“I do not object to all the attacks, but rather pass them by in disgusted silence”: the struggle for political leadership in the provinces of the Central Black Earth Region in March–June 1917

Political leadership in the provinces of the Central Black Earth Region at the beginning of the 1917 Revolution has not received due comprehensive coverage in historiography. As a result of the conducted research, it is concluded that, despite the leaders' claims to control policy, it is impossible to speak of the presence of generally recognized regional leaders of the revolution: the composition of the leaders changed quickly, and serious contradictions began to arise between them. Nevertheless, already in the first months of the revolution, the political system began to fill with energetic, public leaders who preferred socialism, but are not necessarily party members. Despite the obvious inclination towards authoritarian decisions, the leaders of this time preferred non-violent methods of political struggle. The overwhelming majority of leaders supported the Provisional Government, however, already in the spring of 1917, dissatisfaction with official policy began to appear, associated with the rise of the peasant movement, the filling of the revolutionary political elite with political prisoners, and the difficulties in the relationships of charismatic leaders with the parties to which they belonged. The problem is considered on the basis of a set of data: published materials; studies on individual leaders; unpublished documents from the funds of the State Archives of the Voronezh, Oryol and Lipetsk Regions. The theoretical basis of the study is a combination of institutional and historical-anthropological approaches with problem-chronological and biographical methods.