Key facts for 1917 period after Feb

Question 1

What did Trotsky say in June 1917 about the conditions in Moscow?

Answer 1

“This is no longer a capital, it is a cesspit. No one works, the streets are filthy…”

Question 2

When was the Summer (Kerensky) Offensive launched? What were its outcomes?

Answer 2

• The Russian army were defeated after a few initial successes
• Russian losses as high as 400,000 men in a few weeks
• Kadet Ministers resigned from gov in protest
  
  • Prince Lvov letter to family - “without a doubt the country is heading for general slaughter, famine, the collapse of the front.. the ruin of the urban population”

Question 3

What happened to the workers after the Kerensky Offensive?

Answer 3

They became more radicalised.

• Came to realise that only a Bolshevik government would really change things
• Bolsheviks issued a flood of propaganda aimed at different groups E.g. they printed a special edition of the Pravda, especially for troops at the front, widely known as “Trench Bolshevism”