promulgate reforms in a telegram. "Serious situation in the capital, where anarchy reigns. General discontent was increasing. In the streets, uninterrupted firing, and one part of the troops is firing on the other. It is necessary to nominate without delay a person possessing the confidence of the people and who would form a new Government. To wait is impossible." Nicholas refused to reply, instead he ordered the dissolution of the Duma and a military crackdown and in a conversation with Count Vladimir Freedericksz referred to Rodzianko, not very respectfully, as "fat-bellied Rodzianko". On 27 February he retired as Captain of the Guards. On 28 February he presided over the Provisional Committee of the State Duma and advised the local governments to stay calm. On 1 March the power came entirely in the hands of the Petrograd Soviet. On that day Rodzianko assured general Mikhail Alekseyev that the Duma leaders, rather than the Soviet ones, would form the new government in Petrograd. Rodzianko discussed the situation with General Nikolai Ruzsky, who had the Imperial train stopped in Pskov. Nicholas II had no other choice than to follow Rodzianko's advice. On 2 March 1917 a Russian Provisional Government was formed, which included members of the Social Revolutionary Party. Rodzianko appointed General Lavr Kornilov as head over the troops in Petrograd. In the evening Rodzianko led abdication talks with Tsar, to satisfy the crowds. Early in the morning of 2 March (Old Style) or 15 March (New Style) the Tsar stepped down in favor of his son Alexei, (but announced in public the next day). As the tsesarevich suffered from an incurable disease, hemophilia B, his life expectations were short. Then Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia came into the picture as the new heir to the throne, but was regarded as unacceptable. With Prince Lvov, Alexander Kerensky and Pavel Miliukov Rodzianko visited Grand Duke Michael. The Grand Duke declined the crown after a long talk with Rodzianko. Rodzianko remained prime minister just for a few days. He succeeded in publishing an order for the immediate return of the soldiers to their barracks and subordinate to their officers. To them Rodzianko was unacceptable as prime minister and Prince Georgi Lvov, a member of the Constitutional Democratic Party, became his successor. Later years Together with Aleksandr Guchkov he founded a liberal republican party in the Summer of 1917. After the October Revolution or shortly