Читать книгу Comrade Kerensky - Boris Kolonitskii - Страница 10

In May 1917 Kerensky, having just been appointed minister of the army and navy, issued an order reminiscent in style of one of the tsar’s manifestos. It contained a vivid autobiographical element. ‘My new burden is immensely heavy, but as an old soldier of the revolution I have submitted myself unquestioningly to the severe discipline of duty and accepted responsibility before the people and the revolution for the army and navy.’¹

The 36-year-old minister accounted himself a veteran of the liberation movement well accustomed to revolutionary discipline, which accorded him the right to demand iron discipline from all in the armed forces. It was an approach Kerensky was to use repeatedly when addressing the troops. These statements enhanced his authority as a revolutionary-turned-statesman, and the claim needed to be substantiated by the events of his biography. In 1917 both Kerensky and his supporters constantly recalled episodes from his life which could be put to political use.

We need both to examine that biographical contribution to establishing the authority of this revolutionary leader and to show the role he and his supporters played in disseminating information about his past career. We need to establish which episodes in Kerensky’s life were most frequently exploited, which were ‘edited’, and which were quietly forgotten. Of interest too are the efforts of Kerensky’s opponents, who had their own spin to put on his past.