The Kornilov Affair - Essay Example

Kornilov was respected by his troops as an outstanding officer, but his politics did not go much further than loving his country. He was never Kerensky’s first choice as Commander in Chief but he had wide support and had to be taken into account. The only problem was that it was clear from the beginning that there were tensions between Kerensky and Kornilov about the direction the Russian army should take. And there were tensions about the direction of the Russia as it was under threat both externally and internally and had to make big decisions.

Things came to a head, as Richard Pipes writes, when Kerensky procrastinated in implementing the military reforms that Kornilov had made a condition of assuming command . . . Kornilov requested permission to meet with the cabinet. The meeting took place on August 3. While he was giving an overview of the situation at the front, Kerensky leaned over [to Kornilov] and asked him in a whisper to exercise caution . . . This incident shattered Kornilov’s faith in the Provisional Government, for it convinced him that there were ministers in the cabinet capable of betraying military secrets to the enemy.

1 Within a short amount of time, following some decisive military preparations, Kornilov began to be seen by some in Russia as a rival to power for Kerensky. Kerensky began to get more and more agitated, ignoring the Bolshevik problem in order to focus on securing his own hold on power. What followed was Kerensky’s effort to destroy Kornilov—and the result was the rise of the Bolsheviks. A ridiculous exchange of messages pitted the two men against each other, each completely misunderstanding what the other intended.

Kerensky thought Kornilov was plotting to seize dictatorial control, Kornilov thought Kerensky was offering it to him. His unfounded suspicion confirmed, Kerensky fired the popular Kornilov, who had