How effective was the Provisional Government? The Tsar’s abdication in March 1917 left the running of the country to be decided. It was set-up by the Duma, the first prince was prince Lvov, he was soon replaced by Alexander Kerensky in July later that year. There was a great deal of competition from the Petrograd Soviets; they were elected by the workers and soldiers. Having two such huge powers was a problem; this may have been the reason for the failure of the provisional government. There were many problems facing the government at this time, the first was the war.
The provisional government decided to continue the war; they didn’t want to make peace with the Germans and they also wanted to keep Britain and France as allies. This decision caused riots in Petrograd; the Bolsheviks supported these riots but did not start them. The soldiers continued to desert the officers and the supplies of food and fuel decreased. Kerensky decided that a June offensive should take place but this just made more and more soldiers desert their officers.
The next problem was that of land; after the Tsar’s abdication the peasants assumed that there would be some land given to them. This however was not the case. The provisional Government would not give any peasants land until a proper government was elected. Kerensky thought that giving land to peasants like that would lead to the demise of the army, maybe he didn’t know what was happening already! Many peasants ignored this and took land for themselves as they were angry at the delay.
The Essay on Naxalbari Movement Land Peasants Government
Introduction It was exactly 35 years ago in 1967 that a minor clash between a police force and a group of armed peasants took place in an obscure corner of West Bengal. But it unleashed a force of events, which escalated over the years into a political movement that derived its name from that area and brought about far-reaching changes in India's socio-cultural scene. Today it evokes a variety of ...
Another problem was politics; the government had to share power with the Petrograd Soviets, who had control of the armed forces and therefore could not rely on them to put down uprisings. They also lost support because they delayed elections, they claimed that it was impossible to hold an election when so many soldiers were out of the country. The final main problem was that of food and the economic status, there were extreme shortages, therefore the prices for every day items like bread and coal rise. When Lenin returned in early April 1917, he put forward his ‘April Theses’ this consisted of what he promised the people.
His policies included: There should be no cooperation with the Provisional government, there should be an end to the war, there will be land given to the peasants and that the Soviets should take power.
