Abstract
The article examines the cultural forms of legitimation / delegitimation of authority of the Provisional Government. Particular attention is paid to the personal authority of Alexander Kerensky, including rhetorical (persuasive) devices and visual images which underlay the tactics of praising or condemning him. As the main source, the article uses the newspapers of A.A. Suvorin, namely Malen'kaya gazeta [Little newspaper], Narodnaya gazeta [People’s newspaper], Rus' [Rus], Novaya Rus' [New Rus]. These newspapers are compared with resolutions, letters and diaries, and with publications in other periodicals. The study clarifies some aspects of political isolation of the Provisional Government in the fall of 1917. By this time, the propaganda attack on Kerensky was conducted not only by the Bolsheviks and other left-wing groups but also by the right-wing and conservative publications. The propaganda of the left- and right-wing opponents was significantly different but they had a point of contact: both of them created the image of the “traitor” who was unworthy to remain in power.
Highlights
While considering the Russian Revolution of 1917, the majority of historians of different schools of thought mostly focus on its victors, the Bolsheviks
The negative images of Kerensky, which initially emerged in letters and personal diary entries recording conversations of contemporaries, penetrated the newspapers some time later
During the preparations for the June Offensive, the liberal, conservative, and even right-wing critics of the Minister of Was and Navy refrained from expressing their views openly but inside their circles they condemned some of his measures, especially the “Declaration of the Soldiers’ Rights” which allowed the establishment of military committees in the army
Summary
Следствии слухи о том, что глава Временного правительства лежит на кровати императрицы, играли немалую роль в феминизации Керенского, которая была важным аспектом его делегитимации. Самозванца, имитирующего монарха, был особенно важен для дискредитации Керенского, его активно использовали и левые, и правые критики главы Временного правительства. Некоторые же люди консервативных и правых взглядов даже полагали, что большевики, сделавшие «грязную работу» по свержению Временного правительства, долго у власти не продержатся, а на смену им придет твердая власть, 62 Обзор печати No 179 (за 10 октября) // ОР РНБ. В период подготовки Июньского наступления критики военного и морского министра из числа людей либеральных, консервативных и даже правых взглядов воздерживались от открытого выражения своей позиции, хотя в своем кругу осуждали некоторые его меры, прежде всего «Декларацию прав солдата», закрепившую создание войсковых комитетов в армии. Суворин с некоторыми своими сотрудниками, возобновившими это издание на Дону, строили тактику мобилизации своих сторонников, отрицая Керенского и «керенщину», власть «предателя» и «изменника»
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