Provisional Government Essay

When the Provisional Government came into power Russia was in a state of major unrest. Russia had just overthrown the Tsarist regime, which had been in place for three hundred years and there were multiple groups who wanted to take power for themselves such as Lenin's Bolsheviks, they were fighting in an endless war and losing terribly, peasants where rebelling in the countryside and the people were angered over food shortages. On top of all these problems the Provisional Government was made up of members of the Duma who had no experience actually being in charge or having power over anything let alone the biggest and most culturally diverse country in the world. All these factors played a role in the downfall of the Provisional Government but overall it was the Provisional Government who played the biggest part in their own failure.

Following WWI, sever strain was placed on Russia's weak government and economy, resulting in mass shortages and hunger. The people and soldiers turned against the Tsar, losing faith in his authority and power due to the mismanagement and failure of the war, his decision to take personal command of the army seemed to make him responsible for the defeats. Discontent grew amongst the people where they In March, growing civil unrest and discontentment erupted into open revolt and strikes in Petrograd, forcing the abdication of Nicholas II (1868-1918), the last Russian czar. The Duma then assumed control and declared a provisional government.  Eight months later, the radical Bolshevik party seized power from the Provisional government.

There were major problems for the government, counting the central issues. People were suffering from the hardships of World War I including: a huge number of deaths at the front, hyperinflation, transportation breakdowns, empty shelves in stores and lack of fuel to heat people’s homes. These issues were linked in a cruel circle; the only way to end the economic and social crisis was to get out off war but by doing so, that would mean the withdrawal of foreign aid, which would create an economic crisis of its own. The central issues dissatisfied the proletariat, soldiers and peasants. When Lenin returned, he promised his most popular slogans, which were ‘Peace, Land and Bread’ and ‘All Power to the Soviets’ which were designed to gain support for the Bolsheviks and undermine the Provisional Government. ‘Peace, Land and Bread’ was a popular message because ‘peace’ meant an instant end to conflicts and referred to Bolshevik opposition to war; ‘bread’ meant a promise of food in the towns and cities, and ‘land’ meant all of it to be nationalised for the peasantry. This was a popular message in a country tired of war and faced food shortages. This emphasised the Provisional Government’s support for the unpopular war and proved their failure to help the land and food shortages. Lenin’s solution ‘All Power to the Soviets’ made the workers and peasants believe that the

During World War 1, Russian causalities were high and soldiers deserted in large numbers. Whilst previous wars had got a somewhat “positive” backing from the public, people were desperate for this to end whilst it also drained Russian of its resources and held over 14 million men in active service. The Great War drove already unhappy people to revolt against the regime before the war had even officially ended showing its severity. Some would argue here however it still shows how important the economy was, as it was a crippling one surrounding a mass scale war that caused the people to revolt. This also echoes another important factor in both revolutions of 1905 and 1917 in that ‘life in Russia’ including during war was a strain whilst food, fuel and raw materials remained short.

The folly of the provisional government led by the untrusted Alexander Kerensky caused the people of Russia to move towards the various revolutionary groups. Bolsheviks gained large amounts of support from the military for their movement to end the war, which was a long-time request of the people declined by the provisional government. The Bolshevik effort was bolstered even further with the failure of Kornilov’s coup, which weakened the government even more; this caused

In conclusion, the Bolsheviks gained power in Russian (1917), not only because of their acts of persuasion (posters, leaflets, propaganda etc...), but because of the Russian people’s hatred towards the Tsar and the Provisional Government. I strongly believe that if, Russia had a powerful leader who cared for poor and wealthy citizens, and the Russians would not have to turn to Lenin and the Bolsheviks. But, they had Tsar Nicholas and the Provisional Government and out of desperation they turned to the

This propaganda especially influenced the peasants. The provisional government’s failed to legitimise the peasants taking ownership over their land which created a rift with the peasants which created a problem controlling food supplies. Lenin’s orating skills and understanding of the political landscape helped him to gain popularity within the working community- he had the power of the people. Once Lenin won the people over it was only a matter of time before the Bolshevik

tried to create a western style society. Nevertheless, this government led by Alexander Kerensky lasted for only seven months, by which at the end Lenin and the communist Bolsheviks seized power over Russia. When the peasants claimed land from the government the government refused which made the Bolsheviks extremely mad making them riot against the government. The Provisional Government lost to the

At times confuse is made among state and Government and the two words are used on the other hand. Government is an instrument of the state through which it does its inspirations. A state, as we have seen, is a politically dealt with and geographically obliged collection of people that has the benefit to use constrain. It is a reasonable substance in this manner ought to have an instrument through which to work. Government is such an instrument. Each one of the nationals of a state are not part of a government (Shobeiri, S. M. 2007).

The Russian Civil War of 1918 was the cumulating of the Russian monarchial government’s slow reformation to institute civil reforms and freedoms for the intelligentsia, the creation and subsequent closing of the Constituent Assembly by the Socialist Revolutionary Party, the embarrassing Treaty of Brest Litovsk, and the Czarist support of the nobility, who were stripped of their land after the Bolsheviks coup. These emotions came to a head when a coalition of multiple Russian political parties joined together to topple the Bolshevik power control, led by Vladimir Lenin. The power that Lenin and the Bolsheviks had held for little more than a year had come under attack. The Bolsheviks were now faced with another war in which the direction of Russia

Following the Russian revolution of 1905, continued oppression of the lower class, government corruption, and the initial strains of industrialization—such as urban overcrowding, long working hours, and abhorrent working conditions—cultivated an increasing distrust of the Russian Regime throughout the Empire. Once Russia entered World War I, the Russian economy rapidly deteriorated putting further stress on daily life.[1] Additionally, Russian citizens became increasingly angry as their military suffered heavy casualties and major defeats.[2] After a few years of war, the worsening inflation, food and fuel shortages, and other consequences of war united Russian moderates and radicals against Czar Nicholas II and his regime in the

After this, the provisional government took over, with Alexander Kerensky as the prime minister. One of his policies allowed radicals, like Vladimir Lenin to re-enter the country. When Lenin returned to Russia, he organized a group of people, the Marxists, changed their name to the Bolsheviks, and made them into a giant force of communists. Upset with their living conditions, many Russians agreed to

Soon, they were joined by military officials and soldiers who refused to shoot the crowds. The czar tried replacing officials in the government, believing that not only would the government approve more of these officials, but that they would be more effective in handling these issues. This ended up failing as the new officials were objectively worse than the old ones. In the end these attempts led to extreme unrest in Russia, making it very easy for people such as Lenin and the Bolsheviks to come and start the ultimate revolution and take down the current monarchical government. The war brought with it many economic and militaristic issues that ultimately led to the Bolshevik Revolution.

Confucius states that leaders should always lead by example, as this is the only genuine way a just, great empire is created. Not only is the Emperor required to be virtuous, but every position in the military or bureaucracy created should be founded on virtue and

One of the most remarkable demonstrations of power was with the rise of the Bolshevik (Majority) party to overthrow the Romanov Dynasty and to put into place a communist government. The Bolshevik party, ironically enough, was not the majority party, the Mensheviks were. However, numbers did not stop the Bolsheviks from eventually overthrowing the government by force. This terrible revolution changed the entire future of the Russian Empire.