Georgy lvov biography of michael

Primary Sources

(1) After meeting George Lvov, George Buchanan, sent a report on their discussions to the Foreign Office (8th April, 1917)

Lvov does not favour the idea of taking strong measures at present, either against the Soviet or the Socialist propaganda in the army.

On my telling him that the Government would never be masters of the situation so long as they allowed themselves to be dictated to by a rival organization, he said that the Soviet would die a natural death, that the present agitation in the army would pass, and that the army would then be in a better position to help the Allies to win the war than it would have been under the old regime.

(2) George Buchanan, report to the Foreign Office (7th May, 1917)

The Government, as Prince Lvov remarked, was "an authority without power", while the Workmen's Council (Soviet) was "a power without authority".

Under such conditions it was impossible for Guchkov, as Minister of War