oved
himself to be a democrat of the most liberal school as well as an
extraordinarily capable organizer. The position of Minister of Foreign
Affairs was given to Miliukov, whose strong sympathy with the Allies was
well known. The position of Minister of Justice was given to Alexander
Kerensky, one of the most extraordinary men in Russia, a leader of the
Group of Toil, a party of peasant Socialists, vice-president of the Council
of Workmen's and Soldiers' Deputies. At the head of the War Department was
placed Alexander Guchkov, a soldier-politician, leader of the Octobrist
party, who had turned against the First Revolution in 1905, when it became
an economic war of the classes, evoking thereby the hatred of the
Socialists, but who as head of the War Industries Committee had achieved
truly wonderful results in the present war in face of the opposition of the
government. The pressing food problem was placed in the hands of Andrei
Shingarev. As Minister of Agriculture Shingarev belonged to the radical
left wing of the Cadets.

It cannot be said that the composition of the Provisional Government was
received with popular satisfaction. It was top-heavy with representatives
of the bourgeoisie. There was only one Socialist, Kerensky. Miliukov's
selection, inevitable though it was, and great as his gifts were, was
condemned by the radical working-men because he was regarded as a dangerous
"imperialist" on account of his advocacy of the annexation of
Constantinople. Guchkov's inclusion was equally unpopular on account of his
record at the time of the First Revolution. The most popular selection was
undoubtedly Kerensky, because he represented more nearly than any of the
others the aspirations of the masses. As a whole, it was the fact that the
Provisional Government was too fully representative of the bourgeois
parties and groups which gave the Bolsheviki and other radicals a chance to
condemn it.

The absence of the name of Tchcheidze from the list was a surprise and a
disappointment to most of the moderate Socialists, for he had come to be
regarded as one of the most capable and trustworthy leaders of the masses.
The fact that he was not included in the new government could hardly fail
to cause uneasy suspicion. It was said later that efforts had been made to
induce him to join the new government, but that he declined to do so.
Tchcheidze's position was a very difficult one. Thoroughly in sympathy with
the plan to form a coal