On the Road to Brumaire: Napoleon’s Ghost Haunts the Provisional Government

Abstract

The collapse of the monarchy led to a feeling of exhilaration among the majority of Russians. But by the late spring of 1917, the political and intellectual situation had changed in the country and it became apparent that a political crisis had developed within the Provisional Government. In their discussions of the reason for this crisis, the majority of historians agree that it resulted from deep, internal conflicts within Russian society. Here they consider social conflicts most important. The country was in the grips of a class struggle between the workers and capitalists for control of the ‘means of production’, if one may use the Marxist term. In the mind of the workers this general social conflict was seen as an elemental need: the need for ‘bread’. If the workers wanted to gain control over the ‘means of the production’ - that is, translate their need for ‘bread’ into more general sociological terms - the peasantry needed the landlords’ land. Moreover, the army could not act on the government’s behalf because the soldiers, peasants in uniform, were weary from World War I and wanted nothing more than peace.