Provisional Government Depth Study Flashcards

1
Q

What were the main problems facing Russia before the February 1917 revolution?

A
  • The impact of WW1, as WW1 caused economic problems and exacerbated discontent.
  • Economic problems
  • Discontent among peasants and workers
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2
Q

Did the Provisional government evolve from collective leadership to dual authority?

A

Yes

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3
Q

What made up the initial programme of the provisional government?

A
  • Immediate amnesty for all political prisoners, including terrorists.
  • Immediate freedom of speech and assembly.
  • The right to strike.
  • Immediate preparations for a Constituent assembly, where everyone could vote.
  • Abolition of the secret police.
  • Elections for all local councils and Zemstva, where everyone could vote.
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4
Q

Initially, what was the Provisional Government’s biggest threat?

A

The Petrograd Soviet

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5
Q

Who was the initial chairman of the Petrograd Soviet?

A

Menshevik Chkheide

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6
Q

Who was the initial Vice Chairman of the Petrograd Soviet?

A

The SR, Alexander Kerensky

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7
Q

When was Soviet Order Number 1 passed?

A

On the 1st of March

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8
Q

What were the terms of Soviet Order Number 1?

A
  • All military units were to elect committees from their members.
  • All military units were to elect representatives to the Petrograd Soviet.
  • The orders of the Petrograd Soviet should take priority over the orders of the Provisional government.
  • All weapons were to be controlled by the military committees and were not to be given to officers.
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9
Q

What were the key problems facing the Provisional government?

A
  • The Provisional government lacked authority.
  • The land question.
  • Urban discontent.
  • The War
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10
Q

How did the Provisional Government lack power?

A
  • It had not been elected and just assumed power.
  • The Duma members had been elected in 1912 under a very unrepresentative electoral system, and so it was difficult to say that the Provisional government represented the nation.
  • Soviet order number 1 undermined the provisional government’s authority, as it said of how the orders of the Petrograd Soviet should take priority over the orders of the Provisional government.
  • The government promised elections, but continuously delayed them.
  • Petrograd Soviet was more representative of the Russian people.
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11
Q

IS it true that the peasants saw the February revolution as their chance to get land redistributed without compensation?

A

Yes

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12
Q

Who did the Provisional government want to resolve the land question?

A

The Constituent Assembly

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13
Q

Why did the Provisonal Government want to leave the land question for the Constituent assembly to resolve?

A
  • They thought the land issue was a huge issue for a temporary government to resolve.
  • Many of the people in the Provisional government came from the landed and propertied classes, and they did not wish to see their property simply handed over to the peasants- they also wanted the landoweners, often their supporters, to be compensated.
  • They worried that redistributing the land to peasants would lead to the disintegration of the army because peasant soldiers would rush back to claim their share.
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14
Q

Why did the peasants want more land?

A

Because they felt as if they had been betrayed by the 1861 Emancipation Edict.

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15
Q

What did peasants do due to the Provisional government not solving the land issue?

A

They began taking the land without government permission

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16
Q

WHat did Chernov propose in relation to the land question?

A

Chernov proposed a scheme where peasants would be given the right to use land from private estates, however the provisonal government blocked this.

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17
Q

How many land seizures were reported in July?

A

237

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18
Q

Why did peasants begin refusing to send their grain to the towns and cities?

A
  • Because the government tried to make the peasants agree to fix grain prices.
  • However, with inflation rampant, peasants considered the prices too low, and refused to send their grain to the towns and cities.
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19
Q

Why was there urban discontent amongst workers?

A
  • Because the workers had expected social reform after February, with higher wages, better working conditions, shorter hours, and more influence in the workplace.
  • However, most of these demands were not met.
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20
Q

Even though wages increased, what was the problem?

A

Prices were foing up much faster

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21
Q

Did worker strikes increase under the Provisional government?

A

Yes

22
Q

WHat did factory committees do?

A

They became the main organ of workers rights and demanded a more active role in the workplace

23
Q

What caused factor closures under the Provisional government?

A
  • Because it waa becoming no longer economically viable to run certain factories.
  • Because workers committees took over some factories completely, but because they did not know how to run them, many closed anyways.
24
Q

How many factories closed in Petrograd?

A

568, with a loss of 100,000 jobs.

25
Q

Was the harvest of 1917 poor?

A

Yes

26
Q

How many land seizures were there in JUly alone?

A

237

27
Q

In petrograd, what happened to grain prices between February and June?

A

They doubled. They then rose again in autumn.

28
Q

What happened to the railway system?

A

It had been badly dislocated by WW! and showed signs of breaking down.

29
Q

Were there shortages of fuel and raw materials?

A

Yes

30
Q

Who provided the connection between the Provisional government and the Petrograd Soviet?

A

Alexander Kerensky

31
Q

When was the coalition government set up?

A

May 1917

32
Q

What did Prince Lyov do?

A

He set up a new government and because he recognised the importance of the Petrograd Soviet, he invited 6 Soviet leaders into the government.

33
Q

What was the policy of the new governemt in May?

A
  • Once again, it delayed national elections to a Constituent Assembly.
  • Failed to address the immediate demands of peasants for land. Kept saying that they would leave the matter to the Constituent assembly.
  • Tried to limit the activities of the workers’ committees, which now controlled some of the factories.
  • Continued an unpopular war and unsuccessfully tried to reintroduce military discipline into the army.
34
Q

In short, what were the July days?

A

Mass protests and demonstrations

35
Q

What were the July days protests about?

A

Russia’s involvement in WW1

36
Q

Did sailors partake in the July Days protests?

A

Yes

37
Q

What chants could be heard during the July days protests?

A

The Bolshevik slogan -‘peace, land, bread’.

38
Q

Did the Petrograd Soviet refuse to take power during the July days?

A

Yes

39
Q

What saved the Provisional government during the July days?

A

Loyal troops arriving on the 5th of July to clear the streets

40
Q

How many Bolsheviks were arrested after the July days?

A

800

41
Q

When did Kerensky become Prime Minister?

A

On the 8th of July. He moved into the Tsars appartments in the winter palace

42
Q

When was the Kornilov coup?

A

26th August

43
Q

What happened during the Kornilov coup?

A
  • General Kornilov did not think that the threat from the left had been suppressed well enough, so he ordered troops to march on the capital.

-The workers became armed and protected the capital.

  • Railway workers refused to move Kornilov’s trains.
44
Q

When was the Kerensky offensive?

A

June 1917

45
Q

What happened during the Kerensky offesnsive?

A
  • Kerensky believed that a successful war would be able to reunite Russia.
  • So he launched an offensive against the Austrians.
  • The offensive was initially sucessful, but some soldiers mutinied and Russia was left in even moer chaos.
46
Q

Why did the Provisional government lack support?

A
  • Lacked authority
  • Russia’s failures in WW1
  • Peasant committees cut rents and increased wages.
  • Armed forces were unpopular
  • Unrest in factories
  • Inflation
  • The demands for self-government
47
Q

What is evidence in support of the idea that the Provisional government was doomed from the start?

A
  • Inherited problems from the Tsars.
  • Was not democratic or representative.
  • Lacked legitimacy.
  • The Petrograd Soviet undermined their power.
  • War exacerbated other problems.
  • Kerensky was a poor leader
48
Q

What is evidence against the idea that the Provisional government was doomed from the start?

A
  • People were initially excited for change and there was a really positive honeymoon period.
  • Not meant to be permanent
49
Q

What is evidence that the Provisional govenment was democratic?

A
  • More democratic than what came before
  • Members came from the Duma
  • Immediate preparations were made for a Constituent assembly, where everyone could vote.
  • Elections for all local councils and Zemstva, where everyone could vote.
50
Q

What is evidence that the Provisional government was not democratic?

A
  • They did not represent the people, nobles.
  • Had not been elected.
  • Delayed elections
  • Repressive action used during the July days.
  • Ignored the will of the people, land question.
  • Kerensky moved into the Tsars appartments in the WInter palace
51
Q

What is evidence that the Bolsheviks aused the downfall of the Provisonal government?

A
  • During the July days, they helped organise the masses.
  • Lenin had a firm grip on the bolsheviks.
  • ‘Peace, land, bread’.
  • Gained 70% of votes in the November elections, so clearly popular
52
Q

What is evidence that the Bolshviks didn’t cause the downfall of the Provisional government and that it was in fact the failures of the Provisional government themselves?

A
  • Up to the July days, the Bolsheviks made little progress in increasing their membership. The Kornilov coup was the main turning point.
  • The Bolsheviks were divided on what to do in 1917.
  • Evidence suggests that people were fed up with the conditions in Russia.
  • The people were not committed to Bolshevism, but committed to any party that would solve their issues.
  • The worker motives were economic, not politcal
  • Failures of Kerensky offesive, kornilov coup