Feb-Oct Dual Auth. Era

Question 1

What were some defining features of the Provisional Government

Answer 1

hesitant to act, a non-elected authority, without a popular mandate, limited in power and judged entirely by its actions.

Question 2

the dazzling series of reforms the PG did at the start

Answer 2

recognition of trade unions. 8hr working day for industrial workers. Okhrana and capital punishment abolished. Tsarist police were replaced with a ‘people’s militia’. Mutinous soldiers were pardoned for Feb actions. FOS, assembly, press introduced. Universal suffrage announced for future elections.

Question 3

what major issues did the PG not act on?

Answer 3

the war, land reform, major econ reform, (lead to fragility: ppl become disillusioned and undermined it effectiveness)

Question 4

What was Soviet Order no.1?

Answer 4

soldiers of P’grad garrison will obey the order of the new govt as long as it x ‘conflict’ w will of the Soviet. (further limited authority of PG)

Question 5

Significance of Soviet Order no.1

Answer 5

Gave soldiers representation. Gave their committees control of weapons. Set up ‘dual power’. Soviet control: telegraph stations, railways, P’grad garrison soldiers, factories and power supplies, act as a watchdog for PG

Question 6

Guchkov ( a PG member ) on the dual authority

Answer 6

“The PG does not possess any real power; and its directives are carried out only to the extent that it is permitted by the Soviet […] The Provisional Government exists only so long as it is permitted by the Soviets”

Question 7

Kerensky on dual authority?

Answer 7

“The Soviet had power without authority; the Provisional Government authority without power”

Question 8

how many people voted in the P’grad soviet in start of dual authority?

Answer 8

23mil votes

Question 9

how many soviets were there in russia by oct 1917?

Answer 9

600

Question 10

who was Chkheidze?

Answer 10

A menshevik who chairman of P’grad Soviet

Question 11

what did Trotsky say about Lenin’s April Theses?

Answer 11

“produced the impression of an exploding bomb”

Question 12

what did Bogdanov, a Menshevik say about Lenin’s April theses

Answer 12

“this is the ravings of a madman”

Question 13

what did Sukhanov, a Menshevik say about Lenin’s April theses?

Answer 13

” [it was] like a flash of lightning […] no one had expected anything like it”

Question 14

What did the April theses speak about?

Answer 14

Denouncing the ‘capitalist nature’ of the PG and its commitment to the ‘predatory imperialist’ war. The Bols should offer no support for the PG. Argued for a second revolution to place power with the workers. Believed the Bols should be the focus of this rev, the soviet as the basis for govt, and focus energy on agitation and propoganda.

Question 15

what was the result of the April theses according to trotsky

Answer 15

“a rearming of Bolshevik ranks”

Question 16

what were Lenin’s three slogans?

Answer 16

“Peace! Bread! Land!”
“turn the imperialist war into a civil war!”
“All power to the soviets!”

Question 17

What did Rabinowitch say about the April Theses and Lenin’s slogans?

Answer 17

“tailoring the bolshevik programme so that it would reflect popular aspirations, was one of Lenin’s most important contributions to the development of the Revolution”

Question 18

What WWI issues was the PG left with?

Answer 18

low troop morale, an increasing strain on the economy, inflation + shortages and the treasury was bankrupt.

Question 19

What did the PG declare as its war aims? on the 27th of March 1917

Answer 19

“the objective of free Russia […] the ratification of a stable peace”

Question 20

When did the PG declare its war aims?

Answer 20

27th of March 1917

Question 21

When did the Petrograd Soviet outline its desire for peace ‘without annexations’

Answer 21

14th of March 1917

Question 22

What did Miliukov’s note say?

Answer 22

PG desires to ‘bring the world to a decisive victory’.

Question 23

How many people protested against Miliukov’s note, and when? and what were people saying?

Answer 23

20th April 1917
25,000 people protested
“Down with Miliukov and Guchkov” “Down with the Imperialist war”.

Question 24

what was Kerensky called in May when he tried to start the renewed June military offensive (as minister of war)

Answer 24

‘Supreme Persuader-In-Chief’

Question 25

What was the initial success of the June/Brusilov offensive? and the losses?

Answer 25

advanced 30km into Austrian territory.
Hw/ lost 40,000 men: most were Brusilov’s best and most loyal troops
by the 2nd of July the offensive had stalled.

Question 26

When the German counter attack on the June offensive (6th July) what happened?

Answer 26

panic of Russian retreat (up to 400,000 men),
massive increase in deserters,
1000s of officers killed by troops,
by mid-July Germans advanced 230km.

Question 27

Results of June Offensive

Answer 27

morale of Russian military completely eroded,
the Soviet War Aim (revolutionary defencism) was discredited, making them open to criticism…
the relationship of dual auth under great strain,
public confidence in the govt had plummeted,
Bols now had a captive audience for the denunciation of the “imperialist war”