ABSTRACT
In April 1917, within two months of the Tsarist regime being overthrown, counter-revolutionary groups within the Russian Army began to plot how best to overthrow the new democratic government. From April onwards, a whole series of counter-revolutionary organizations were formed – the Military League by A. I. Guchkov himself – and all looked to Lavr Kornilov, or if not him Kolchak, as potential leaders. The first group of counter-revolutionary plotters assembled on 5 April, a fortnight before the Milyukov crisis. The crisis did indeed lead to Prince Lvov’s resignation, but he was not replaced by Admiral Kolchak as the counter-revolutionary plotters had hoped but by the socialist Kerensky, who began the tortuous process of negotiating the formation of a Second Coalition Government. Kornilov’s experience at the Moscow State Conference, held from 13–14 August, reinforced the necessity of acting in a politically more circumspect manner. Enthusiastic backing for Kornilov’s venture came only from the Petrograd industrialists.
