Who were the liberals in the Russian revolution?

Answer 1

The term 'liberals' is difficult to apply when describing the sides in the Russian revolutions. If by 'liberals' one means the opposite of 'conservatives', then the various socialist political parties were the liberals, because they wanted an end to the war, redistribution of land and more freedom for the people of Russia. The other side, the members of the Provisional Government and their supporters, were not liberals, because they wanted to keep the country more or less the same as before the February Revolution, but with a constitutional democracy. Later on once the Bolsheviks took control, they were very repressive and unwilling to permit opposition to their regime. Although the Bolsheviks were the most 'liberal' of the socialists, once the were in power they became the most repressive, hence least liberal.