The Dual Power Flashcards
Provisional government
consisted of leading liberals with Kadets as the strongest group
Prince Lvov = prime minister
wanted to run the country until constituent assembly took place
What did the Provisional government achieve?
- Secret police were disbanded
- Tsarist ministers were arrested
- Death penalty was abolished
- Freedom of speech and press made available
- Discrimination was made illegal
Why did the new Provisional Government lack legitimacy?
It was an unelected body
it had not made contact with the February Revolution demonstrators so it lacked popular support
Petrograd Soviet
Workers, Soldiers, SRs , Mensheviks
wanted to protect the interests of the workers and soldiers
Who was the only member of the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet?
What position did he hold in each body?
Kerensky
Petrograd Soviet = Vice-Chair
Provisional Government = Minister of Justice
Who issued Order No. 1, when and why?
The Petrograd Soviet
1 March 1917 (the day before Nicholas abdicated)
It was a response to the Provisional gov who had ordered the soldiers to return to their barracks and obey their officers
How did Order No. 1 win over the soldiers?
Passed on control of weapons to soldiers’ committees
Called for civil equality of soldiers and officers
Soldiers should only obey the government if the Petrograd Soviet agreed
What did the Petrograd Soviet control (rather than the Provisional Government) in March 1917?
Why was this significant?
Telegraph stations, railways, factories, power supplies, Soviets
The government could not send a message or even move around without the Soviet knowing
What did Russia’s workers secure in the first two months of the Provisional Government?
The right to strike, an eight-hour working day, and legal factory committees
Why was the Provisional Government only ‘provisional’?
It would arrange for elections for a Constituent Assembly that would determine Russia’s future government
Mistakes of the Provisional Government → PS
weakness came from the dual power → PS could veto decisions of Pgov
Mistakes of the Provisional Government → War
fundamental weakness = committed to war as they didn’t want to lose the support of Britain + France as their financial support relied on foreign loan
Kerensky launched a military offensive in June to reassure allies + discipline soldiers
= chaotic + costly retreat for R
demonstrations broke out + sailors wanted to overthrow Pgov
Pgov blamed Bolsheviks + drove them underground = Lenin exiled
Mistakes of the Provisional Government → Land
Peasants wanted the redistribution of land without compensation
Pgov didn’t want to give them this + waited for the constituent assembly to make a decision
