The Kornilov rebellion is an armed anti-government uprising in Russia in August (September) 1917, with the aim of establishing a military dictatorship. Lieutenant General Lavr Georgievich Kornilov was nominated for the role of a military dictator - he advocated the establishment of strict order not only in the army (up to execution and the creation of concentration camps), but also in the rear, where the introduction of martial law was proposed.
General Kornilov and his supporters worked out a plan for establishing a new form of government in Russia by creating a People's Defense Council and a coalition government under him.
Lavr Kornilov
Lavr Georgievich Kornilov (1870-1918) - Russian statesman and military leader, military leader, was one of the founders of the white movement, a general from infantry. 1917 - July - August, the supreme commander in chief. One of the organizers of the White Guard Volunteer Army (November-December 1917). At the end of August (September) he raised a mutiny (Kornilov mutiny). Killed in action.
Rebellion targets
• Resignation of the Provisional Government
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• Granting L. Kornilov extraordinary powers
• Establishment of a military dictatorship
• Implementation of the program "Saving the Motherland" (liquidation of revolutionary democratic parties and organizations, militarization of the state, introduction of capital punishment, tightening of the regime, etc.)
Background of events
Kornilov replaced General Alexei Alekseevich Brusilov at the post of Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Being in this high post since July 19, the general developed a program to stabilize the situation in the state (based on the idea of iron discipline), which proposed: the restoration of the disciplinary authority of commanders in the army and navy, the inadmissibility of interference of the Provisional Government commissars in the actions of officers; restricting the rights of soldiers' committees; banning rallies in the army and strikes at military factories, and sending the guilty to the front; the transfer to martial law of all railways, as well as factories and mines that worked for the needs of the front; extension of the law on the death penalty to the rear units.
The program in this version, which he presented to Aleksandr Fedorovich Kerensky, was considered by him to be excessively harsh in form. However, the right-wingers believed that such harsh measures were timely in a country where the economy was on the verge of paralysis, crime increased sharply, anarchy intensified, mass protests of the peasantry and unrest continued on the national outskirts, unemployment and inflation were growing.
The course of the mutiny
August 13 - Kornilov, who arrived in Moscow, was given an enthusiastic welcome at the station. The next day, he spoke at the Moscow State Conference, calling the main reason for the collapse of the army legislative measures that were taken after the overthrow of the monarchy.
In Kornilov's inner circle, with his direct participation, plans were being made to establish a new form of government in the country. After the defeat of the Russian army in the Riga operation and the fall of Riga (August 21), Kornilov began to negotiate with Kerensky. Leading them through intermediaries, the general intended to achieve a peaceful transfer of all power to him. Moreover, Lavr Georgievich did not exclude the possibility of establishing a "individual or collective" dictatorship.
At the head of the state it was planned to put the Council of People's Defense. Its chairman was L. Kornilov, deputy - A. Kerensky, and its members were General M. Alekseev, Admiral Kolchak, B. Savinkov, M. Filonenko. Under the Council, the plans were to form a government with a broad representation of political forces: from the tsarist minister N. Pokrovsky to G. Plekhanov.
August 25 - Lavr Kornilov moved his army to Petrograd. One part of the inhabitants awaited his arrival with hope, the other with horror. Panic was aroused by rumors about the upcoming entry into the capital of some "Wild Division", which consisted of "mountain thugs". The general's demands boiled down to declaring Petrograd on martial law, and all power - military and civil - passed to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, who would make up the cabinet of ministers. The main fighting force of Lavr Georgievich was the 3rd Cavalry Corps of General A. Krymov, which was supposed to enter the capital.
Failure of the Kornilov mutiny
Kerensky did not agree to negotiations with Kornilov and sent him a telegram instructing him to surrender the post of Supreme Commander-in-Chief and arrive in Petrograd. Kornilov did not obey the order and was declared a rebel. But the plan to seize Petrograd by General Krymov failed. The headquarters, by the actions of the Soviets of Belarus, was cut off from the fronts. On August 29, the executive committee of the Southwestern Front arrested its commander-in-chief, Denikin Anton Ivanovich, along with this, army committees in all armies of this front took their commanders into custody. Other supporters of Kornilov were also isolated at the front, in a number of cities of the country. Kornilov's attempts to gain support failed, and on September 2, 1917, he was arrested. General Krymov, shot himself on 31 August. It was on this day that the liquidation of the movement was officially announced. Kornilov and his followers ended up in prison in the city of Bykhov.
1917, September 1 - Russia was proclaimed a republic, power passed to the Directory of 5 people headed by A. Kerensky. All-Russian Central Executive Committee of Soviets supported the Directory. The situation in the state has stabilized somewhat.
Historical consequences of the Kornilov rebellion
In a historical assessment of the August events of 1917, one can understand how the Kornilov revolt influenced the October Revolution. The fact is that all parties, except for the Bolsheviks, were involved to one degree or another in the events of the "mutiny". As a result, it undermined people's faith in them. And the Bolsheviks turned out to be wiser. They did not support either Kornilov or Kerensky, as a result, the people saw them as their own, and not people ready for anything for the sake of power. This strengthened their position, which in turn led to the October Revolution.
Not from the April theses and not from the July uprising, but from the Kornilov revolt, the direct path of the Bolsheviks to power begins. Having deprived himself of support in the army, Kerensky, objectively, cleared the way for them.