the Provisional Government which had an ineffective state apparatus.
During his first weeks as prime minister, Lvov presided over a series of fleeting reforms which sought to radically liberalize Russia. Universal adult suffrage was introduced, freedoms of press and speech were granted, capital punishment abolished, and all legal restrictions of religion, class and race were removed.[4] Unable to rally sufficient support, he resigned in July 1917 in favor of his Minister of War, Alexander Kerensky.
The Government's control of the military was tenuous. Seamen of the Baltic Fleet, for example, had far-left views and openly engaged in political activism in the capital. Right-wing proclivities among the army officers were also a problem – Kerensky's attempt to dismiss Gen. Lavr Kornilov led to a failed coup.
Following the failure of Kornilov's coup, Kerensky proclaimed Russia to be a Republic on 1 September, establishing a Provisional Council as temporary parliament, in preparation to the elections of a Constituent Assembly. However, on 7 November 1917, the Bolsheviks seized power and dissolved both the Provisional Government and the Provisional Council.
Nonetheless, a partially democratic election of the Constituent Assembly still took place later in November. On 18 January 1918, this assembly issued a decree, proclaiming Russia a democratic federal republic under the name "Russian Democratic Federative Republic", However, the next day the Assembly was dissolved by the Bolsheviks.[2]
1 2 Ikov, Marat Sal. "Round Table the Influence of National Relations on the Development of the Federative State Structure and on the Social and Political Realities of the Russian Federation". Prof.Msu.RU. Retrieved 9 February 2021. However, historically, the first proclamation of the federation was made somewhat earlier - by the Constituent Assembly of Russia. In his short resolution of January 6 (18), 1918, the following was enshrined: "In the name of the peoples, the state of the Russian constituent, the All-Russian Constituent Assembly decides: the Russian state is proclaimed by the Russian Democratic Federal Republic, uniting peoples and regions in an indissoluble union, within the limits established by the federal constitution, Of course, the above resolution, which did not thoroughly regulate the entire system of federal relations, was not considered by the authorities as having legal force, especially after the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly.
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