Kornilov Affair

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The Kornilov Affair was a failed military coup by General Lavr Kornilov against the Provisional Government of Aleksandr Kerensky in September, 1917, in between the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II and the October Revolution. Recently appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Russian army, General Kornilov fatefully decided to intervene in the chaotic situation of Russia after the initial revolution. Kerensky was later to claim that Kornilov's actions were a turning point in the revolution, a crucial factor in the sudden revival -- and eventual triumph -- of the Bolsheviks.

Kornilov shared the widespread belief of many Russians that the country was descending into anarchy and that military defeat on the Eastern front against the Central Powers would be disastrous for Russian pride and honour. Lenin and his 'German spies', he announced, should be hanged, the Soviets stamped out, military discipline restored and the provisional government restructured.

Kerensky dismissed his commander-in-chief from his post on September 9, claiming Kornilov intended to set up a military dictatorship. Kornilov replied by issuing a call to all Russians to 'save their dying land' and ordered his Cossacks and Chechens to advance on Petrograd with help from British military specialists and equipment. Uncertain of the support of his army generals, Kerensky was forced to ask for help from other quarters -- these included the Bolshevik Red Guards.

Among other groups ranged against Kornilov, Kerensky's government in the capitol also mobilized industrial worker militias to prevent Kornilov taking Petrograd. Many of them were formed with Bolshevik assistance. Bolshevik commissars were sent to Kornilov's camps to spread propaganda among the Cossacks and Chechens of the "Wild division".

Kornilov's attempt to seize power collapsed without bloodshed as his Cossacks deserted the cause. He and some 7000 supporters were arrested. Although Kerensky survived the Kornilov coup, the event weakened his government substantially and paved the way for the the Bolsheviks to seize power shortly thereafter in the October Revolution.

Richard Pipes, a predominant Polish-American scholar and historian specializing in Russian history, has a very different view of the Kornilov Affair. He believes the Kornilov affair was grossly misrepresented in much of the historical literature. Kornilov was not a counter-revolutionary; rather he was intensely loyal and very trusting. He was deceived by Aleksandr Kerensky into sending troops into Petrograd. Kerensky wanted to suppress the Bolshevik uprising. This interpretation is explained further in Pipes' Three 'Whys' of the Russian Revolution.