How far was the weakness of the Provisional Government the reason for the Bolshevik success in October 1917?
Undoubtedly, the numerous weaknesses of the provisional government played a significant role in the success of the Bolshevik party in October 1917. Their weaknesses included the lack of a shared vision between the many parties in the coalition, the fact that they believed the war was right, their absence of a strong leader and their failings when trying to deal with their opposition. However, their flaws were not the only reason that the Bolshevik party took control in October 1917 – the strength of the Bolsheviks also played a vital role.
The lack of a shared vision between the parties in the provisional government hugely weakened it – the fact that they were unable to agree on very little bar their hatred for the Bolsheviks led to them having extreme difficulties when trying to gain control in Russia. This was partly because they were unable to bring about the changes that the people in Russia were desperate for. They could not create any new policies because of the vast array of different opinions on every aspect of Russia and so, as a result of this, they were unable to deliver on any of the areas that desperately needed to be changed, such as the huge food shortages that were prevalent all over Russia. In addition to this, they had very limited authority over the Russian people because they were not an elected body; they were in fact, just a recreation of the old duma. The foreign minister Paul Milyukov claimed that the provisional government had been ‘appointed by the revolution itself’ however, this view was not widely accepted by the people, leading many to oppose the undemocratic ruling of the provisional government. These weaknesses of the provisional government played a vital role in the success of the Bolshevik party – the fact that the people did not experience anything positive coming from the unelected provisional government led to the opposition to the provisional government to grow and the support for the rival party (the Bolsheviks) to begin to increase. This made the Bolshevik party ever stronger and therefore, more likely to succeed when trying to overthrow the government.
The Term Paper on Dual Power Government Soviets Provisional
... where the basis of dual power came from. The Provisional government had inherent structural weaknesses. The most fundamental, it can be argued, is ... the October revolution took place and the Bolshevik party under Lenin gained control of Russia. The main reason for the system of ... to get to Soviet state that the masses and the Bolshevik party wanted. This insurrection came to fruition in October and ...
Moreover, the Provisional government was further weakened by their absence of a strong leader. The dearth of a figure head in the provisional government was a key reason that the Bolsheviks were able to take control of Russia in 1917. Although the provisional government was led by Prince Lvov, he did not play that large a role in making speeches and rallying support for the party. Furthermore, the fact that he was not a working class man made him much harder to relate to for the Russian people, as they did not believe that he knew what they had to endure in day to day life. This put the party in stark contrast with the Bolsheviks as they had Lenin, an inspirational leader who was easy to relate to for many of the Russian people. This strength of the Bolshevik party made the lack of a leader in the provisional government even more apparent, weakening it even further. This demonstrates that the weaknesses of the provisional government were amplified by the strengths of their rival party, indicating that the Bolsheviks popularity (which led to their success) largely came from them playing on the provisional government’s many weaknesses.
In relation to the fact that the provisional government agreed that the war was right for Russia, this was another great weakness that they possessed, and was one which played a large role in the success of the Bolshevik party in October 1917. The war was one of the very few things that the Provisional government agreed on – they believed that it was financially necessary to carry on because, without fighting in the war, they would no longer receive the ‘war credits’ from the western allies that the Russian economy had come to be reliant on. Despite this, the people were adamant that Russia needed to leave the war. Not only were many being killed, but the men had to fight in poor health, with bad weapons and low food supplies. This led to chaos on the frontline and ultimately, a phenomenal number of Russian people strongly opposing the war. The fact that the war was needed by the economy but was strongly opposed by the people put the provisional government in a paradoxical situation – for Russia to survive they needed to remain in the war, but remaining in the war was destroying the provisional government’s chances of survival. Overall, the fact that the provisional government did not withdraw Russia from the war was one of, it not the most important reason that the Bolshevik party was able to succeed in October 1917.
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The 1940's was a turning point for American citizens because World War II was taking place during this time. Not only was America at odds with other countries, but also within its self. America is a huge melting pot full of diverse cultures and people from all nations. People travel from all over the world to the United States of America. These people had one goal in mind, a life of freedom and ...
The final significant weakness of the provisional government was their failure to neutralise their opposition during the political unrest in July and August 1917. In July, the Bolsheviks became much more active than they had previously been, and began to openly oppose the provisional government in many ways (such as organising strikes).
This not only upped the anti of the Bolshevik’s campaign, but it also fundamentally undermined the provisional government. During this time (the July days) the provisional government made a very bad choice, deciding not to act forcefully against the Bolsheviks or any of the other parties that were opposing them (such as the SRs).
Although a few of the Bolsheviks were arrested, there were still enough of them that were not imprisoned to continue to attempt to bring about a revolution. This failure to stop the Bolsheviks portrayed the provisional government as being very weak and ultimately displayed to the Russian people that the government was failing. The role of the provisional government was to maintain law and order in the country and by allowing the Bolshevik party to operate, the provisional government clearly showed the Russian people that were failing in their attempt to uphold law and order. In August 1917, General Kornilov set out to try and overthrow the provisional government using the military. Once again, the provisional government made a very poor decision, choosing to supply the Bolsheviks with arms in order for them to defend the provisional government. Although this did prevent the August coup from being successful, it provided the Bolshevik party with the ammunition to overthrow the provisional government. On balance, the way that the provisional government dealt with their opposition was very poor, and was a significant weakness of the party. Their weaknesses in this area were played a key role in the success of the Bolshevik party, due to the fact that the Bolsheviks military success arose from their possession of the arms that they were supplied with by the provisional government.
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The painting was done in the 1920 s some time after the actual event making it secondary evidence. To a certain extent it is historically accurate because the storming of the Winter Palace did take place but it is inaccurate as there was not a great struggle between the Bolsheviks and Provisional Government. The only Provisional Government soldiers present that night were a womens battalion ...
However, despite the fact that the provisional government’s many weaknesses did significantly contribute to the success of the Bolshevik party in October 1917, they were not the only reason that the Bolsheviks came into power. The strengths of the Bolshevik cannot be underplayed as these strengths also played a vital role in the successes of the Bolsheviks. One of their key strengths was their simple political aims. The Bolshevik party offered the people ‘peace, bread and land’ which made them immensely popular in Russia as it offered a straightforward solution to all of Russia’s problems. These policies made the Bolshevik party appealing to the general public, as the answer that they gave to Russia’s difficulties seemed like a much better solution than what the provisional government were attempting to implement. Furthermore, the Bolsheviks were successful because of the way that they dealt with the August coup; the Bolsheviks were wise in the way that they helped the provisional government, for they knew that it would be easier to take down the provisional government after destroying the coup, as opposed to attempting to bring down Kornilov with out the government’s support.
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The appointment of the first Labour government in January 1924 was widely regarded by contemporaries as an event of great political and social significance. The new Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald, lacked the governmental experience of his predecessors and had risen from obscure origins. Many on the political right expressed alarmist expectations of attacks on private property and established ...
Another strength of the Bolsheviks was their lack of involvement with the provisional government; this helped the Bolsheviks gain support as it meant that the Bolsheviks could not be blamed for any of the wrong doings of the provisional government. The fact that the Bolsheviks were completely detached from the provisional government made them more agreeable to the Russian people for it meant that whenever the Russian people suffered (for example because of the food shortages), they would be drawn closer to the Bolshevik party for they would be looking for change, looking for something that was different from the provisional government that was failing them. Overall, the strengths of the Bolshevik party played a very important role in the October revolution of 1917, if the Bolsheviks had not acted in the way they did, it is unarguable to say that the revolution would not have been successful and the Bolsheviks would not have come into power when they did.
On balance, the various weaknesses of the provisional government played considerable roles in the success of the Bolshevik party. However, their weaknesses were not the only reason that the Bolshevik party was able to take over power, as the Bolshevik’s party’s many strengths were also key contributing factors to the success of the October revolution. The fact that the Bolsheviks continually played on the weaknesses of the provisional government resulted in the deficiencies of the provisional government to become more apparent to the Russian people, which played a vital role in the Bolshevik takeover. Overall, the reason that the Bolsheviks were able to take control was a combination of their strengths and the weaknesses of the provisional government – without both of these factors the revolution would not have taken place when it did, which displays just how significant a role both the provisional government and the Bolsheviks played in the success of October revolution.
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Bibliography
Russia under Tsarism and Communism 1881-1953, by Chris Cohrin
Reaction and revolution, by Michael Lynch
The Essay on The Provisional Government Revolution Lenin Soviets
'1) a) The provisional government was devised from revolutionary duma members who refused to disband at the Tsar request. It was not an elected body, and therefore did not necessarily have the support of the people. The provisional government would be judged purely on the performance of national matters. The provisional government also lacked an official partnership with the Petrograd soviets, ...
www.wikepedia.co.uk/lenin
The history of modern Russia, by Robert Service
