held, the
reorganization of the Provisional Government merits attention. On the 17th,
at a special sitting of the Duma, Guchkov and Miliukov explained why they
had resigned. Guchkov made it a matter of conscience. Anarchy had entered
into the administration of the army and navy, he said: "In the way of
reforms the new government has gone very far. Not even in the most
democratic countries have the principles of self-government, freedom, and
equality been so extensively applied in military life. We have gone
somewhat farther than the danger limit, and the impetuous current drives us
farther still.... I could not consent to this dangerous work; I could not
sign my name to orders and laws which in my opinion would lead to a rapid
deterioration of our military forces. A country, and especially an army,
cannot be administered on the principles of meetings and conferences."

Miliukov told his colleagues of the Duma that he had not resigned of his
own free will, but under pressure: "I had to resign, yielding not to force,
but to the wish of a considerable majority of my colleagues. With a clear
conscience I can say that I did not leave on my own account, but was
compelled to leave." Nevertheless, he said, the foreign policy he had
pursued was the correct one. "You could see for yourselves that my activity
in foreign politics was in accord with your ideas," he declared amid
applause which eloquently testified to the approval with which the
bourgeoisie regarded policies and tendencies which the proletariat
condemned. He pointed out that the pacifist policies of Zimmerwald and
Keinthal had permeated a large part of the Socialist movement, and that the
Soviet, the Councils of Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates, claiming to
exercise control over the Provisional Government, were divided. He feared
that the proposal to establish a Coalition Government would not lead to
success, because of "discord in the Council of Workmen's and Soldiers'
Delegates itself." Not all the members of the latter body were agreed upon
entering into a Coalition Government, and "it is evident that those who do
not enter the government will continue to criticize those who have entered,
and it is possible that the Socialists who enter the Cabinet will find
themselves confronted with the same storm of criticism as the government
did before." Still, because it meant the creation of a stronger government
at once, which was the most vital need, he, like Guchkov, fav