, until such time which will follow with as little
delay as possible, as the Constituent Assembly, on a basis of
universal, direct, equal, and secret suffrage, shall, by its
decision as to the new form of government, express the will of the
people.

The hated Romanov dynasty was ended at last. It is not likely that
Grand-Duke Michael entertained the faintest hope that he would ever be
called to the throne, either by a Constituent Assembly or by a popular
referendum. Not only was the Romanov dynasty ended, but equally so was
monarchical Absolutism itself. No other dynasty would replace that of the
Romanovs. Russia had thrown off the yoke of autocracy. The Second
Revolution was an accomplished fact; its first phase was complete.
Thoughtful men among the revolutionists recognized that the next phase
would be far more perilous and difficult. "The bigger task is still before
us," said Miliukov, in his address to the crowd that afternoon. A
Constituent Assembly was to be held and that was bound to intensify the
differences which had been temporarily composed during the struggle to
overthrow the system of Absolutism. And the differences which existed
between the capitalist class and the working class were not greater than
those which existed within the latter.

CHAPTER V

FROM BOURGEOISIE TO BOLSHEVIKI

I

It required no great gift of prophecy to foretell the failure of the
Provisional Government established by the revolutionary coalition headed by
Prince Lvov. From the very first day it was evident that the Cabinet could
never satisfy the Russian people. It was an anomaly in that the Revolution
had been a popular revolution, while the Provisional Government was
overwhelmingly representative of the landowners, manufacturers, bankers,
and merchants--the despised and distrusted bourgeoisie. The very meager
representation given to the working class, through Kerensky, was, in the
circumstances, remarkable for its stupid effrontery and its disregard of
the most obvious realities. Much has been said and written of the
doctrinaire attitude which has characterized the Bolsheviki in the later
phases of the struggle, but if by doctrinairism is meant subservience to
preconceived theories and disregard of realities, it must be said that the
statesmen of the bourgeoisie were as completely its victims as the
Bolsheviki later proved to be. They were subservient to dogma and
indifferent to fact.

The bourgeois