How far was the Provisional Government responsible for its own downfall? To a large extent I believe that the provisional government was responsible for its own downfall due to the fact that they had to share power with the soviets and their perilous decision to continue fighting in the First World War. Their decision to carry on fighting in the war was the most important due to lost support from the Russian people and more importantly, from the armed forces who they relied on to defend them.
There are also other factors which contributed to the provisional government’s nonfatal such as the return of Lenin and the Carillon affair which led to the success and rise of the Bolsheviks. A major factor which led to the downfall of the provisional government was First World War. Russia had already lost territory in Poland and morale; this was predominantly down to low members within the army. Additionally Russia owed large amounts of money in foreign loans, and the British and French agreed to continue lending money as long as Russia continued fighting therefore also influencing the provisional government to continue with war.
The agreement for Russia to continue fighting in the war brought the provisional government into conflict/delicatessen with the Soviet for they believed the only way to bring Russia out of depression was to remove itself form the war. This meant that they would not support the continuation of the war for any other reason, for instance gaining land or money from their defeated opponents. This led the provisional government to plan an offensive on the Eastern Front In order to win support from home and abroad.
The June offensive was Introduced and made against the Status-Hungarian army, the allure of the June offensive lead to mass numbers of Russian troops deserting from the front. This was a major collapse for the authority of the provisional government and resulted to July days which led to a series of riots and demonstrations in Petrography (SST Petersburg). Consequently the provisional government can be recognized for its own downfall for they made the fatal decision to continue in the war.
Another problem which led to the downfall of the provisional government was the social and economic issue across Russia . After the Tsarist systems collapsed here was a huge rise In Inflation ,due to the rulings prices there was a lot of upset among the poor. However the provisional government failed to do anything about this crucial issue which led to the ‘crisis in the countryside’. The provisional government only had power over the Russia cities such as Perpetrator but, however they had little control over the maltreatment occurring In the countryside.
This meant the peasants had to take power Into their own hands, this resulted In many rolls and even a social and economic revolution, but the provisional government did not have enough power o impose authority therefore nothing was done. The ‘crisis in the countryside’ was also a huge part of the provisional assortments downfall,mostly due to the outraged peasants. The peasants began to take the law Into their own hands ,some taking the land from rich landowners and others using violence to seize the land they 1 OFF rebelling peasants across Russia.
Another however contrasting factor towards the downfall of the provisional government was the return of Lenin with revolutionary plans for Russia. Before Linen’s return the leading Bolsheviks supported the provisional government. Lenis return changed things radically and from April the skivvies planned to overthrow the provisional government . Linen’s two most significant phrases ‘Peace, bread and land’ and ‘All power to the soviets’ were designed to both gain support for the Bolsheviks among the Russian people in order to overthrow the provisional government. Peace,bread and land’ was a popular message across Russia which was now a war exhausted country enduring serious food shortages. From highlighting the provisional governments attempts to support the unpopular war it also helped address their failure to result the problem of land ND food shortages. This could suggest that it was infant Lenin that led the provisional government to their own downfall.
The Gorilla affair also brought about fatal blow to the position of the provisional government ; Kernel’s panicked and tears that the gorilla affair was planning military takeover, when in fact Gorilla Nas more concerned about a radical plot against the government itself. Serenely ordered his arrest and armed groups of workers in the capital;many Bolsheviks Nerve also released form the prisons. The fact that serenely had relied on the sheiks made them look superior and set them up as defenders of Petrography. Furthermore the provisional government lost the majority of its authority by October 1917.
This is another reason which can be consider accountable for the provisional governments own downfall. On balance there are many factors which resulted in the provisional governments own downfall such as poor leadership, in particular Keener’s,and sharing its power with the Soviet. However I think the main factor accountable for the provisional governments own downfall was the decision to continue fighting during the First World War, as it brought along more issues such as desertion , food shortages ,land ownership, and riots.
