Lavr Kornilov was a Russian general during WWI. After the February Revolution, he wanted to establish a temporary military dictatorship in Russia because of it's political unstableness under Kerensky's rule and a fear of Bolshevik's rise to power which he was right. His attempt at overthrowing the government never worked because it was stopped by Bolsheviks that Kerensky himself released from prison. What if Kornilov's coup did succeed and he establishes a temporary wartime Authoritarian state as he promised? How would it go for Russia and it's wartime? Would he end up being a typical tyrant dictator or he'd allow democratic elections if the war was over? What impact would it be for Russia for rest of 20th century? Kornilov was also liked by Russian minorities because he was a half Kazakh and that made him trusted.
 
Kornilov's own appraisal of what would happen doesn't sound entirely cheerful:

"Kerensky warned him of the dangers of a military dictatorship, which would have to contend with a general strike and a massacre of officers. Kronilov was not intimidated: "I foresee that possibility, but at least those who are left alive will have the soldiers in hand."
https://books.google.com/books?id=fOxopOa4ogUC&pg=PA250

But even that was IMO too "optimistic." Kornilov was definitely for continuing the War: "The Provisional Government, under the pressure of the Bolshevik majority in the Soviets, acts in full agreement with the plans of the German General Staff . . . I cannot betray Russia into the hands of its historic enemy, the German tribe, and make the Russian people slaves of the Germans." https://books.google.com/books?id=kdQFBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA107 I just don't see the ordinary soldiers, sick of the war, worked on by socialist agitators, anxious to go home and seize the landowners' land, following Kornilov. It was too late to re-establish militaty discipline six months after Order No. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrograd_Soviet_Order_No._1

There is incidentally some dispute as to whether Kornilov originally intended a "coup" or whether he believed that he had Kerensky's support, and that if Kerensky got cold feet at the last minute, it was only because he was a captive of the soviets. But I don't think that matters--with or without Kerensky's support, Kornilov could not succeed.

Brusilov's characterization of Kornilov as a "man with the heart of a lion and the brains of a lamb" was not really fair, but all the same, people who see Kornilov as a potential saviour of Russia from the Bolsheviks do IMO overrate the man and his prospects.

There *was* one matter on which Kornilov later (during the Russian Civil War) shpwed some originality, though:

"On one point, however, Kornilov's views departed considerably from the ideals espoused by the White leaders — on the all-important question of Russia's territorial integrity. Not only did Kornilov show readiness to grant broad autonomy to the borderland states even before the convocation of the Constituent Assembly, but he was also willing to recognize the separate political status of Poland,27 Ukraine, and Finland: 'Poland, Ukraine, and Finland, having formed themselves into separate national state entities,' reads article fourteen of [Kornilov's draft] program, 'should be supported by the Russian government in their strivings toward state regeneration in order that in this manner the eternal and indestructible union of the brotherly peoples might grow even stronger.' [That almost sounds like "unbreakable union of free republics" as the later Soviet national anthem would have it...--DT]

"Kornilov's program did not remain a closely guarded secret for long. When rumors regarding its existence reached Alekseev, the old and generally self-composed soldier became so incensed that he angrily demanded to see it immediately. Miliukov, after studying the document, indignantly branded Kornilov an 'adventurist' and 'political dilettante,' and warned Alekseev that if the program was publicized, broad support for the VA [Volunteer Army] would immediately disintegrate.

"Kornilov's program would have constituted a landmark in the evolution of the nationality policy of the White movement and undoubtedly caused a bitter conflict, perhaps even a schism, within the VA, if the events that followed--the costly Kuban campaign and Kornilov's sudden death--had not consigned the document to oblivion..." https://books.google.com/books?id=irWQQCXwhwwC&pg=PA42

The idea of recognizing Ukrainian nationality on the same level with Polish and Finnish was, for a White--well, let's say, unusual! Most likely, if Kornilov had lived, the attitude of other White leaders would be, "You're a fine general, Lavr Georgiyevich. Stick to that and leave politics to us..."

(BTW, it's not clear whether Kornilov's mother was a Kazakh or an Altai Kalmyk. https://books.google.com/books?id=wLvaCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA184 Either way, Kornilov liked to dress "exotically", speak in Turkic, etc. But as long as he supported the war, how could he do anything about the immediate cause of the Central Asian Uprising of 1916--the conscription of central Asian Muslims into labor battalions for the Eastern Front?)
 
It is hard to picture Kornilov as anything other than what was popular history has given us - a duller version of Baron von Ungern-Sternberg, an adventurer with some quirks and plenty of desire to The Guy but lacking common sense. I know tinpot dictators have been made out of much less, but I just don't see it.

Petrograd in the Summer of 1917 was a bubbling cauldron. The brief euphoria of overturning a 300 year old regime was replaced by an ill-defined but strong-felt discontent. Everyone knew something had to go, but no one was quite sure what was that something. Smarter men that Kornilov and far more ruthless failed that Summer to bring Petrograd to heel. Even if he had succeeded in taking power in the Winter Palace and issuing a proclamation, he would have been swept aside by the Bolsheviks or Socialist-Revolutionaries (SRs). Bolsheviks were at this time underground and only regained legality and access to weapons due to Kerensky trying to use them to stop Kornilov, but Bolsheviks had been banned for most of their existence up to that point, so they would have found the necessary resources, to say nothing of the SRs, who were not sure how to act against the appointed regime of Kerensky, but would have had no qualms about taking on Kornilov. Every Marxist, and non-Marxist but still socialist, intellectual in Petogrograd knew their French Revolution and the arrival of Kornilov would have made all of them see him as Napoleon and react accordingly and whip up the crowds.

As to Kornilov's minority appeal... Here once again we face the shadow of the much more fascinating Baron von Ungern-Sternberg. Kornilov, as a lot of the cohorts in the officer class of his generation, were fascinated with the "exotic" culture of the East. Just as India captivated generations of British officers stationed there, so had the -stans captured the imagination of the Russian officers doing garrison duty on the frontiers of their empire. The warrior culture of the locals, with its emphasis on exaggerated machismo, swagger, facial hair and skills in the use of bladed weaponry inspired more than a few of the Russian officers doing their dusty duty. But just as the British regarded the Sikhs as a "warrior race" and treated them different from other people inhabiting the subcontinent whom they regarded as little better than chattel, so too did the Russians arbitrarily divided the locals into ethnicities capable of having fighting spirit and being suitable for a career in the army and the others who were only good for farming and servile work. Kornilov's roots were in the "warrior race," which one no one quite knew and his own brother (if I recall correctly) gave muddled responses when asked on the origins. He had Cossack blood, though, except whether it came from the Siberian folk or one of the Christian Kalmyk tribes or Kazakhs, no one quite knew. Regardless, he had Cossack blood and knew it, and saw in it a wild spark that made him different and so he emphasized it and fostered a circus strongmen like bodyguard unit and garbed them in "Turkish" dress and gave him "Turkish" haircuts. Once again, pale stuff compared to the Mad Baron, but exotic enough for its own sake.

So among the "warrior faces" in the Russian army, he had a reputation as being someone sympathetic to their ambitions. But that was a sliver of the representative minorities in Russia. I have almost no doubt that had Kornilov gone into Petrograd, he or his lads would have had a giant pogrom by the end of the week. After all the Jews were not considered a "warrior race." The blonde haired and pale folk of Finland, Poland and Estonia would have fared better. And might have even been given an olive branch, but woe unto any olive skinned Armenian who would have spoke of independence, they were not "warrior" enough. Georgians might would have gotten a pass, or maybe not. Georgians were considered "warriors," but would they have been allowed an exit from the Empire? Who knows?

I just don't see Kornilov pulling this off, for any length of time.
 
Top