Provisional Government

Question 1

Military problems faced by the Provisional Government

Answer 1

• Had to stay in the war due to economics, if Russia withdrew from
  the war they would no longer receive the supplies and war credits from the Western allies, PG’s preoccupation with the war prevented it from dealing with Russia’s social + political issues, but they could not leave the war due to their financial situation
• Kerensky was a major influence in the Provisional Government, he campaigned for Russia to embrace the conflict with Germany in order to unite people, in June he launched a major offensive on the south-western front, however it failed badly, pushed too far forward (too far from supply lines) paired with low morale which resulted in heavy losses against Austria
• Armies in operation in East Prussia worked independently to one another, had no co-operation so could be picked off easily by Germany
• Did not receive equal military support from allied forces, supported them by launched Brusilov Offensive at same time as Somme however when Germany invaded Russian Poland in 1915, they did not receive the same support
• Commander-in-chief, General Kornilov aimed to defeat socialist enemies in Russia, saw Provisional Government as being under Bolshevik pressure and working with Germany, therefore marched an army to Petrograd
• July days armed demonstrations began as a direct attack on the Provisional Government, descended into general violence when given no direction from Lenin, desire for Bolsheviks to take power, however Lenin was hesitant to lead this as he wanted an organised revolution

Question 2

Organisational problems faced by the Provisional Government

Answer 2

• Series of violent demonstrations in late April 1917 occurred in Petrograd directed against foreign minister, Milyulov which produced a ministerial crisis, Milyukov and Guchkov (war minister) resigned in early May, illustrates divisions within the government, Kerensky became war minister and places were found for leading Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries, socialists in government were isolated from those in Soviets as in the Provisional Government, members had to enter coalition with Kadets
• Kadet ministers learned in June 1917 of hay a Provisional Government deputation had offered independence to Ukraine, they resigned as Ukraine was the largest food producing region

Question 3

Political issues faced by the Provisional Government

Answer 3

• Lenin called the Provisional Government a “parliamentary bourgeoisie republic”, swayed public opinion negatively
• Following the July Days, Bolsheviks were presented as the defenders of Petrograd, protecting the city from Kornilov, however Provisional Government were seen as politically and militarily weak

Question 4

Social problems faced by the Provisional Government

Answer 4

• Public unrest from peasants caused by land distribution
• February Revolution led people to believe that there would be major land redistribution introduced, but when this didn’t happen, the peasants seized land from local landlords
• Disturbances in the countryside occurred daily throughout 1917 in what amounted to a national peasant revolt
• PG set up a Land Commission, however little progress was made in land distribution as members of the commission saw this as threatening to their own interests, they had no intention of losing their own land, supporting the idea that Tsar had been replaced with bourgeois public