return to the barracks; at length they collected round the Duma, where the Soviet had established their headquarters. Thereupon Rodzianko, acting in the name of the Provisional Committee of the Duma (the Provisional Government was not yet formed), and without consulting the leaders of the democracy, made his very inopportune appeal to the soldiers, simply exhorting them to have confidence in their officers, to remain faithful to them, and to return to their barracks. Great indignation was aroused by this exhortation, which was, to say the least of it, suspicious.
This appeal of Rodzianko's was coincident with the first meeting of the representatives of the garrison with the Soviet of Workers' Delegates, which had been formed on the day before. The soldiers' delegates had brought with them the feeling of anxiety and uncertainty which was inherent in the soldiers' position. Their first demand was that the rights of the soldiers must be guaranteed by the Revolution. They would not return unconditionally to the barracks and to the authority of the officers. They demanded a clear definition of their status. It was at this meeting that they first uttered the words "pravà soldata"—the soldier's right—which played so great a part in the later conflicts of the Revolution. The appeal of the Duma Committee was discussed and repudiated with indignation. It must be remembered that this appeal was made at a time when even the deposition of the Tsar had not yet taken place. Rodzianko exhorted the soldiers to return to their officers, who had not yet been relieved of their allegiance to the Tsar, and had shown little inclination to discard it themselves. It was decided to counteract Rodzianko's appeal at once. The first meeting of the soldiers' delegates with the Soviet thus became the originator and collective author of the famous Order No. 1. This order was a definite move to establish the position of the soldier and his independence and citizenship. It called upon naval and military units of all kinds to elect soldiers' committees.
