Images Dated 29th November 2008

Alexander Kerensky, Prime Minister of the Russian Provisional Government, Russia, 1917

Alexander Kerensky, Prime Minister of the Russian Provisional Government, in his office in the Winter Palace in Petrograd (St Petersburg), Russia, 1917. Kerensky Kerensky (1881-1970) was one of the most prominent leaders of the February Revolution in Russia in 1917, which led to the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II. In the Provisional Government established after the revolution, he held the posts of Minister for Justice, then Minister for War, and, from July, Prime Minister. After a failed coup attempt led by General Kornilov in August, he also appointed himself commander-in-chief. The Provisional Government was unstable however, and Kerensky's refusal to pull Russia out of the First World War and his distribution of weapons to the Petrograd workers during Kornilov's coup brought about its downfall. The October Revolution brought the Bolsheviks to power and Kerensky was forced to flee into exile. He lived in France until 1940, from where he was forced to flee again, to the USA, when the Germans invaded in World War II. Found in the collection of the State Museum of the Political History of Russia, St. Petersburg

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Count Sergei Yulyevich Witte, Russian Prime Minister, during his trip to USA, 1905

Count Sergei Yulyevich Witte, Russian Prime Minister, during his trip to USA, 1905. Russia's Minister of Finance from 1892-1903, Witte (1849-1915) promoted the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway and the general modernisation of the Russian empire. In 1905 he represented Russia at the negotiations which ended the Russo-Japanese War, and after the political unrest of that year was appointed Russia's first Prime Minister when the Tsar agreed to the establishment of the Duma (parliament). In 1906, desiring a more conservative regime, Nicholas II replaced Witte as premier with Ivan Goremykin. Found in the collection of the State Museum of the Political History of Russia, St Petersburg

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Sitting of the agricultural commission of the First Duma, St Petersburg, Russia, 1906

Sitting of the agricultural commission of the First Duma, St Petersburg, Russia, 1906. The Duma, the elected legislative assembly of the Russian Empire, was established as a result of the Russian Revolution of 1905. Tsar Nicholas II (1868-1918), who opened the Duma, was determined to retain his autocratic power over the government of Russia however. Shortly before the Duma opened, he passed the Fundamental Laws, which stated that the Tsar's ministers could not be appointed by and were not responsible to the Duma. Increasing tension between the Duma's members and Nicholas's ministers led to the assembly being dissolved within ten weeks of its opening. Found in the collection of the State Museum of the Political History of Russia, St Petersburg

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