The Diary of Alexander Kerensky
Thursday 8th of March
Yesterday, 200,000 workers took to the streets of Petrograd when the mangers of the gigantic Putilov steel works locked them out. Workers from other factories joined in to support their cause, and the streets of Petrograd were crowded full of angry people, wanting to create change in their country. I fully support their cause, as I’ve seen the workers suffer for such a long time in Russia. Today was much the same, as fifty factories have closed down and 90,000 workers are out on strike. In addition to this, it is International Women’s Day, so the workers are joined by hundreds, probably thousands of socialist women demonstrating for change. I’ve heard that upon discovering that there is
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The creation of the Duma was also an unwise decision, as it created the illusion that Russia was led by a democratically elected government. This only made the people angrier. As a member of the Tsar’s Duma, it is difficult to contest his decisions, as whilst we were elected, he still holds supreme power and can remove any members of the Duma at any time. However, I must say that the Tsar is anything but a good ruler. He is naïve, thrown into the job with no leadership experience after the death of his father, Alexander III. Russia has suffered from his inexperience and obliviousness …show more content…
People are dying every day across the streets of Petrograd, and if this revolution is not stopped, more will die every day. I think that it is actually rather selfish of the Tsar to do nothing to solve the problems we have here, and then refuse for us, his Duma, to meet and organise a plan for the future. But then again, has the Tsar ever been attentive to the worker’s problems? Because I am a Trudovik, during my time on the Duma, I’ve been seen as a representative of the working class, despite my middle-class background. The Tsar is failing to listen to the workers, so no change will be made. If the Tsar does not make changes, the people will become more and more radicalised and drawn to the supposed prospects of communism.
I felt rather nauseous this morning, and this only led to another of my headaches. I took some more of my morphine and lay down, so the worst of it ceased off by the mid-afternoon. The kidney pain has been particularly bad these past few weeks, and I’ve been trying to not let this affect my political life.
Monday, 12th of March