ABSTRACT
According to Alexander Kerensky, the February Revolution "marked the end of a long and painful trail from pure absolutism to absolute democracy. Addressing the Western Allies, who had just recognized the Provisional Government, Miliukov explained that the Revolution had been a protest against the bungling of the war effort and that Russia would now fight better than ever. The leaders of the Soviets declared that they could not take power; the Provisional Government explained that it could not use its power until the Constituent Assembly was convened. The Soviets apparently would not act to do so, and the employers were no longer able to. It seemed that the Bolsheviks alone promised a way out of the crisis. The other Bolshevik leaders reacted to the April Theses with groans and protests and only after a time accepted them, with misgivings. The Mensheviks found confirmation of their suspicion that the Leninists had all along been opportunists cloaking themselves in Marxist doctrines.
