Local Government and State Authority in the Provinces: Smolensk, February-June 1917

In the last decade, state building and the problems of establishing state authority in the provinces in 1917 have begun to attract historians’ attention. Several works by Russian authors treat state building under the Provisional Government, with emphasis upon organizational activities “at the cente...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Slavic review 1996-12, Vol.55 (4), p.863-881
Main Author: Hickey, Michael C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Authority
Cities
Democracy
Democratic authority
Executive committees
Government
Liberalism
Local government
Municipal governments
Peasant class
Political history
Political revolutions
Provincial government
Revolutions
Russia
Smolensk
Social classes
Socialism
State
State formation
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Summary:In the last decade, state building and the problems of establishing state authority in the provinces in 1917 have begun to attract historians’ attention. Several works by Russian authors treat state building under the Provisional Government, with emphasis upon organizational activities “at the center.” Daniel T. Orlovsky and Howard J. White (with greater analytical rigor than their Russian counterparts) have studied the work of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the provinces. But none of these works has offered a sustained discussion of the revolution in a single city or province. Local studies have concentrated on popular institutions (for example, unions, Red Guards, and the Soviets) and the process of social polarization but have paid litde attention to the state. My aim is to bridge the gap between institutional studies and local studies by looking at local government and the contested nature of state authority in Smolensk from March to June 1917, tracing especially the conflict between class-based politics and state interests.
ISSN:0037-6779
2325-7784
DOI:10.2307/2501241