Liberals in the Russian Revolution: The Constitutional Democratic Party, 1917-1921

Description

Although many Russians thought that the Constitutional Democrats, or Kadets, would be the party that would lead them through the Russian Revolution into the ranks of the Western European democracies, the Kadets were easily crushed by the Bolsheviks in the struggle for power. How the Kadets responded to the events of the revolution and failed at the time of the party's greatest crisis is the subject of William G. Rosenberg's study. As political history, the book examines the values, programs, organization, and tactices of Russia's most priminent liberal party from 1917 to 1921. As a study of the Russian Revolution and Civil War, it probes the strengths and weaknesses of the one political group whose politices did more to influence the outcome of events that any other political organization except the Bolsheviks. Based largely on party journals and emigre archives, the book focuses not only on the role of the Kadets in the revolution, but also on the broader issue of the relationship of Russiasn liberal politics to revolutionary social forces. William G. Rosenberg is Associate Professor of History at the University of Michigan. Originally published in 1974. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905. Acknowledgments Abbreviations of frequently cited journals Contents List of tables and maps Transliteration and Dates Introduction PART ONE. KADETS BEFORE THE REVOLUTION ONE. Program, Organization, and Politics PART TWO. 1917 TWO. The Transfer of Power THREE. Ministers, Party, and Country FOUR. Dual Authority and Partisanship: The April Crisis and Its Aftermath FIVE. The Politics of "State Consciousness" in May and June Six. The July "Interregnum" SEVEN. Kadets and Kornilov EIGHT. Concessions and Conflicts in the Last Weeks of the Provisional Regime PART THREE. THE CIVIL WAR NINE. The Agony of Political Irrelevance: Kadets in Moscow and Petrograd after October TEN. Conflicting Liberal Tactics: Kadets in the Ukraine and South Russia, 1918 ELEVEN. First Months with Denikin: The Struggle for Balance TWELVE. A "Model Solution" to the Problem of Power: The Kadet Government in the Crimea THIRTEEN. Kadets in Siberia: The Tactics of "State Revolution" FOURTEEN. The End of Party Efforts in Siberia and South Russia PART FOUR. EPILOGUE: THE EMIGRATION FIFTEEN. Kadets in Emigration, 1920-1921 SIXTEEN. Parting of the Ways Bibliography Index STUDIES OF THE RUSSIAN INSTITUTE