Kornilov took the prime minister's instructions at face value. As they were parting, he told Savinkov that he supported Kerensky because the country needed him.9
Following Savinkov's departure, Kornilov issued the following order to General Krymov:
In the event that you receive from me or directly on the spot information that the Bolshevik uprising had begun, you are to move without delay with the Corps to Petrograd, occupy the city, disarm the units of the Petrograd garrison that have joined the Bolshevik movement, disarm the Petrograd population, and disperse the Soviet. 10
This instruction implemented Kerensky's order. Savinkov reported to Kerensky on 25 August that all his commands would be carried out.
At this point a well-meaning but bumbling individual threw a monkey wrench into a situation already teeming with misunderstanding. He was Vladimir Nikolaevich Lvov, a man of burning ambitions but few talents with which to realise them. A member of the Duma as a conservative Octobrist, he had served for several months after the February Revolution as Procurator of the Holy Synod but in July 1917 Kerensky dismissed him from this post. In August, he joined a group of conservative intellectuals in Moscow who were eager to save Russia from collapse. He and his friends believed that the Provisional Government needed to be strengthened with the inclusion of representatives of business as well as the armed forces.
According to Lvov's recollections, in mid August he heard rumours of conspiracies at Kornilov's headquarters to proclaim the general dictator. He felt it his duty to alert Kerensky to these rumours, and duly met with him on 22 August. Kerensky paid attention to what Lvov told him, namely that it was necessary to include in the cabinet persons enjoying close relations with the military, but later denied that he had authorised him to travel to Mogilev and negotiate with Kornilov. Lvov nevertheless interpreted Kerensky's interest in his opinions as giving him licence to act as an intermediary between the prime minister and the commanding general. He travelled to Mogilev, arriving there on 24 August, just as Savinkov was about to leave.
According to Kornilov's testimony given shortly after the event, Lvov announced to him 'I am coming to you from Kerensky with a commission.' He said, in Kerensky's name, that if in Kornilov's opinion Kerensky's further participation in the government was undesirable then Kerensky was prepared to resign.
Every word of this of course was an outright lie. 11 Carelessly, without asking for Lvov's credentials, Kornilov entered with him into a highly sensitive conversation. According to Kornilov's testimony, he responded that the only escape from the difficult situation in which the country found itself was the introduction of a dictatorship and placing the country under martial law. He further said (according to Lvov's testimony given on 14 September 1917):
It is expected that between August 27 and September 1, the Bolsheviks will act. Their plan is to overthrow the government, to install themselves in its place, at once to conclude a separate peace and to disclose it to the front in order to demoralise the army and to deliver to Germany the Baltic fleet ... During the Bolshevik uprising there will occur a clash of all ... forces, there will take place incredible bedlam in the course of which the Provisional Government, without a doubt, will collapse.12
Kornilov further said that he was not striving for power and would subordinate himself to a dictator but if the Provisional Government were to offer him dictatorial powers he would not refuse. He asked Lvov to warn Kerensky that since the Petrograd Bolsheviks were making preparations for a rising his life was at risk and hence it would be prudent for him to come to the headquarters. Once there, Kornilov intended to discuss with him the reorganisation of the government.13
The interview over, Lvov left for Petrograd. On 26 August, he met with Kerensky. As in the interview with Kornilov he had pretended to represent the prime minister, so he now affected the role of an agent of the general. He told Kerensky that Kornilov demanded dictatorial powers. According to Kerensky, on hearing this, his first reaction was to burst into laughter. But laughter soon yielded to alarm. He asked Lvov to put Kornilov's demands in writing. This is what Lvov wrote down:
General Kornilov proposes:
That martial law be proclaimed in Petrograd.
That all military and civil authority be transferred into the hands of the commander-in-chief.
That all ministers, not excluding the Prime Minister, resign and that provisional executive authority be transferred to deputy ministers until the commander-in-chief had constructed a cabinet.
Petrograd, August 26, 1917 V. Lvov 14
None of which, in fact, Kornilov had demanded.
As soon as he had read these words, Kerensky recalled, everything became clear: a military coup was in the making. But to make absolutely certain that this was indeed so, he decided to contact Kornilov directly by telegraph and invited Lvov to come to the office of the minister of war at 8 p.m. to participate in the conversation. Lvov was late and after half an hour's wait, Kerensky initiated the discourse in the course of which he would impersonate Lvov. The following is the complete text of the exchange as recorded on the telegraphic tapes:
Kerensky: Prime Minister on the line. We are awaiting General
Kornilov.
Kornilov: General Kornilov on the line.
Kerensky: How do you do, General. V. N. Lvov and Kerensky
are on the line. We ask you to confirm that Kerensky can act in
accordance with the information conveyed to him by Vladimir
Nikolaevich [Lvov].
Kornilov: How do you do, Alexandr Fedorovich. How do you do, Vladimir Nikolaevich. To confirm once again the outline of the situation in which, I believe, the country and the army find themselves, an outline of which I sketched out to Vladimir Nikolaevich with the request that he convey it to you, let me declare once more that the events of the last few days and those already in the offing make it imperative to reach a completely definite decision in the shortest possible time. Kerensky [impersonating Lvov]: I, Vladimir Nikolaevich, am inquiring about this definite decision which has been taken, which you have asked me to inform Alexandr Fedorovich strictly in private. Without such confirmation from you personally, Alexandr Fedorovich hesitates to completely trust me. Kornilov: Yes, I confirm that I asked you to transmit my urgent request to Alexandr Fedorovich to come to Mogilev. Kerensky: I, Alexandr Fedorovich, take your reply to confirm the words reported to me by Vladimir Nikolaevich. It is impossible for me to do that and leave today, but I hope to leave tomorrow. Will Savinkov be needed?
Kornilov: I urgently request that Boris Viktorovich [Savinkov]
come along with you. What I said to Vladimir Nikolaevich applies
equally to Boris Viktorovich. I would beg you most sincerely not to
postpone your departure beyond tomorrow ...
Kerensky: Are we to come only if there are demonstrations,
rumours of which are circulating, or in any event?
Kornilov: In any event.
Kerensky: Goodbye. We shall meet soon.
Kornilov: Goodbye.15
The two men were talking at cross purposes. Kerensky now was certain that Kornilov wanted him at his headquarters in order to place him under arrest and proclaim himself dictator. But it is known from eyewitnesses that when their conversation was over Kornilov heaved a sigh of relief, interpreting Kerensky's agreement to come to Mogilev to mean that he was willing to work jointly on the formation of a new and strong government.
On the basis of such flimsy evidence, Kerensky decided on an open break with Kornilov. When Lvov belatedly turned up, he had him arrested. Later that night he convened a cabinet meeting. After telling the ministers what had transpired, he asked and obtained full dictatorial powers to deal with the emergency. The cabinet resigned, never to meet again: the Provisional Government, in effect, ceased to exist. Next, Kerensky sent a wire to Kornilov in which he dismissed him from the post of commander-in-chief and ordered him to report at once to Petrograd. The dismissal, according to Savinkov, was unlawful, because only the Provisional Government had the right to issue such an order.16