Opposition to the Provisional Government

Question 1

What was the first major issue that led to opposition to the Provisional Government?

Answer 1

The continuation of the First World War.

Question 2

What was the liberals point of view on the war?

Answer 2

• They wanted to continue to ensure Russian victory
• Milyukov’s appointment as Foreign Minister and Guchkov’s appointment as Minister for War clearly demonstrated the First Provisional Government’s commitment to fighting the war to a victorious conclusion

Question 3

What was the Bolsheviks and SRs view on the war?

Answer 3

• From 1914-18, they consistently argued for the war to end
• For Lenin WWI was an imperialist war, which sacrificed the lives of working people in order to provide more land and resources to make capitalist rich
• In 1917 the Bolsheviks campaigned for a ‘democratic peace’

Question 4

What was the Mensheviks view on the war?

Answer 4

• They adopted a policy known as ‘revolutionary defencism’
• Policy was first worked out by the Georgian Menshevik Irakli Tsereteli
• He argued that workers had a duty to continuing fighting in order to defend their revolution

Question 5

From March 1917, ‘revolutionary defencism’ became the dominant view among…

Answer 5

SRs and Mensheviks.

Question 6

What was the first major test of the relationship between the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet?

Answer 6

The Milyukov Crisis:

• In April 1917, the Provisional Government and Petrograd Soviet reached an agreement on the aims of the war
• The ‘Declaration of War Aims’ committed the new government to ‘revolutionary defencism’
• However, it allowed Milyukov to restructure the war economy and aims for victory

Question 7

What did Milyukov believe about ‘revolutionary defencism’?

Answer 7

That it was a feeble policy which failed to take advantage of the opportunity to win the war that the fall of the Tsar had created.

Question 8

What did Milyukov do on the 18th April 1917?

Answer 8

He sent a telegram to Britain and France which committed Russia to fighting in order to achieve a ‘decisive victory’.

Question 9

What followed after Milyukov sent a the telegram?

Answer 9

• It was a betrayal of the compromise set out in the ‘Declaration of War Aims’
• When the telegram was made public, soldiers and workers began protest marches demanding Milyukov’s resignation
• The Bolsheviks went further, demanding the overthrow of the Provisional Government

Question 10

What were the consequences of the crisis?

Answer 10

• Milyukov resigned on 2nd May 1917
• However, his telegram had seriously undermined faith in the honesty of the new government
• Prince Lvov invited 6 of the leading members of the Soviet to join the government to re-establish trust
• Tsereteli, the architect of ‘revolutionary defencism’, was one of the 6 socialists to join the new cabinet

Question 11

What did the decision of some Mensheviks and SRs to join the government do to the moderate socialist parties?

Answer 11

It undermined their authority.

Question 12

Following May 1917, increasing numbers of workers and soldiers lost faith in…
Why?

Answer 12

the Mensheviks and SRs - because they believed that they had entered an alliance with an untrustworthy capitalist dominated government.

Question 13

How did the debate on the war have genuine political significance?

Answer 13

1 - It split the SRs and Mensheviks between those who favoured ending the war and those who advocated ‘revolutionary defencism’
2 - As the war dragged on it created greater economic chaos and hardship for working people
- Therefore, the Bolsheviks became more popular over the course of 1917 - united in their desire for peace