The land question, which was the economic basis of the
Revolution, and without which there could have been no Revolution, was not
even mentioned. And the Manifesto which the Provisional Government
addressed to the nation on March 20th was equally silent with regard to the
land question and the socialization of industry.
Evidently the Provisional Government desired to confine itself as closely
as possible to political democracy, and to leave fundamental economic
reform to be attended to by the Constituent Assembly. If that were its
purpose, it would have helped matters to have had the purpose clearly
stated and not merely left to inference. But whatever the shortcomings of
its first official statements, the actual program of the Provisional
Government during the first weeks was far more satisfactory and afforded
room for great hope. On March 21st the constitution of Finland was
restored. On the following day amnesty was granted to all political and
religious offenders. Within a few days freedom and self-government were
granted to Poland, subject to the ratification of the Constituent Assembly.
At the same time all laws discriminating against the Jews were repealed by
the following decree:
All existing legal restrictions upon the rights of Russian citizens, based
upon faith, religious teaching, or nationality, are revoked.
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