Unit 3: Problems facing provisional government source points

Question 1

Threat by return of Lenin

Answer 1

Upon Lenin’s return, he immediately made a speech to welcome the revolution. In his April Thesis, he demanded for a worldwide socialist revolution, an immediate end to the war which the Provisional Government disagreed with, and the end of any cooperation with the Provisional Government.

Question 2

Lenin’s new radical alternatives

Answer 2

Lenin’s radical alternatives to the Provisional Government was gaining increasingly more support from the workers and soldiers. The Bolsheviks emphasised the ideas of controlling employers and prioritising food supplies which appealed to the workers looking for improving living conditions. In 1917 the Bolsheviks saw a growth of 150,000 members, and this growth of support threatened the Provisional Government.

Question 3

Discontent within War soliders

Answer 3

The government wanted to continue the war but the soldiers did not want to continue. Solider committees argued they could see very little purpose of fighting for territories when everyone wanted peace and thousands abandoned the Front before the Summer offensive began. This was a problem as the Provisional Government’s moderate socialists lost their credibility with workers and soldiers who thought their requests were not being listened to, and they reduced in popularity.

Question 4

July Days and Kronstadt sailers

Answer 4

The unsuccessful handling of the war situation coupled with the deteriorating economy built up tensions which accumulated to the July Days. When the rising began, Kronstadt sailors marched into Petrograd to steer a Bolshevik revolution even without Lenin. This caused a problem for the Provisional Government as the July Days were a large, spontaneous movement against them. Workers used the Bolshevik slogan “Peace, bread and land” and the government failed to control the situation.

Question 5

Dual Power

Answer 5

The Provisional Government also had the problem of Dual Power as they had to work alongside the Petrograd Soviet. Order Number 1 meant that as they could not do much without the permission of the Petrograd Soviet, including the control of the military. This was an issue as the Provisional Government held no real power of their own.

Question 6

National Minorities

Answer 6

after the abolishment of the monarchy, countries such as Finland and Ukraine wanted independence or a more self-governing power. The Liberals saw this is the first stage of the potential breakdown of the Russian Empire and this worried them greatly. They believed that if Russia were to stay in power, they had to keep the regions together, and the Provisional Government struggled to find a good solution.

Question 7

The deteriorating economic situation

Answer 7

the shortages of fuel and raw materials meant factories were cutting workers and in 1916, 100,000 workers lost their jobs. The moderate socialist leaders of the PG were unable to meet the needs of their natural support of the workers.

Question 8

Not enough grain

Answer 8

Russia also struggled to have enough grain for its people. With the inflations the peasants did not want to sell their grain as they had little incentive to do so. Grain production was 15% that of pre-war. This caused anger that grain was not coming in from the countryside, and the people wanted change and improvement to their government.