A Study On Aleksandr Guchkov’s Political Activities

Aleksandr Guchkov(1862—1936)was one of the most important politicians in the early 20th century of Russia,the right wing representative of liberalism and the leader of Octobrists.He was born in a merchant family and traveled around the world with adventure in his youth.He returned to Moscow during the revolution in 1905 and became the representative of the Moscow Duma.He established the Octobrist Party and advocated constitutional monarchy after Nicholas Ⅱ proclaimed the October 17 Declaration.Under Guchkov’s leadership,the Octobrists actively participated in Russian political activities.After the end of the first and second State Duma,the Octobrists who he led occupied a majority of the third Duma and he served as the President.During his tenure,he worked with the government to promote a series of reforms and resigned in 1911 to protest the weakening of the Duma’s rights.After resignation,he took an active part in the election of the fourth Duma.He still continued to work for the restructuring of political forces after his failure of the election.During World War Ⅰ,he served as the chairman of the Central Military Industrial Commission,mobilized all kinds of resources to serve the war and played an important role in guaranteeing the needs of the front and the army.In the February Revolution in 1917,Guchkov directly participated in the coup that forced Nicholas Ⅱ to abdicate as the representative of the Duma provisional committee.After the end of the Romanov dynasty,Guchkov served as the military minister in the first provisional government,advocated the restoration of discipline and order,supported the policy of continuing the war,and resigned after the April crisis.After the Bolshevik seized power,he exiled France.Guchkov played an important role in Russian politics from 1905 to 1917.Unlike the left wing of liberalism,he advocated that Russia’s constitutionalism should integrate with tradition,and liberal reforms should be promoted by a powerful regime.However,the unlimited power of the monarch was limited,to some extent,this eased the contradiction between capitalist and traditional culture.He participated in and influenced the February revolution process,but at the same time he tried to restrict the development of the revolution.Finally,he withdrew from the Russian political stage hopelessly.