The revolutions of 1917 : 3.2 Weaknesses and failures of the Provisional Government Flashcards
Why was the PS such a threat?
By early March 1917, it had about 3,000 elected members and contained many revolutionaries, especially SRs and Mensheviks. The co-existence of the PG and the PS was known as Dual Power Authority and soon (even though Kerensky acted as a go-between the two bodies) a gulf began to grow as the PS came under the influence of the Bolsheviks, who attacked the PG’s decision to continue the war. The PS only wished for the German army to be pushed out of Russia, while the PG wanted to keep fighting until the Germans surrendered. ORDER NUMBER 1 SERIOUSLY WEAKENED THE PG’S AUTHORITY, MEANT THE ORDERS OF THE PG WERE ONKY BINDING IN REGARDS TO MILITARY AFFAIRS IF APPROVED BY PETROGRAD SOVIET.
Defeats in the war?
The PG continued the war, because it was afraid of the heavy demands Germany would make if Russia made peace. Kerensky visited the troops and persuaded them to carry out a new June Offensive and the PS surprisingly supported this. June Offensive was a failure with 60,000 deaths and many desertions - decision to continued the war was fatal for the PG as it just increased their unpopularity.
What did Germany do?
They sent exiled revolutionaries to Russia in the hope they would start up revolution (including Lenin), who began to call for the overthrow of the PG in April 1917.
What was the All-Russian Congress of Soviets and what did it do?
It consisted of the representatives from the newly created Soviets all across the country - and it issued a vote of confidence in the PG in June 1917
Despite the Vote of Confidence what happened?
1) War was not going well
2) The Soviets continued to grow in power
3) Strength of opposition increasing
4) Strain from sharing Dual Power
5) The Austrian Front was disintegrating - soldiers were flooding back to Russia (helped in the July Days)
What were the July Days?
For three days (July3-6), there was chaos in Petrograd when the soldiers and some Bolsheviks decided to overthrow the PG. The riots and disorders were only restored when Kerensky was able to move loyal troops to quash the rebels. 400 people were killed and Lenin fled the country.
Kerensky’s position?
Kerensky was appointed the new PM on 8th July 1917 and now, he had cemented his position as the most powerful politician in Russia. He was determined to continue the war and wait until elections were held to debate Russia’s continued participation. There was growing disquiet among politicians as little had seemed to change since the abdication of Tsar Nicholas.
