{{Infobox Officeholder
| name = Alexander Kerensky<br><small>Алекса́ндр Ке́ренский</small>
| image = Alexander Kerensky LOC 24416.jpg|230px
| nationality = [[Russia]]n
| order = 2nd [[Russian Provisional Government|Minister-Chairman of the Russian Provisional Government]]
| term_start = [[July 21]], [[1917]]
| term_end = [[November 8]], [[1917]]
| predecessor = [[Georgy Lvov]]
| successor = [[Vladimir Lenin]] ([[List of leaders of the Soviet Union|Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars]])
| order2 = [[Prime Minister of Russia]]
| term_start2 = [[July 21]], [[1917]]
| term_end2 = [[November 8]], [[1917]]
| predecessor2 = [[Georgy Lvov]]
| successor2 = Position dissolved
| birth_date = [[May 4]], [[1881]]
| birth_place = [[Simbirsk]], [[Imperial Russia]]
| death_date = [[June 11]], [[1970]] (aged 89)
| death_place = [[New York City]]
| profession = Politician
| party = [[Socialist-Revolutionary Party|Socialist Revolutionary]]
}}
{{about|the Russian politician|the fictional character|List of BattleTech characters}}
'''Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky''' ({{lang-ru|Алекса́ндр Фёдорович Ке́ренский}}, ''Aleksandr Fjëdorovič Kerenskij'') ({{OldStyleDate|May 4|1881|April 22}} &ndash; [[June 11]], [[1970]]) served as the second [[Prime Minister]] of the [[Russian Provisional Government, 1917|Russian Provisional Government]] until [[Vladimir Lenin]] was elected by the [[All-Russian Congress of Soviets]] following the [[October Revolution]].

== Early life and activism ==
Kerensky, a son of a [[headmaster]], was born in [[Simbirsk]] (now [[Ulyanovsk]]), the same town as [[Lenin]] (then Ulyanov). At one point Kerensky's father, Fyodor, had taught the young [[Vladimir Ulyanov]] at [[Kazan State University|Kazan University]]. Kerensky graduated with a degree in Law from [[Saint Petersburg University|St. Petersburg University]] in 1904. He showed his political allegiances early on, with his frequent defense of anti-[[Tsar]]ist revolutionaries. He was elected to the [[Fourth Duma]] in 1912 as a member of the [[Trudoviks]], a moderate [[Labor movement|labor party]]. A brilliant orator and skilled parliamentary leader, he became a member of the [[Provisional Committee of the Duma]] as a [[Socialist-Revolutionary Party|Socialist Revolutionary]] and a leader of the [[socialism|socialist]] opposition to the regime of the ruling tsar, [[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas II]].

== February Revolution of 1917 ==
When the [[February Revolution]] broke out in 1917, Kerensky was one of its most prominent leaders, and was elected vice-chairman of the [[Petrograd Soviet]]. He simultaneously became the first [[Minister of Justice]] in the newly-formed [[Russian Provisional Government, 1917|Provisional Government]]. When the Soviet passed a resolution prohibiting its leaders from joining the government, Kerensky delivered a stirring speech at a Soviet meeting. Although the decision was never formalized, he was granted a ''de facto'' exemption and continued acting in both capacities.

After the first government crisis over [[Pavel Milyukov]]'s secret note re-committing Russia to its original war aims on May 2-4, Kerensky became the [[Minister of War]] and the dominant figure in the newly formed socialist-liberal coalition government. Under Allied pressure to continue the war, he launched what became known as the [[Kerensky Offensive]] against the Austro-Hungarian/German South Army on [[June 17]], [[Old Style]]. At first successful, the offensive was soon stopped and then thrown back by a strong counter-attack. The Russian Army suffered heavy losses and it was clear - from many incidents of desertion, sabotage, and mutiny - that the Russian Army was no longer willing to attack.

Kerensky was heavily criticised by the military for his liberal policies, which included stripping officers of their mandate (handing overriding control to revolutionary inclined "soldier committees" instead), the abolition of the death penalty, and the presence of various revolutionary agitators at the front. Many officers jokingly referred to commander in chief Kerensky as "persuader in chief".

On [[July 2]], [[1917]], the first coalition collapsed over the question of [[Ukraine]]'s autonomy. Following widespread unrest in Petrograd and suppression of the Bolsheviks, Kerensky succeeded [[Prince Lvov]] as Russia's [[Prime Minister]]. Following the [[Kornilov Affair]] at the end of August and the resignation of the other ministers, he appointed himself Supreme [[Commander-in-Chief]] as well. He retained his other posts in the short-lived Directory in September and the final coalition government in October 1917 until it was overthrown by the Bolsheviks.

Kerensky's major challenge was that Russia was exhausted after three years of [[World War I|war]], while the provisional government did not offer much motivation for a victory outside of continuing Russia's obligations towards its allies. Furthermore, [[Lenin]] and his [[Bolshevik]] party were promising "peace, land, and bread" under a [[communist]] system. The army was disintegrating due to a lack of discipline, which fostered desertion in large numbers.

Kerensky and the other political leaders continued their obligation to Russia's allies by continuing involvement in World War I - fearing that the economy, already under huge stress from the war effort, might become increasingly unstable if vital supplies from France and the UK were to be cut off. Some also feared that [[Germany]] would demand enormous territorial concessions as the price for peace (which indeed happened in the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]]). The dilemma of whether or not to withdraw was a great one, and Kerensky's inconsistent and impractical policies further destabilized the army and the country at large.

Furthermore, Kerensky adopted a policy that isolated the right-wing conservatives, both democratic and monarchist-oriented. His philosophy of "no enemies to the left" greatly empowered the Bolsheviks and gave them a free hand, allowing them to take over the military arm or "voyenka" of the Petrograd and Moscow Soviets. His arrest of Kornilov and other officers left him without strong allies against the Bolsheviks, who ended up being Kerensky's strongest and most determined adversaries, as opposed to the right wing, which evolved into the [[White movement]].

== October Revolution of 1917 ==
During the [[Kornilov Coup]], Kerensky had distributed arms to the [[Petrograd]] workers, and by October most of these armed workers had gone over to the Bolsheviks. Lenin was determined to overthrow Kerensky's [[government]] before it could be legitimised by the planned [[election]]s for a [[Russian Constituent Assembly]], and on {{OldStyleDate|November 7|1917|October 25}} the Bolsheviks launched the second Russian revolution in that year. Kerensky's government in Petrograd had almost no support in the city. Only one small force, the [[Women's Battalion#Bolshevik Revolution|First Petrograd Women's Battalion]], actually fought for the government against the Bolsheviks, but this force too crossed over to the revolution without firing a single shot. It took less than 20 hours before the Bolsheviks had taken over the government.

Kerensky escaped the Bolsheviks and went to [[Pskov]], where he rallied some loyal troops for an attempt to retake the [[capital city|capital]]. His troops managed to capture [[Tsarskoe Selo]], but were beaten the next day at [[Pulkovo]]. Kerensky narrowly escaped, and spent the next few weeks in hiding before fleeing the country, eventually arriving in [[France]]. During the [[Russian Civil War]] he supported neither side, as he opposed both the Bolshevik regime and the [[White Movement]].

== Life in exile ==
Kerensky lived in [[Paris]] until 1940, engaged in the endless splits and quarrels of the exiled Russian democratic leaders. In 1939, Kerensky married the former [[Australia]]n journalist [[Lydia Tritton|Lydia ‘Nell' Tritton]]. [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160496b.htm] When the Germans overran France at the start of [[World War II]], they escaped to the [[United States]].

In 1945, his wife became terminally ill. He traveled with her to [[Brisbane]], [[Australia]] and lived there with her family until her death in February 1946. Thereafter he returned to the United States, where he lived for the rest of his life.

When [[Adolf Hitler]]'s forces invaded the [[Soviet Union]] in 1941, Kerensky offered his support to [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]], but received no reply. Instead, he made broadcasts in [[Russian language|Russian]] in support of the war effort. After the war he organized a group called the [[Union for the Liberation of Russia]], but this achieved little.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}

[[Image:Kerenskygrave.jpg|thumb|left|Grave of Kerensky in London]]
Kerensky eventually settled in [[New York City]], but spent much of his time at the [[Hoover Institution]] at [[Stanford University]] in [[California]], where he both used and contributed to the Institution's huge archive on [[Russian history]], and where he taught graduate courses. He wrote and broadcast extensively on Russian [[politics]] and [[history]]. His last public speech was delivered at [[Kalamazoo College]], in [[Kalamazoo, Michigan]].

Kerensky's major works include ''The Prelude to Bolshevism'' (1919) ISBN 0-8383-1422-8 , ''The Catastrophe'' (1927), ''The Crucifixion of Liberty'' (1934) and ''Russia and History's Turning Point'' (1965).

Kerensky died at his home in [[New York City]] in 1970, one of the last surviving major participants in the turbulent events of 1917. The [[Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia|local Russian Orthodox Church]]es in New York refused to grant Kerensky burial, seeing him as being largely responsible for Russia falling to the Bolsheviks. A [[Serbian Orthodox Church]] also refused. Kerensky's body was then flown to [[London]] where he was buried at [[Putney Vale]] non-denominational [[cemetery]].

== References ==
* R. Abraham, ''Kerensky: First Love of the Revolution'', Columbia University Press, 1987. ISBN 0-231-06108-0
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons|Alexander Kerensky}}
* [http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2001/janfeb/features/kerensky.html An account of Kerensky at Stanford in the 1950s]
*{{imdb name|id=0449292|name=Alexander Kerensky}}
* [http://www.kerensky.org.uk/ Alexander Kerensky Museum in London]

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{{succession box | before = [[Georgy Lvov]] | title = [[Prime Minister of Russia|Minister-Chairman of the Russian Provisional Government]] | years = [[July 21]] [[1917]]&mdash;[[November 8]] [[1917]] | after = years = [[July 21]] [[1917]] &mdash; [[November 8]] [[1917]] | after = [[Vladimir Lenin]] (as [[List of leaders of the Soviet Union|Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars]]),<br> [[Lev Kamenev]] (as Chairman of the [[All-Russian Central Executive Committee]])}}
{{end box}}
{{RussianPMsOld}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerensky, Alexander}}
<!--Categories-->
[[Category:Prime Ministers of Russian Provisional Government]]
[[Category:Imperial Russian politicians]]
[[Category:People of the Russian Revolution]]
[[Category:Russian socialists]]
[[Category:Russian people of World War I]]
[[Category:Russian-Americans]]
[[Category:1881 births]]
[[Category:1970 deaths]]

{{Link FA|nl}}
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[[bg:Александър Керенски]]
[[ca:Aleksandr Kèrenski]]
[[cs:Alexandr Fjodorovič Kerenskij]]
[[da:Aleksandr Kerenskij]]
[[de:Alexander Fjodorowitsch Kerenski]]
[[et:Aleksandr Kerenski]]
[[el:Αλέξανδρος Κέρενσκι]]
[[es:Aleksandr Kérensky]]
[[eo:Aleksandr Kerenskij]]
[[fa:الکساندر فیودورویچ کرنسکی]]
[[fr:Alexandre Fedorovitch Kerensky]]
[[ga:Alexander Kerensky]]
[[ko:알렉산드르 케렌스키]]
[[hr:Aleksandar Kerenski]]
[[id:Alexander Kerensky]]
[[it:Aleksandr Fëdorovič Kerenskij]]
[[he:אלכסנדר קרנסקי]]
[[lv:Aleksandrs Kerenskis]]
[[nl:Aleksandr Kerenski]]
[[ne:अलेक्सान्दार केरेन्स्की]]
[[ja:アレクサンドル・ケレンスキー]]
[[no:Aleksandr Kerenskij]]
[[pl:Aleksander Kiereński]]
[[pt:Alexander Kerensky]]
[[ro:Alexandr Kerenski]]
[[ru:Керенский, Александр Фёдорович]]
[[sk:Alexandr Fiodorovič Kerenskij]]
[[sl:Aleksander Fjodorovič Kerenski]]
[[sr:Александар Керенски]]
[[sh:Aleksandar Kerenski]]
[[fi:Aleksandr Kerenski]]
[[sv:Aleksandr Kerenskij]]
[[tr:Aleksandr Kerenski]]
[[uk:Керенський Олександр Федорович]]
[[zh:亚历山大·克伦斯基]]