From Provisional Government to October Revolution 1917
The Dual Authority
- The first meeting was held in February 1917, and there were 3000 members
- It was made up of Mensheviks, revolutionaries, workers and mutineer soldiers and
sailors
- The Petrograd Soviets thought that the Provisional Government was the bourgeoisie
phase
- It was set up in March 1917, hoping to bring reform
- The Petrograd Soviets and Provisional Government became the de facto government
and lasted until October, and the Petrograd Soviets wanted a constitutional assembly
elected by the universal suffrage
- Largely made up of middle-class politicians, with Prince Lvov as prime minister and
Alexander Kerensky as minister of justice
- The February Revolution occurred only in one city with 2000 deaths and a small
number of casualties, showing that the nation was unwilling to fight. Strikes and
demonstrations did not cause the revolution, and the collapse of the Tsardom was due
to its own struggles
- The Bolsheviks didn’t take part in the revolution as their leaders were in exile
Return of the Bolsheviks
- Stalin and Kamenev returned to Petrograd in March and became the leaders of the
Petrograd Bolsheviks
- They took an anti-Lenin approach, cooperating with other parties and the
Provisional Government, arguing that international negotiation should begin
- Lenin returned to Petrograd in April after being smuggled in by Germany
- Up until the time of Lenin’s arrival, Dual Authority had been accepted by the
Bolsheviks, however he called for them to be overthrown
- Lenin wanted the Soviets to take power as they would be the perfect power base and
allow the Bolsheviks to take over
- Lenin’s April Thesis set out the future policies of the Bolshevik party and
condemned all that Stalin and Kamenev had done, wanting to abandon cooperation,
overthrow the Provisional Government and transfer power to the workers
- They coined the phrase ‘Peace, bread, land’ highlighting Russia’s problems and ‘All
power to the Soviets’ which showed that the people’s needs would only be met if they
overthrew the government
The Provisional Government
- The Provisional Government believed there was no choice but to keep fighting in the
war as they needed the war credits as they couldn’t continue without the injected
capitol from abroad, however they couldn’t focus on home events and economic
problems with the pressures of the war
- Milyukov was the war minister and pledged in March to keep fighting until
Germany was defeated, but in April there were demonstrations against him which
caused him to resign, showing how fragile they were. He was replaced with Kerensky,
who made it more left-wing
The Dual Authority
- The first meeting was held in February 1917, and there were 3000 members
- It was made up of Mensheviks, revolutionaries, workers and mutineer soldiers and
sailors
- The Petrograd Soviets thought that the Provisional Government was the bourgeoisie
phase
- It was set up in March 1917, hoping to bring reform
- The Petrograd Soviets and Provisional Government became the de facto government
and lasted until October, and the Petrograd Soviets wanted a constitutional assembly
elected by the universal suffrage
- Largely made up of middle-class politicians, with Prince Lvov as prime minister and
Alexander Kerensky as minister of justice
- The February Revolution occurred only in one city with 2000 deaths and a small
number of casualties, showing that the nation was unwilling to fight. Strikes and
demonstrations did not cause the revolution, and the collapse of the Tsardom was due
to its own struggles
- The Bolsheviks didn’t take part in the revolution as their leaders were in exile
Return of the Bolsheviks
- Stalin and Kamenev returned to Petrograd in March and became the leaders of the
Petrograd Bolsheviks
- They took an anti-Lenin approach, cooperating with other parties and the
Provisional Government, arguing that international negotiation should begin
- Lenin returned to Petrograd in April after being smuggled in by Germany
- Up until the time of Lenin’s arrival, Dual Authority had been accepted by the
Bolsheviks, however he called for them to be overthrown
- Lenin wanted the Soviets to take power as they would be the perfect power base and
allow the Bolsheviks to take over
- Lenin’s April Thesis set out the future policies of the Bolshevik party and
condemned all that Stalin and Kamenev had done, wanting to abandon cooperation,
overthrow the Provisional Government and transfer power to the workers
- They coined the phrase ‘Peace, bread, land’ highlighting Russia’s problems and ‘All
power to the Soviets’ which showed that the people’s needs would only be met if they
overthrew the government
The Provisional Government
- The Provisional Government believed there was no choice but to keep fighting in the
war as they needed the war credits as they couldn’t continue without the injected
capitol from abroad, however they couldn’t focus on home events and economic
problems with the pressures of the war
- Milyukov was the war minister and pledged in March to keep fighting until
Germany was defeated, but in April there were demonstrations against him which
caused him to resign, showing how fragile they were. He was replaced with Kerensky,
who made it more left-wing
