What will I be asked? Essay: • Causes of October Revolution/downfall of the Provisional Government

Sources: • Difficulties facing the PG • Growing support for the Bolsheviks between the two revolutions• Lenin’s return & his April Thesis • Events surrounding the Oct Rev• Consequences of the Oct Rev; political and social

Provisional Government• On 2nd March, 1917 the Provisional Government was announced.• Formed by liberal politicians to rule Russia until a Constituent

Assembly could set up a new system of government.• The PG had little power in Petrograd; the power lay with the

Petrograd Soviet. • The Soviet was led by socialist intellectuals – represented workers and

soldiers. It controlled the armed forces, industries and services in the capital. • At the start, things seemed to be going well. The PG announced

elections and civil rights for the Russian people.

Provisional Government• Throughout Russia, bodies were set up to run local government. The

Soviets were the most important of these bodies.

• They were councils or committees run by local people, non-party Socialists, Menshiviks and Socialist Revolutionaries – these were basically outside anyone else’s control.

• Remember: things did not immediately get better after the Feb Rev. The war was still going on and Russia was still suffering the effects e.g. food & fuel shortages.

Problems facing the Provisional Government

1. War 2. Land 3. National Minority demands 4. Poor economic situation

1 – War (PG in Crisis)• Central to why the PG failed. War had devastating effects on Russia

(look into these for further details). CRISIS - • End of April, 1917: Milyukov, Minister of War wanted to make

territorial gains if the allies were to win (e.g. Constantinople & control the straits into the Black Sea). • The Socialists were outraged in the PS who wanted only a defensive

war. • Milyukov was forced to resign and the PG was in crisis. • Many suggest that the PG’s attitude to war was a negative factor; a

“predatory imperialist war” which allowed Bolshevism to flourish.

1 – War (PG in Crisis)• Crisis ended when the PG reformed on 5th May. • Five Socialist leaders joined the new coalition govt. •Most important was Tsereteli (Meshevik leader) and Chernov

(leader of Socialist Revolutionaries).

• From this point on, the Menshiviks and Socialist Revolutionaries were associated with the war and so were criticised lost support when the war went badly.

1 – War (Summer Offensive)THE SUMMER OFFENSIVE, 1917• Major military offensive against the Germans – historical debate as to

why they decided to do this. Reasons had to be good enough to convince Socialists to support it. • Kerensky, new Minister for War ran propaganda campaign; giving

patriotic speeches etc in order to gain support of armed forces and people of Russia. He was very popular and to an extent it worked e.g. many middle class men volunteered to fight. • Soldiers were not so enthusiastic. Many deserted before the offensive

even began.

1 – War (Summer Offensive)THE SUMMER OFFENSIVE, 1917• Began on 16th June and lasted about 3 days• Soldiers deserted in high numbers. Many killed their officers rather

than fight. • Result = hundreds of thousands of soldiers killed and even more land

was lost to Germany. • Effect at home = an armed uprising in July (July Days)• Even though the PG survived the immediate effects of the Summer

Offensive, in the long term the moderate socialists in the PG lost their credibility with soldiers and workers.

1 – War (July Days)THE JULY DAYS: • Frustration built up and led to uncontrolled rioting on the streets• For 2 days the capital was defenceless. • 3rd July: Sukhanov (diarist of the revolution *may author sources in

exam*) reported lorries & cars rushing around the city full of ‘fierce-faced’ civilians and soldiers, and armed groups marching in the streets. • Escalated when 20,000 sailors from the Kronstadt naval base (Red

Kronstadt) arrived in Petrograd. The sailors marched to the Tauride Palace and demanded the Soviet take power. • Chernov (SR leader) went out to calm them down but was seized and

bundled into a car. Rescued by Trotsky.

1 – War (July Days)THE JULY DAYS: UNSUCCESSFUL• Lack of leadership – without purpose, the uprising lost momentum.• Troops loyal to the Soviet, arrived and the crowds were dispersed. • A letter by the PG was also leaked which appeared to show that Lenin

was in pay of the Germans and had only come back to Russia to undermine the war effort. • Several leading Bolshevik leaders (including Trotsky) were arrested

and Lenin fled to Finland. • The Soviet newspaper Izvestia denounced the role of the Bolsheviks

in the July Days and it appeared that the Bolshevik cause was over.

1 – War (July Days)THE JULY DAYS: WHAT THE HISTORIANS SAY –

Some see the July Days as an early attempt by the Bolsheviks to take power. No doubt that it was encouraged by middle ranking Bolshevik officials. Sukhanov described the armed groups being led by ‘Bolshevik Lieutenants’ BUT evidence suggests that Bolshevik leaders were far from committed. E.g. - • Lenin was on holiday whilst the sailors marched on Petrograd. • He appealed for restraint and the Bolshevik Central Committee called off

a demonstration planned for the next day.• Lenin ‘wait and see’ policy – he did not dissociate himself from the

demonstrations but he did not provide leadership.

1 – War (Kornilov Coup)• Kornilov became Prime Minister on 8th July.• He had support from the Kadets and could potentially make an

alliance with the moderate Socialists of the Soviet and the government. • Not everyone was pleased with Kornilov’s attempt to suppress the

Left. Many officers wanted to decisive action against mutinous troops & those encouraging them to take action against the govt. • In August, Kornilov (as Commander-in-Chief) ordered troops to march

on the capital ‘to hang the German supporters and spies’ & close down the Soviet.

1 – War (Kornilov Coup)• There exists contradicting evidence about what happened. • Pipes believes that ‘the available evidence points to a “Kerensky plot”

engineered to discredit the General’. The events: • To meet the threat Kerensky and the Soviet armed the Petrograd

workers (Bolsheviks) to protect the city. • Kornilov’s army could not advance because the railway workers

refused to move his trains. • Kerensky could not gain the support of the troops in the capital. • This attempted coup demonstrated to the workers that the right-wing

army officers provided a threat to the Revolution.

2 - Land• Unrest in the countryside as peasants (still) unhappy because they wanted land. • Due to the collapse of central govt. there was no-one to actually stop the peasants

from seizing land. • Peasants believed the land belonged to them & felt betrayed by the Emancipation of

1861 (freed & given plots of land from the landowners). They intended to complete the process WITH govt. approval. • However, the Liberals in the PG were not willing to hand over land to the peasants.

They had several concerns such as compensation for landowners and they worried that this ‘free-for-all’ regarding land would encourage peasant soldiers to rush home to claim their share of the land. • The peasants did not find this reasonable so they continued to take land, livestock,

tools, timber and basically anything of worth from private estates.

2 - Land• During the summer of 1917, land seizures escalated – 237 cases reported

in July. • Even though the Socialist Revolutionaries had a better relationship with

the peasants, they supported the PG in that the land problem should be solved by the Constituent Assembly. • The peasants were not impressed by that suggestion and continued to

take land.

This shows that the PG had lost control of the country because they were not successfully addressing the land issue.

3 – National Minorities • Problems between the liberals and the socialists arose over the

demands of national minorities. • After the downfall of the Tsar, minorities wanted their independence

from the old empire. For example:• The Poles & Finns immediately called for independence • Huge problem arose from the Ukrainian demand for self-government because

the Ukraine contained the most valuable farmland in the empire and was near the front. The moderate socialists in govt. made concessions which outraged the liberals who viewed it as the first big step towards the breakup of the Russian empire.

4 – Poor economic situation• The downward spiral of the economy which contributed to the Feb Rev

continued to affect the workers. • Shortages of fuel led to factories cutting production or closing completely.

This led to unemployment. In Petrograd, 568 factories closed between February and July with the loss of 100,000 jobs. • The lack of manufactured goods heightened prices. • Even though wages increased (e.g. the daily wages of a blacksmith

increased from 1/2.25 July, 1914 > 8.50 August, 1917) the cost of basics rose dramatically e.g. milk rose by 471% from August ‘14 > August ‘17.

4 – Poor economic situation• Food shortages were a major problem. Worsened by the poor harvest of 1917. • In August, the govt. increased what it paid for grain by 100% but this did not

convince the peasants to bring grain to the cities. • Peasants didn’t want to sell the grain because there were few goods to buy

and those on sale were too expensive. • In Petrograd, grain prices doubled between February and June and rose again

in the Autumn. • The PG couldn’t solve the problems. They sent punishment brigades to

requisition grain but this just made the peasants more hostile.

4 – Poor economic situation• Workers had expected change after February but as supplies had to be

sent to the troops, there was little improvement. • Strikes increased and workers’ committees began to take over the running

of factories. • Workers demanded price controls and the arrest of profiteers. • Industrialists told PG liberals not to interfere or fix prices so the PG did not

act. • So, the moderate socialists in govt. and the soviet were not meeting the

needs of their natural supporters, the workers.

Historiography• McCauley: “It was a true caretaker government.” • Lynch: Provisional Government was “the old Duma in a new form.” One of

government‟s main failings: not elected so lacked legitimate authority, no claim on loyalty of Russian people, so judged entirely on how it dealt with problems. • Figes: notes that “amidst a social revolution centered the popular realisation of

Soviet power”. • Smith: as a revisionist sees the active role of the lower ranks in pushing forward

the revolution and Fitzpatrick takes this further by suggesting that the workers, peasants and soldiers created the revolution. • Rabinovitch (Soviet): all parties, except Bolsheviks, lost credibility due to

association with Government and insistence in carrying on the war.

Summary• The PG had yet to satisfy the demands of the peasants & peasants began to seize

land. • Elections to the Constituent Assembly (promised in Feb) were fixed for

November.• Bolshevik propaganda was influential among the armed forces (who wanted

peace). Petrograd filled with deserting soldiers. The command structure of the armed forces had collapsed. • Many national minorities demanded self-government. This was granted to the

Ukraine and Finland which encouraged other areas to demand the same. • Industrial workers turned to political action to secure the positive changes they

demanded.

Homework• How useful is Source A as evidence of the difficulties faced by the

Provisional Government? (2011)

• For this, you will need to complete some independent research to create a bank of in-depth recall and historiography. Doing so will ensure you are prepared to answer any source question on this topic, as well as provide you with some understanding of why the PG failed.

SOURCE A is from Order No. 1 of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies, 1 March 1917To be immediately and fully executed by all men in the guards, army, artillery and navy and to be made known to the Petrograd workers. The Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies has decided:1. In all companies, battalions, regiments . . . and separate branches of military service of every kind and on warships immediately choose committees from the elected representatives of the soldiers and sailors.2. All representatives, carrying appropriate identity cards, are to arrive at the building of the State Duma by 10am, March 2, 1917.3. In all its political actions, military units are answerable to the Soviets.4. The orders of the military commission of the State Duma are to be fulfilled only in those cases which do not contradict the orders . . . of the Soviet . . . 5. All kinds of weapons . . . shall be placed at the disposal and under the control of the company and committees and should not be issued to officers, not even at their insistence.

How useful is Source A as evidence of the difficulties faced by the Provisional Government?