The Russian Revolution by Richard Pipes

Author:Richard Pipes [Pipes, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: C429, Extratorrents, Kat
ISBN: 9780307788573
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2011-03-15T13:00:00+00:00

If any more proof is needed that Kornilov did not engage in a military putsch, this cable should furnish it: for surely if he were ordering the Third Corps to Petrograd to unseat the government, he would hardly have forewarned the government by telegraph. It is even less credible that he would have entrusted his alleged coup to a subordinate. Zinaida Gippius, pondering the mystery of the Kornilov Affair a few days after its occurrence, asked herself the obvious question: “How was it that Kornilov sent his troops while he himself sat quietly at headquarters?”57 Indeed, had Kornilov really planned to topple the government and take over as dictator, a man of his temperament and military presence would certainly have commanded the operation in person.

The receipt at 7:00 a.m. on August 27, at headquarters of Kerensky’s cable dismissing Kornilov threw the generals into complete confusion. Their initial reaction was that the cable had to be a forgery, not only because its contents made no sense in view of the Kerensky-Kornilov talk ten hours earlier but also because it was improperly formatted, lacking ihe customary serial number and bearing only the signature “Kerensky,” without the title. It also had no legal force, since by law only the cabinet had the authority to dismiss the Commander in Chief. (Headquarters, of course, did not know that the previous night the cabinet had resigned and Kerensky assumed dictatorial powers.) On further thought the generals concluded that the message perhaps was genuine, but that Kerensky had sent it under duress, possibly while a prisoner of the Bolsheviks. From such considerations, Kornilov refused to resign and Lukomskii to assume his duties “until the circumstances had been fully clarified.”58 Convinced that the Bolsheviks were already in control of Petrograd, Kornilov, ignoring Kerensky’s instructions to the contrary, ordered Krymov to speed up the advance of his troops.59

To clarify any confusion that may have arisen in Petrograd in connection with Kornilov’s answer to Lvov’s questions, whom no one in Mogilev as yet suspected of being an impostor, Lukomskii sent the government a telegram in his own name, reaffirming the need for strong authority to prevent the collapse of the armed forces.60

That afternoon Savinkov, as yet ignorant of Lvov’s machinations but suspecting some monumental mistake, contacted Kornilov. Vasilii Maklakov stood by and toward the end joined in the conversation.61 Referring to Lukomskii’s latest telegram, Savinkov protested that on his visit to Mogilev he had never raised political matters. In response, Kornilov for the first time mentioned Vladimir Lvov and referred to the three options which Lvov had laid out before him. He went on to say that the Third Cavalry Corps was being moved toward Petrograd on instructions of the government, as conveyed by Savinkov. He was acting entirely loyally, carrying out the government’s orders. “Deeply convinced that the [dismissal] decision, entirely unexpected to me, had been taken under pressure of the Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies … I firmly declare … that I will not leave my post.”

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