ABSTRACT
This chapter represents the initial part of a more extensive study of the Russian Army in 1917. The research so far has drawn upon 1917 newspapers, memoirs, published sources and such manuscripts as are available in the US. As in France in 1789, every provincial city experienced a miniature version of events in the metropolis, centring on municipal institutions. The city Dumas rapidly absorbed representatives of various social groupings and, renamed as 'Committees of Social Organizations' or 'Committees of Public Safety', took over all functions of local authority. More ominous than complaints over the hardships of war was the rapidly declining prestige of the imperial family and the governmental leadership. Rumours of Rasputin and German influences in high places began to seep from the officers' quarters into the trenches. Soldiers were inclined to take fewer risks, resisted the usual training and housekeeping duties and spent much time in card-playing and idle conversation.
