Russia’s Political System from March to October 1917: Basic Features and Stages of Development

This article analyzes the formula of authority that constituted the basis for the Provisional Government. The author labels this formula the Third of March system. The Third of March system began to dissolve during the political crisis of the “April days”, when the Provisional Government decided to jettison the formulation of its authority that had been so convenient to the Chairman of the State Duma, Mikhail Vladimirovich Rodzianko. The government had contemplated vesting sovereign authority in the Temporary Committee of the State Duma, thereby resurrecting the legislative function of the bicameral Russian parliament, and making the legislature responsible to the executive. The Third of March system finally disintegrated on 6 October 1917, when the Provisional Government dispersed the State Duma and recognized that the authority of members of the State Council had lost its force. The demolition of the Third of March political system led to the liquidation of the Provisional Government’s authority.