Interpretation - Provisional Government Flashcards
Interpretation Question - Provisional Government
Interpretation Question - Provisional Government
When was the Provisional Government formed?
1st March 1917
How was the Provisional Government different to the Petrograd Soviet?
It was unelected
What did many see the Provisional Government as?
A product of the old regime and dictatorial - power derived from the State Duma
Who was the first Prime Minister of the Provisional Government?
Prince Lvov
What was a major decision of the Provisional Government that was incredibly unpopular?
To keep Russia in WW1
What did the revolutionaries call for in regards to the Provisional Government?
Its dissolution
Who had formed the Petrograd Soviet after the February Revolution?
The workers
What is a famous Lenin slogan in regards to the Petrograd Soviet and the illegitimate Provisional Government?
‘All power to the Soviets’
Who did the Provisional Government have to share power with?
The Petrograd Soviet
What did the Provisional Government consist mostly of?
Kadets and Octobrists
What were Octobrists?
Liberal-reformists constitutional party - right wing, anti-revolutionary views
What was the Petrograd Soviet initially made up of?
Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries
What was the main economic problem facing the Provisional Government?
High food prices and food shortages
What were the 2 main problems facing the Provisional Government?
- Demands for fairer land distribution
- Russia’s war performance
What slogan did the Bolsheviks use, taking advantage of the problems facing the Provisional Government?
‘Peace, Land and Bread’
When did the Petrograd Soviet declare it would no longer support an offensive war against Germany?
March 1917
Why did the Provisional Government keep Russia in the war?
They wanted the support of France and the UK - feared that investment from them would drop if they pulled out of the war
Who was Minister of War under the Provisional Government?
Alexander Kerensky
What did Minister of War Alexander Kerensky order in June 1917?
The June Offensive/Kerensky Offensive
How many soldiers died in the Kerensky Offensive?
60,000
When was there widespread unrest in Petrograd?
3rd-6th July
Why did Lenin not take advantage of the unrest in July 1917?
Not enough soldiers supported the Bolsheviks
What Bolshevik leader was arrested following the July Days?
Trotsky
Where did Lenin flee to after the July Days?
Finland
Who made an attempt to seize power in August 1917?
General Lavr Kornilov
What was the attempted coup by Kornilov called?
The Kornilov Revolt
What did the Provisional Government do in response to the Kornilov Revolt, knowing they were powerless to stop him?
They called on the Petrograd Soviet to defend the city
Who were armed as a result of the Kornilov Revolt?
The Soviets
Who organised the Red Guards’ defence of Petrograd during the Revolt?
Trotsky
Who infiltrated Kornilov’s troops and encouraged them to desert?
Bolshevik agents
What strikes did the Bolsheviks organise to disrupt Kornilov’s supplies and communications?
Railway strikes
What had happened to Kornilov by the end of August?
He was put under arrest
What were the Bolsheviks seen as after the Kornilov Revolt?
Heroes
When did the Bolsheviks take control of the Petrograd Soviet?
8th September 1917
What did the Bolsheviks control as well as the Petrograd Soviet by the middle of September?
The Moscow Soviet
How were the Bolsheviks different to the Mensheviks?
They believed that the Marxist revolution should move more quickly as the workers were not ready to rule themselves
What did the Bolsheviks want to form?
A dictatorship of the proletariat
When did Lenin return to Russia from Switzerland?
April 1917
What did Lenin publish in April 1917, in which he condemned the Provisional Government for being bourgeois and called for a seizure of power by the Soviets?
April Theses
When did Stalin move back to Petrograd from exile in Siberia?
March 1917
Who dominated the Petrograd Soviet before the Bolsheviks took control of it?
The Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries
Who became Chairman of the Petrograd Soviet in September 1917?
Leon Trotsky
What was Trotsky head of as well as the Petrograd Soviet?
The Military Revolutionary Committee (MRC)
What did the MRC allow?
Socialists to infiltrate the army
When did Lenin return from exile in Finland?
7th October 1917
When did the Bolsheviks begin planning for a revolution?
10th October
When did Kerensky close Pravda and Izvestiya (Bolshevik newspapers)?
23rd October
When was there an attempt to round up the leading Bolsheviks?
23rd October
When did the Petrograd Soviet’s Military Revolutionary Committee begin seizing power under the command of Trotsky?
24th October
When were the members of the Provisional Government arrested?
26th October
When was the All-Russian Congress of Soviets informed by Lenin that the Bolsheviks had seized power?
27th October
When did the Bolsheviks have total control of Moscow?
2nd November
What was the main aim of the Provisional Government?
To create a democratically elected assembly
What did the Provisional Government abolish?
The Secret Police
What did the Provisional Government set up to arrest people undermining the war effort?
The Counter Espionage Bureau of the Petrograd Military District
How many people attended the July Days demonstration?
500,000
How many attended an anti-war demonstration in Petrograd on the 1st May 1917?
100,000
When did Kerensky replace Prince Lvov as Prime Minister of the Provisional Government?
21st July 1917
What did the Provisional Government introduce whilst in power, which many Western nations including the UK had not yet established?
Universal Suffrage
What were the 4 main reasons the Provisional Government failed?
- It lacked authority
- It failed to implement reforms
- WW1
- The Bolsheviks
What 3 freedoms did the Provisional Government give people?
- Freedom of speech
- Freedom of press
- Right to strike
Who did the Provisional Government release as part of their reforms?
Political prisoners
How many principles did the Provisional Government have?
8
What was the Petrograd Soviet Order Number 1?
Only obey the orders of the Provisional Government if you agree with it
When did the Provisional Government first plan to hold elections to a constituent assembly?
September 1917
When were the elections for the constituent assembly actually held?
November 1917
How much money did the Provisional Government spend fighting the war?
50 billion roubles
What party was Alexander Kerensky part of, being the only non-liberal in the Provisional Government?
Socialist revolutionary party
Who was the foreign minister of the Provisional Government and what was he?
Pavel Milyukov - a liberal
Why did foreign minister Pavel Milyukov, a patriot, want to stay in WW1?
He wanted to liberate the peoples oppressed by Austria-Hungary and the Ottomans
How did the socialists believe the war should be ended?
‘Without annexations and without indemnities’
What message did Lenin give after the failure of the Kerensky Offensive?
‘Revolutionary defeatism’
By when had the Finnish Parliament virtually claimed all political authority in Finland from the Provisional Government?
July 1917
What militia helped the Bolsheviks get into power?
The First Machine Gun Regiment
What worker demand was ignored by the Provisional Government?
The demand for an 8 hour working day
What did national minorities call for during the reign of the Provisional Government?
Autonomy
What did national minorities start to create as a result of the Provisional Government being liberal?
Provincial governments
What was formed in Kiev in Ukraine to press for more autonomy?
A central Rada (council)
What did politicians in Finland campaign for?
The establishment of their own Sejm (parliament) free from the influence of central Russian government
What did the Provisional Government create in the Transcaucasus after there were demands for self-rule?
A Special Transcaucasia Commiittee
What were the committees in some regions in the empire undermined by?
Local soviets
In what 2 regions were committees undermined by local soviets?
Estonia and Latvia
What were the majority of the population in Georgia, Estonia and Ukraine?
Peasants
What were members of the Provisional Government in whilst sitting in the 4th Duma?
The Progressive Bloc
