3; Provisional government + Bolshevik revolution

weaknesses of the provisional government (1)

• shared power with the Petrograd Soviet, so it had some power, but wasn’t in complete control of the country

challenges for the Petrograd Soviet (3)

• DUAL CONTROL; shared power. Some key areas of government/industry such as the railways and postal service answered to the Petrograd Soviet so the Provisional Government had no control. difficult to do things such as increase food transported to cities

• ORDER NUMBER 1; The Petrograd Soviet had the final say on military matters, not the Provisional Government. Damaged the Provisional Governments authority, it couldn’t work effectively if its orders depended on if another organization allowed it

• ELECTEDNESS; The Petrograd Soviet was elected but the Provisional Government wasnt, weakening its authority as it wasnt chosen by the people it was governing

mistakes of the provisional government (4)

• WW1. They continued WW1 because they relied on other Allied countries to invest in Russias recovery, but they might not do this if Russia pulled out. Most ordinary people wanted Russia out of the war as soon as possible

• DELAYING ELECTIONS. It always intended to call elections but they were hard to organize and not the only problem in need of attention. However, delaying the elections made the Provisional Government look like it was trying to stay in power without being elected.

• DELAYING REFORMS. The peasants wanted more lands taken from landlords. The Provisional Government believed the Constituent Assembly should do this, and they had little authority outside of Northern Russia

• ALLOWING MORE FREEDOM. Greater freedom of speech reduced the autocracy from the Tsarist government, butt people could now legally hold meetings, set up political parties, and openly criticize thee government

what major military failure did the Provisional Government cause?

THE JUNE OFFENSIVE 1917

minister of war Kerensky launched a major offensive intending to win support for the Provisional Government and boost army morale. It was a disaster, the Russian front collapsed and the army was pushed back hundreds of kilometres. Showed that the Russian military couldnt rely on its soldiers to follow orders

impact of the petrograd soviet

set up after the Mensheviks encouragement, first represented factory workers but was quickly dominated by soldiers

LIMITATIONS

it couldve pushed the Provisional Government aside but it didnt

• both ruling parties were very worried about tsarist forces trying to take back control, so the Petrograd Soviet didnt want to weaken the Provisional Government

• run by Mensheviks and Marxists who believed there needed to be a bourgeois phase in Russia before a socialist revolution. The Provisional Government was bourgeois, so they supported it

• kept itself out of the duma because it didnt want to be blamed for all the problems in Russia

IMPACTS

• used its power to influence policies and make sure they were in the interests of regular people and soliders, e.g demanding freedom for political prisoners and abolition of the police

• Order Number 1 posed a big problem for the Provisional Government, which was in charge of a country at a war that the Government promised to continue

• Mensheviks didnt believe that Russian workers were ready to take control, but Lenin was sure that the time was right for the Bolsheviks to seize power and create a workers state. By September 1917 he had control of the Petrograd Soviet Executive and most of the Soviet delegates were Bolshevik supporters - very important for the October revolution

weaknesses and mistakes of the Provisional Government (9)

LEADERSHIP / POWER

• Lack of control over the military and other industries, Order Number 1

• Dual Control put the Provisional Government in a very weak position

• Lack of decisive leadership

GOVERNING

• lack of legitimacy as they werent elected by the people, unlike the soviet

• failed to hold a general election

ACTIONS

• continued WW1, massive failure of the June Offensive

• Failed to improve the economy as there wasnt a quick way to solve shortages

• Failed to provide more land for the peasants

• Gave more democracy and freedom, allowed more criticism of the government

When does Lenin return to Russia?

3 APRIL 1917

Returned through Germany from Switzerland, but his train was sealed to prevent interaction with German Socialists and encourage revolution

Why did Lenin write the April Theses and what did it discuss?

Others were happy to simply discuss Marxism in theory, but Lenin wanted to see it happen and bring a Marxist revolution to Russia. The Bolsheviks thought they needed specific conditions - Russia being fully capitalist and a huge proletariat population. Lenin didnt agree with this

The April Theses proposed the following

• ending all co-operation with the Provisional Government and any party helping them (including the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionary Party)

• a campaign to end the war. it was capitalist-run and didnt benefit the proletariat

• nationalising all land - landlord estates would be taken away and given to peasants

• educating workers and peasants so they could see that the soviets should hold all the power, and then take over state power from the Provisional Government

• industry should be controlled by the soviets and for all banks to combine into one state bank

growing support for the Bolsheviks

• Despite Lenins strong personality and determination, the Bolsheviks were still very small in April 1917. The SRs had more support, especially from the peasants, and the Mensheviks were more popular with workers.

• Support grew through the summer of 1917, partially because of Lenins strong leadership and Trotskys organisation, but also because the Provisional Government had continuing weaknesses

• By June 1917, Bolshevik newspapers criticising the Provisional Government appared in most of Russias industrial cities

• Lenins April Theses gave a clear, strong message to take into factories, the navy, and army. They explained how the party would end the war, give power to the soviets, and rule for ordinary people, not the wealthy

• Bolsheviks were successful armed workers militas called Red Guards, and by July there were around 10,000 in Petrograd, most of them loyal

• Germany secretly funded the Bolsheviks as they hoped Lenin would convince Russians to pull out of the war

what were the July Days and what happened?

• March 1917. Provisional Government introduces rationing and the amount of bread available declines, while the war was continuing to use up vital supplies

• June 1917. PG launches a major offensive (the June Offensive) hoping a victory would win support and boost morale. Massive failiure

3-7 JULY 1917. JULY DAYS

reasons

• continuing food shortages in major cities

• the June Offensive failiure

• effective Bolshevik propaganda against the Provisional Government

events

• started by anarchist revolutionaries who convinced soldiers to join an anti-government protest

• The Bolsheviks intially opposed it then joined in, expecting the PG would be overthrown like tsarism in the February revolution

• The Petrograd Soviet didnt support the demonstration. They met with PG leaders and agreed to work together.

• By the 5th of July troops were brought from the front and told to surround Bolshevik headquarters. Hundreds arrested, including Trotsky. Lenin fled to Finland

• Failiure- Lenins plan to overthrow the PG was in ruins

When was the Kornilov Revolt and what happened?

• Kerensky was a major figure in crushing the July Uprising and was made leader of the Provisional Government

• Kerensky wanted to restore discipline in the army to prevent defeat in the war, and so the army could later be used to restore order, knowing this could increase support for the PG from Russian conservatives

• Kerensky appointed Kornilov as the new commander-in-chief to do this.

• Kornilov was difficult to control - he wanted martial law and to break the power of the Soviets, which was supported by middle classes fearing workers would seize their possessions (homes, businesses, etc). Kerensky saw this as a challenge and dismissed Kornilov

• Kornilov sent troops to Petrograd on 24 August intending to shut down the Petrograd Soviet and restore order

• There was huge alarm among the citizens who supported the revolution, soldiers and workers prepared to defend the city

• As Kornilov approached Petrograd, Kerensky allowed the Bolsheviks to arm thei supporters so they could defend the city and the Petrograd Soviet. The Bolsheviks took charge of preparing defenses using armed Red Guard units. Railway workers blocked Kornilovs route into Petrograd

• The Bolsheviks convinced Kornilovs troops to stop their march and desert their officers. Kornilov was then arrrested

impact of the Kornilov Revolt (6)

• crucial turning point in the Russian Revoltuion - boosted support for the Bolsheviks, weakened Kerensky and the Provisional Government. Kerensky looked weak because he had to rely on the Bolsheviks for defense. The Provisional Government lost support

• The Bolsheviks could present themselves as having saved Petrograd.

• Many more Bolsheviks were elected into the Soviet, and by September Totsky was elected president of the Soviet - from the start of 1917 to October 1917 they had gone from 24,000 to over 300,000

• The Red Guards added military power to the Bolsheviks, and 40,000 supporters kept their weapons even after the Kornilov Revolt

• Army discipline collapsed- officers were accused of being part of the counter-revolution with hundreds murdered, tens of thousands of soldiers deserted

• Peasant rioting and land seizures increase

4 key events following the Kornilov Revolt

1. LENIN RETURNS TO RUSSIA - 10 October 1917. He and the Bolsheviks saw that the Provisional Government was close to collapse, and Lenin put forward the case for an armed takeover of power

2. MILITARY REVOLUTIONARY COMMITTEE SET UP. Rumors of an armed Bolshevik takeover spread, so Keresnky tries to send Bolshevik-influenced army units out of Petrograd. The Petrograd Soviet set up the MRC to unite all soviet-supporting soldiers in Petrograd, claiming Kerensky was planning a counter-revolution.

3. KERENSKY TRIES TO STOP THE BOLSHEVIKS. Bolshevik newspapers closed, river crossings between the city centre and working-class districts blocked, calling to arrest the MRC. Trotsky uses the MRC to get control of roads and canal bridges, army headquarters, and the telegraph office

4. THE BOLSHEVIKS SEIZE CONTROL - 24-26 October 1917. Red Guards seize more of the city with practically no opposition. Bolsheviks break into the Winter Palace and arrest the rest of the Provisional Government. Lenin forms the Bolshevik government, the Council of Peoples Commisars

Reasons why the Bolsheviks were successful in seizing power in 1917 (3)

• Lenins role- strong ideas and opinions, introduced new and popular radical ideas, convinced other Bolsheviks that the time was right for an armed/forceful takeover

• Failures of the Provisional Government- Kornilov Revolt weakened Kerensky, loss of army and navy discipline so they cant mantain order, peasants were seizing land and they couldnt stop it so they lost landlord support, plans to move capital to Moscow let Bolsheviks claim Kerensky was planning to surrender Petrograd to the Germans, indecisive/weak leadership, delay of elections and reforms

• Trotskys role- clever and effective organisation of the takeover, brilliant speeches crucial for the increased support, president of the Petrograd Soviet so he had control of the MRC - easier to get military support, set up the takeover so it looked like the soviets were taking control not just the bolsheviks

Lenins role in the successful seizure of power, October 1917

• The Bolsheviks thought that they should support the Provisional Government because Russia wasnt ready for a socialist revolution. Lenin thought differently and changed this. He had clear thinking and a strong personality

• His April Theses introduced radical ideas and effective slogans, e.g Peace, Land, and Bread, which aligned with ordinary Russians

• The Bolsheviks couldnt agree on how they should seize power, but Lenin convinced them that the time was right to seize power by force and developed a successful strategy

Failiures of the Provisional Government in the successful seiure of power, October 1917

• The Kornilov Revolt weakened Kerensky. Support for the PG fell and support for Bolsheviks and the Socialist Revolutionaries rose

• The army and navy had lost all discipline, so they could no longer be relied on to maintain law and order

• Peasants were seizing land all over Russia and the PGs inability to stop this made them lose support from landowners

• The capital was planned to be moved to Moscow due to the advance of the Germans, and Bolsheviks used this as an opportunity to claim that Kerensky wanted to surrender Petrograd

The role of Trostky in the succesful seizure of power October 1917

• Used clever tactics and well-organised troops for an effective takeover with very little opposition

• Already considered a hero among revolutionary socialists because of his role in the 1905 revolution, brilliant speeches crucial for increased support for Bolsheviks once he joined in 1917

• President of the Petrograd Soviet so Bolsheviks had control of the Military Revolutionary Committee, which made it easier to get military support for the takeover

• Set up the takeover so it looked like the soviets were taking control of Russia, not just the Bolsheviks so it wouldnt seem Lenin was taking power for himself