Topic 3 Flashcards
dual authority
Petrograd Soviet (due to Order number 1 was in control of Petrograd Garrison) Provisional government (had no way to enforce the laws it created as no disciplined police force only local militias)
role of Petrograd Soviet
supervisory
make sure interests of soldiers ande workers were maintained
early 1917 who dominated the petrograd soviet
mensheviks and social revoultionaries
what criticisms did the mensheviks and social revoultionaries have of the provisional government and what was the main dispute
upper middle class liberals the ongoing continuation of the war
explanation of conflicting attitudes to war
Negotiations 28feb-2march 1917 = negotiations between duma liberals and socialists of petrograd soviet the war question was avoided
liberals; fight until outright victory
soviet; end war quickly by means of a compromise
clash was inevitable; Milyukov crisis
‘An appeal to All the People’s of the World’
revolutionary defencism policy by petrograd soviet
no part in an imperialist war but fear of the consequences of military defeat (victorious germany = conservative regime imposed)
3 pledges
-russia would not make a separate peace with germany
-russia would not seek to make territorial gains at the expense of other countries
-until peace settlement reached, russia would continue to defend its territory and the revoultion
problem with ‘An appeal to All the People’s of the World’
put soviet on collision course with foreign minister, patriot, Milyukov
Milyukov’s view of war
wanted to defreat germany as a patriot
also agreemetn with the allies = russia get the seaway between the black sea and the Mediterranean
opposite of the soviet
Provisional government’s reply to ‘An appeal to All the People’s of the World’
carefully worded ‘Declaration of War Aims’
late march 1917
-russia’s commitment to war
-not forcibly seize territory belonging to other countries
soviets response to ‘Declaration of War Aims’
to force accountability soviet made pg send ‘Declaration of War Aims’ to the allies
Problem with sending ‘Declaration of War Aims’
Milyukov added his own private telegram distancing himself from revolutionary defencism
insisting russia would fight on to a conclusive victory
telegram leaked to the press
Milyukov forced to resign amid street protests and outcry- 21 april
after Milyukov prince levov…
stability
pg vs soviet must end
soviet agreed fearing anarchy = Tsereteli and Chernov became government ministers
dual power ends?
brief april thesis as better than pg
‘peace, bread and land’
peace = better than pg
bread= starving masses in the cities and towns happy
land = peasant promised land so very happy
‘all power to the soviets’
revoultionary workers still upset with liberal middle classes who still held power
june offensive result
disaster
initial russian gains
german counter attack
german army within a week 150 miles into russian territory
revolutionary defencism now in tatters
credibility of PG undermined
bolshevik alternative now very atttractive
July days beginning background
20th June 1917 the first machine gun regiment called to send 500 guns to the battlefront to support june offensive
soldiers refused claiming defend the revolution
mid level bolsheviks became involved
exploit machine gun regiment for their own purposes
without lenins approval set to overthrow pg
course of events for july days
july
-3rd soldiers and workers took to the streets demanding power to be transferred to the soviets
-4th 20,000 sailors from kronstadt arrived
marched to bolshevik headquaters but lenin hesitated and appealed for calm
crowds dispersed
kerensky rushes in loyal troops from outside the capital
fake documents circulated to prove lenin = german spy
-warrants for lenins arrest (goes back to hiding in finland)
-800 prominant bolsheviks arrested
-bolshevik offices ransacked
-red guards unarmed
-army units who had taken part disbanded
kerensky’s second pg make up
liberal-socialist coalition
give appearance of gov unity
problems facing kerensky’s pg political
kadets moving right = kerensky would be willing to take drastic action against his socialists colleagues
SRs splitting revolutionary defencism vs leninism = left SRs
menshevik split = anti-war faction Menshevik Internationalists
kerensky had to resign to force a liberal-socialist coalition with kerensky as PM
fragile from outset as narrow support base
short of big hitters (Milyukov, Guchkov, Tsereteli all on the sidelines)
problems facing pg real life brief
agriculture
industry
kornilov affair
industry during kerensky government
industry under tsarism = suspicious
under soviets trade union membership increased rapidly
factory committees
got rid of unpopular managers and foremen
demanded big pay rises and 8 hour day
employers powerless to resist
wages doubled and day cut to 8 hours
wages then overtaken by inflation
food shortages = price rises
mid 1917 workers called for another pay rise
facing bankruptcy businessmen said no
strokes
many factories then closed as businessmen gave up
more unemployment
social polarization
-middle and upper classes accused workers of unpatriotically refusing to make concessions required by the war effort
-workers retorted with accusing the middle and upper classes of clinging to their wealth and privileges
all benefited the bolsheviks who advocated class war
agriculture during kerensky government
peasants thought they should own the land as they worked it
peasants were waiting for pg to give them land after feb revolution
got impatient
too direct action
pg set up a committee but slow and nothing happend so both peasants and landowners upset at pg as neither were given the support they thought they deserved
Kornilov to power
18th july 1917 Kornilov appointed commander-in-chief of russia’s armies
‘heart of a lion, brain of a sheep’
list od demands
-desertion punishable by death
-he would be accountable to his conscience and the people, not the government
-no interference of civilians in military affairs
-railway workers under army control and military punishments
-strikes banned during war
