Corliss

The Provisional Government

 Unelected  members from Duma; X have same level of authority
o Temporary until constituent assembly

Timeline
Feb 27th Duma committee + Petrograd Soviet formed
March
1st Order No.1 issued
Lvov = PM
2nd Tsar abdicates  PG forms
April 3rd Lenin returns to Petrograd
April Theses delivered
- Propaganda  Lenin paid off by German bc sent back on German
train
o Fall in Bolshevik popularity
May
2nd Milyukov resigns as Minister of War
5th Coalition: Socialists + Kadets
June
3rd All-Russian Congress of Soviets begins
16th Launch of military offensive
July
3rd - 4th July Days
5th - 6th Leading Bolsheviks arrested in Petrograd; Lenin  Finland
8th Kerensky = PM
August
26th – 30th Kornilov affair
Sept
9th Bolsheviks  majority in Petrograd Soviet
15th Bolshevik Central Committee rejects Lenin’s 1st call for insurrection
October
7th Lenin  Petrograd
10th Bolshevik Central Committee  decision to seize power
25th – 26th Bolsheviks  power

After the February revolution:

- 2 groups formed
o PG: in place until Constituent assembly could be elected  unelected but accepted
 Leaders from Kadets & other Lib parties  appointed by Duma
o Soviet: Mainly Mensheviks; grouped to protect workers interests
 Workers & soldiers reps + SRs
Date Event Impact of PG Impact on Quotes from
Bolsheviks historians
st
March 1 Order No.1 DUAL POWER: Held real power:
- Gave soldiers’ PG = government, - Controlled
committees control BUT X control over factories,
over weapons capital + forces railways,
 - Soldiers  orders by power
PG PROVIDED that supply etc
Soviet approved
Russia under dual power:
- 2 groups cooperated due to country’s need for stability
- Soviet  allowed PG to govern bc:
o Counter-revolution: make sure Russian High Command X intervene
o Soviet leaders had little experience running gov
o Ideological constraints: X time for workers to take power  would revolt after democracy,
capitalism etc (Marx)

First two months: peace between 2 groups

- PG measures had Soviet + public approval
o Secret police disbanded
o Civil liberties guaranteed: speech, religion etc
o Secret ballot + universal suffrage
o Workers’ rights: 8-hour days + right to unions & strike
o Freedom to set up political parties

Provisional Government: Problems (too many expectations? Indecision & delay?)

Main issues:
- War
- Land & peasants
- National minorities
- Social reform
- Economic deterioration in cities

1. The War: conflicting views between parties

 Kadets: ‘continue the war!’
o Nationalist party  wanted Russian empire intact
o Wanted western support for their new democracy  financial support only guaranteed if
Russia stayed in war

 Socialists: ‘Defensive war’  fight only to save Russian territory

o Moderate: supported continuation
o Factions within SR & Mensheviks: ‘negotiate peace!’
o War = conflict between capitalist states

Date Event Impact of PG Impact on Quotes from

Bolsheviks historians
April 1st crisis for PG: Milyukov forced to Incorporation of 5
- Milyukov  resign (moderate)
aggressive war w/ Socialist leaders 
allies Reformed in May: to improve
- Soviets angry  anti- - 5 Socialists relations w/ Soviet
war demonstrations joined new
in Petrograd coalition - HOWEVER:
distanced
 Socialist
leaders
from
supporters
 linked
them to
war
Effects of continuation of war:
 Unpopular w many sections of society
o Economic deterioration
 Little grain from countryside bc X peasant support
 Inflation in cities bc low supply
o Increasing desertions
 Soldiers heading home  peasants to claim land
 165k  365k
o General unrest
 Cities: robbery common; beatings on street
 Countryside: peasant unrest  land seizures + violence
Date Event Impact of PG Impact on Quotes from
Bolsheviks historians
July July offensive: Middle-class: Pushed soldiers
- PG vs Germans volunteered to fight in into Soviet hands:
- Kerensky (Minister shock battalions - Armed
for War): propo uprising –
campaign to mobilise BUT: July Days
forces  toured - Soldiers
front + speeches increasingly Mod. Socialists in
unwilling to gov lost credibility
The Offensive: fight
- Lasted 3 days
- Thousands killed
- Significant territory
lost
August Failure of offensive + war X authority  coalition began to fall apart
related problems
Kadets (Lib):
 MORE RIGHT  more law&order,
integrity of Empire
 Blamed socialists & soviet for strikes in
cities + giving Ukraine self-gov
 Ministers resign  losing hope in PG

Kerensky  PM
 Wanted to keep Libs happy but TOO
MANY PROBLEMS

2. Land & peasants

 Peasants: ‘Feb rev = redistribution of land!’  wanted PG to take action
  PG: wanted constituent assembly to resolve instead
o Many Libs came from propertied classes  X want their land just handed over to peasants; wished
to be compensated
o Redistribution  disintegration of army? Peasant soldiers return to claim land

Peasant land seizures  took land, livestock etc from private estates
 Chernov: attempted to ease this w/ scheme  peasants given right to use land, but X ownership
o BLOCKED by PG

 Gov failed to address issue OR improve relations w/ peasants

Problems w/ peasants Effects & results
Refused to initiate gov land distribution amongst Land seizures:
peasants  July: 237 cases reported
Violence between peasants/landowners
 Attacks & robberies
Attempted to force peasants to fix grain prices REFUSED to send grain  prices too low
- Needed grain for hungry cities  Increased hostility
Sent army to get supplies + suppress unrest

3. National minorities
 Minorities in the empire  demanded more freedom/autonomy post revo.
o Poles + Finns: wanted independence
o Caucuses: wanted more autonomy
Kadets Socialists
Nationalist; Central gov over empire Supported increase in autonomy for non-Russians
PG  waited for constituent assembly to resolve matter
Ukraine: demanded self-gov  mod. Soc in PG made concessions  3 Kadet ministers resigned

4. Social reform
 Workers: expected reform  better wages, shorter hours, more influence in workplace
o Gained confidence: newfound assertiveness  more demands
 Reforms WERE enacted to a certain degree  BUT X to workers’ satisfaction
o Increased wages BUT rapid inflation
o More strikes: across broader range of workers

Problems PG faced:
 X satisfy workers through limited social reform
 X mediation between worker/employer  UNABLE TO HANDLE NEW LABOUR MILITANCY
o Employers: angry bc constant strikes & pay demands
o Workers: growing class antagonism; X getting reforms + improved conditions
 Economic conditions contributed to this: factories closing  unable to run even after
workers committees took some of them over

5. Economic deterioration
 PG: had to deal w/ problems that triggered Feb rev (food shortage, unemployment, inflation)
o Economic downturn continued  PG unable to fix
Economic problems PG reaction
Railway system showed signs of breakdown Unable to resolve problems:
 Shortage of fuel + raw materials:  Workers angered; demanded
500+ factories closed; 100,000 jobs lost price controls + halt to
Shortage of manufactured goods (due to speculation
closed factories)  INFLATION  PG liberals under pressure:
Food shortage: Industrialists X want them to
Made more severe by peasants’ refusal to interfere
supply grain bc of low prices
Inflation:
Grain  x2
Black bread  +500%
Firewood  +1000%

The October Revolution: background

Key players:
- Kerensky
o Bridge between PG & Soviet  had position in radical socialist circles; joined Trudoviki in Duma
o War Minister: v influential in PG  became PM; popular w both Liberals and Socialists
- Lenin
o ‘April Theses’: called for ending for Bolshevik accommodation with PG and mod. socs
 Worldwide socialist rev
 Immediate end to war
 X co-op w PG
 Soviets to take power (esp. Petrograd Soviet)
 Land  peasants

The July Days: 1st direct challenge of PG!!!

July 4th:
 Armed groups marching in the streets
 20,000 sailors  Petrograd
o Demanded Soviet take power in Tauride Palace
 PG + Soviet = X control of capitol

Was the July Days a Bolshevik attempt at takeover?

 Lenin not in Petrograd in beginning  called for restraint, did not actually provide leadership
 Major setback for Bolshevik cause
o Letter released by PG to show that Lenin was being paid by Germans  fled to Finland
o Trotsky + leading Bolsheviks arrested
o Bolshevik newspapers closed

Date Event Impact of PG Impact on Bolsheviks

The Kornilov affair Kerensky: POPULARITY BOOST

 General Kornilov  Supreme  rep damaged; lost  Aided: foot soldiers sent
Commander of Russian Forces  supporters to defend city; armed
agreed w Kerensky to send  Army soldiers X on his by PG
trustworthy troops side  “Betrayed  “true defenders of
o Law & order Kornilov!” revolution”
o Discipline armies; deal w
 Bolshevik threat Menshevik + SR: Rapid increase in
 damaged bc membership
 Kornilov’s move to Petrograd: association w K  Feb: 10,000
scared Kerensky + public  Oct: 250,000
o Saw as counter-revolutionary;
possibility of military
dictatorship and return to old
ways

 Oct Workers  radical; Mod. Mens + SR: BOOST IN SUPPORT

 Worsening living standards  Deatched from public  Mens + SR X offer what
o Inflation, strikes, lockouts, opinion; workers wanted =
food shortage,  Wanted to keep support  Bols.
unemployment middle classes; X
 Thought PG doing nothing; only further revo. July – Oct: 40% increase in
backing industrialists  Unwilling to provide votes (Soviet)
 Looking for economic & social reforms workers  Sept:
reform wanted Trotsky = president; Bols
controlled Petrograd &
DECREASING SUPPORT: Moscow Soviet
 July – Oct: 58% 
14%

Was the Provisional Government doomed to fail from the start?

1. Continuation of the war
a. Food shortage, inflation, economic downturn
b. Desertion, bad conditions, disillusioned soldiers joining Bolsheviks (long-term)
2. Peasant unrest  land seizures, violence in rural and urban areas
3. Dual power
a. Soviet legitimacy & control  hindered PG’s effective control
4. Bolshevik threat  freedom to form parties & publish

The October revolution: events

Lenin (in Finland)  saw right opportunity for Bols to take power
 Bols  control of Soviet
 Great popularity  elections proved
 Libs & right-wing forces: lost support post-Kornilov
 PG: unpopular & useless

12th Sept: Lenin wrote to Bols central committee  convince them to take action  BUT leaders thought
premature

10th Oct: Lenin  Petrograd; convinced party.

Trotsky: “lets wait till 2nd Congress of All-Russian Soviets”

Kerensky’s reaction:
 Sent most radical army units out of city  played in Bols hands
 o Bols convinced Soviet to set up Military Revolutionary Committee (MRC); prevent right coup
 Controlled by Trotsky; Bols dominated PetSov
 Direct control over soldiers in city
 Seized arms + ammo
 Tried to: shut 2 Bols newspapers + restrict MRC power + raise bridges to cut off working class from
center
o BACKFIRED: gave Bols excuse to attack bc “Kerensky attacking Revo!”
 Fled Petrograd bc X loyal troops to help him

Bolsheviks seize power: mainly organized by Trotsky + Sverdlov

24 – 25 Oct: Red Guard seize key points in city  bridges, rail stations, power stations

25 – 26 Oct: Bols soldiers  Winter Palace; arrested remaining members of PG

2nd Congress of All-Russian Soviets
 Socialists from other parties denounced Trotsky’s actions  stormed out
 Gave Bols majority in Congress  Lenin came & announced Bolshevik gov.
o Relatively easy takeover BUT
 Fighting between Bols VS PG forces in Moscow