Dual Power (March-June 1917) Flashcards
Who was the first Prime Minister of the new Provisional Government? Why was he a popular choice?
Prince Georgy Lvov - had been praised for his leadership of the union of zemstva/Zemgor and its medical help
Why did the new Provisional Government lack legitimacy?
It was an unelected body; it had not made contact with the February Revolution demonstrators so it lacked popular support
Who was the only member of the Provisional Government to also be a member of the Petrograd Soviet? What position did he hold in each body?
Alexander Kerensky
Petrograd Soviet: Vice-Chair
Provisional Government: Minister of Justice
Which member of the Petrograd Soviet turned down a position in the Provisional Government and why?
Nikolay Chkheidze - the Soviet had declared that no true socialist should join the PG
Who dominated the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet in March 1917?
Mensheviks
What position did the Petrograd Soviet take initially on the new government?
It should stay outside the government, and act as a watchdog to ensure the Provisional Government should not damage the interests of the working class
Why did the Petrograd Soviet resolve to stay outside the government in March 1917?
They were Mensheviks (and SRs) who followed the Marxist idea that a bourgeois-capitalist stage should precede communism
Why did the Mensheviks reluctantly accept the soldiers into the Petrograd Soviet?
They were impossible to ignore - they provided strength in numbers and weapons
Who issued Order No. 1, when and why?
The Petrograd Soviet
1 March 1917 (day before Nicholas abdicated)
It was a response to the Provisional Committee who had ordered the soldiers to return to their barracks and obey their officers
How did Order No. 1 win over the soldiers?
Passed on control of weapons to soldiers’ committees
Called for civil equality of soldiers and officers
What did Order No. 1 say about the soldiers’ relationship with the Provisional Government?
Soldiers should only obey the government if the Petrograd Soviet agreed
What did the Petrograd Soviet control (rather than the Provisional Government) in March 1917?
Why was this significant?
Telegraph stations, railways, factories, power supplies, Soviets
The government could not send a message or even move around without the Soviet knowing
What happened to the Okhrana under the Provisional Government?
It was disbanded
What was the Provisional Government’s first decree, worked out with the Soviet?
An amnesty for political and religious prisoners; freedom of the press and freedom of speech; abolition of the death penalty
What did Russia’s workers secure in the first two months of the Provisional Government?
The right to strike, an eight-hour working day, and legal factory committees
Why was the Provisional Government only ‘provisional’?
It would arrange for elections for a Constituent Assembly that would determine Russia’s future government
Why did the Provisional Government not want to leave the First World War, despite Germany’s strong military position?
An immediate peace would = national shame, humiliation and loss of territory
Britain and France wanted Russia to stay in the war to keep Germany fighting on two fronts
What position did the Petrograd Soviet take on WWI on 11 March 1917?
Russia should continue fighting to defend the revolution from the German army, but should strive for a negotiated settlement
“Peace without annexations or indemnities”
What was the Freedom Loan and on what condition did the Petrograd Soviet support it?
A loan proposed by the Provisional Government to meet the costs of the war.
The Soviet accepted it so long as Foreign Minister Miliukov sent a diplomatic note to the Allies, setting out the agreed defensist position (peace without annexations or indemnities)
What did the Miliukov Note say about Russia’s intentions in the First World War?
The “peace without annexations or indemnities” stance was a “German formula”
Russia should continue fighting to a “decisive victory”, establishing “guarantees and sanctions”
What happened when the Miliukov Note was reported in the Russian newspapers on 20 April?
Thousands of workers and soldiers demonstrated against the note and the PG’s decision to go against the Soviet - the April Crisis
What did the April Crisis protestors NOT demonstrate against and why was this significant?
They didn’t demonstrate against the existence of the Provisional Government itself.
The PG still had some authority
Who called an end to the April Crisis demonstrations and why was this significant?
The Petrograd Soviet (issued a two-day ban on street demonstrations)
Although the Provisional Government had the authority, the Soviet retained true power
What happened to Miliukov after the April Crisis?
He resigned from the government (and Minister for War, Guchkov, did too)
What did the Petrograd Soviet’s executive committee decide about the government on 1 May 1917?
The Soviet should negotiate with the government to join it in a coalition (voted 44-19 in favour)
How many “socialists” and how many “capitalists” were in the coalition Provisional Government of 5 May?
Why was this significant?
Six “socialists”, nine “capitalists”.
The “socialists” from the Petrograd Soviet did not want responsibility for the government’s mistakes, so they were happy to be a minority
What did the Provisional Government argue about the peasant land problem? Was this popular?
Only an elected constituent assembly could deal with the distribution of land.
Very unpopular - peasants wanted immediate action, so they seized land, livestock, timber and tools from landlords
Why were liberals in the Provisional Government concerned about the redistribution of land?
They wanted landowners (their supporters) to be compensated
They were concerned that peasant soldiers in the army would rush back to claim their share of land
Who became Minister of Agriculture in the coalition government in May 1917? What was his land policy? How successful was he?
Chernov - SR leader.
Empower peasants to use private land, with ownership to be sorted later.
Not successful - policy was blocked by the nine ‘capitalists’
What did the Ukrainians demand after the collapse of the autocracy? What impact did this have on the Provisional Government?
Ukrainians demanded self-government.
Divided the Provisional Government. “Socialists” gave them concessions (e.g. their own Parliament), but the liberals were outraged and the Kadets resigned in July 1917.
What happened to food shortages, unemployment and high prices under the Provisional Government?
They continued - they did not go away
Between February and July 1917, how many factories in Petrograd closed, and how many jobs were lost?
568 factories closed
100,000 jobs lost
What happened to the price of grain between February and June 1917?
What was the Provisional Government’s response?
Prices doubled.
PG sent punishment brigades into the countryside to requisition grain, but this made the peasants more hostile
