The provisional government and it's failures

Question 1

when did the Tsar abdicate

Answer 1

March 1917

Question 2

what two bodies emerged that competed for authority after the Tsar’s abdication and what did it lead to

Answer 2

• Petrograd Soviet and provisional government competed for power
• led to dual power

Question 3

what was the structure of the provisional government

Answer 3

• established by a committee of Duma officials
• originally dominated by the liberal middle class parties, particularly the kadets
• lef-wing parties soon joined

Question 4

what was the structure of the Petrograd soviet

Answer 4

• made up of 3000 representatives elected by ordinary soldiers and industrial workers
• headed by an executive committee which was dominated by socialist revolutionaries and Mensheviks

Question 5

what did Milyukov, the minister of war, want with Russias involvement in the war + what was the response of the socialists in the soviet

Answer 5

• Milyukov wanted to defend Russia and hoped to make territorial gains if the allies won
• he wanted Constantinople and control of the black sea
• socialists in the soviet were outraged as they wanted a defensive war only
• Milyukov was forced to resign

Question 6

what were the reasons for the summer offensive of 1917

Answer 6

• Britain and France wanted Russia to attack on the eastern front to take pressure of their forces in the west
• strong nationalist and patriotic element in Russian society that didn’t like to surrender to the germans as this would cause national humiliation
• some socialists believed that a successful offensive would put them in a better bargaining positions with the Germans
• conservative forces that a successful offensive may put generals and officers back in control of the armed forces and bring the revolution under control

Question 7

who was the new minister for war and what did he do to prepare for the summer offensive 1917

Answer 7

• Alexander Kerensky
• threw himself into a propaganda campaign to mobilise the armed forces and people for a massive attack
• Kerensky made patriotic speeches and toured the fronts

Question 8

was Kerensky successful in his summer offensive campaign

Answer 8

• middle-class civilians volunteered to the front
• but the soldiers were increasingly unwilling to fight and thousands ran away before the offensive began

Question 9

when did the offensive start and when did it begin to fall apart

Answer 9

• began on June 16th
• after three days, it began to fall apart

Question 10

how did the summer offensive of 1917 begin to fall apart

Answer 10

• rate of desertion was extremely high
• soldiers killed their officers than fight
• hundreds of thousands of soldiers were killed
• more territory was lost

Question 11

what was the effect of the failure of the summer offensive

Answer 11

• in Petrograd, an armed uprising - the July days - began
• although the PG survived this, the moderate socialist leaders in the government lost their credibility with the soldiers and workers

Question 12

by when was there significant unrest in the countryside + why

Answer 12

• by May 1917
• peasants were hungry for land and the collapse of central authority meant that there was no one to stop them from taking the land

Question 13

what did the peasants believe about land and what did they feel betrayed by

Answer 13

• peasants always believed that the land belonged to them
• they felt betrayed by the emancipation of 1861

Question 14

although the peasants saw a chance to finally take land, what did they want to be able to do that

Answer 14

they wanted government approval to give legitimacy to their actions

Question 15

why were the liberals unwilling to hand over land to the peasants

Answer 15

• although the liberals weren’t against land redistribution, they wanted it to be done within the framework of law set down by the constituent assembly
• wanted landowners to be compensated
• concerned that a land-free-for-all would lead to the disintegration of the army as peasant soldiers would rush back home to claim their share

Question 16

what did the peasants do as the summer of 1917 wore on

Answer 16

began taking more and more land, as well as livestock, tools, timber and anything they could grab from private estates

Question 17

what was hoped when the socialist revolutionaries joined the PG in May and why

Answer 17

• it seemed that a better relationship between the government and peasants might develop
• as Chernov played a leading part in helping to organise peasant soldiers

Question 18

how did the socialist revolutionaries fail to better relations between the government and the peasants

Answer 18

• they urged for the redistribution of land to be resolved by the constituent assembly
• although Chernov did want to try a radical alternative in which peasants would be empowered to use land from private estates, the liberals in the PG blocked this

Question 19

what were the consequences of failing to give land reform to the peasants

Answer 19

• during the summer, land seizure increased
• Socialist revolutionary activists encountered resistance only if they tried to restrain the peasants
• Socialist revolutionary leaders failed to understand that the peasant demand for fundamental land reform couldn’t be put off until the constituent assembly next met
• peasants were going to take the land, with or without permission

Question 20

what did the Finns, Poles and other areas in the old Russian empire call for immediately after the tsarist state collapsed

Answer 20

they called for outright independence

Question 21

what did Ukraine demand and why was the country of immense value to Russia

Answer 21

• Ukraine was important due to its valuable farmland
• Ukrainians demanded self-government

Question 22

what was the reaction of the PG to Ukrainians demanding self-government

Answer 22

• moderate socialists in the PG made concessions
• outraged the liberals who viewed it as the first break-up of Russia
• liberals believed that for Russia to stay a great power, it had to keep all the regions together in one centrally governed state

Question 23

what trend in the economy continued once the PG came into power

Answer 23

• problems which helped cause the February revolution, food shortages, unemployment and high prices, continued
• downward spiral of economy continued, affecting workers badly

Question 24

how did the downward spiral of the economy continue

Answer 24

• railway system, already badly dislocated by the war, showed signs of breaking down
• shortages of fuel and raw materials led to factories cutting output or closing and laying off workers
• scarcity of manufactured goods meant that prices increased rapidly
• food shortages were a major issue

Question 25

how many factories closed in Petrograd between Feb-July 1917 and how many jobs were lost as a result

Answer 25

• 568 factories closed
• leading to the loss of 100,000 jobs

Question 26

why was the situation involving food shortages critical again by the end of summer

Answer 26

due to the harvest of 1917 being very poor

Question 27

what did the PG try to do in order to help with the food shortages

Answer 27

• increase the price it paid for grain by 100% in August, but this didn’t persuade the peasants to bring grain into the cities

Question 28

why were the peasants unwilling to sell their grain

Answer 28

because there were few goods to buy and those that were available were on sale at inflated prices

Question 29

by how much did grain prices increase between Feb-June

Answer 29

• doubled
• rose again in Autumn

Question 30

what did the PG try to do when the peasants refused to give grain and what was the consequence of this

Answer 30

• PG sent out punishment brigades into the countryside to requisition grain
• but it served only to make the peasants more hostile

Question 31

what were the consequences of the downward economical spiral

Answer 31

• growing class antagonism in cities between employers and workers
• sticks began to increase
• workers committees began to take over the running of some factories
• workers turned their antagonism towards the government, demanding price controls, a halt to speculation and the arrest of profiteers

Question 32

why was there growing class antagonism in cities between employers and workers

Answer 32

• workers had expected social reform after February, with higher wages, better working conditions, shorter hours and more influence in the work place
• byt wages were becoming worthless and employers were using lock-outs to bring the workers to heel

Question 33

what was the reaction of the PG to the demands of the workers due to the continuing bad economy

Answer 33

• liberals in PG were under pressure from industrialists not to interfere or fix prices, and so they wouldn’t act against them
• moderate socialist leaders in the government and soviet found themselves unable to meet the needs of their natural supporters, the workers

Question 34

what did the Petrograd Soviet publish in March 1917

Answer 34

an appeal to all the people of the world - a statement on its war aims

Question 35

how was the soviet’s policy towards the war became known as and what did it consist of

Answer 35

• became known as revolutionary defencism
• stated that Russia should seek a general peace settlement involving all the warring countries, but wouldn’t sign a separate peace treaty with Germany
• Russia would continue to fight to defend its territory, but wouldn’t seek to gain territory from other countries

Question 36

who was the principle thinker of revolutionary defencism and what led him to create it

Answer 36

• Tsereteli
• he was a socialist and was opposed to a war that was fought for financial or territorial gain that would benefit the ruling classes only
• he was also aware that defeat or surrender to the Germans would lead to a punitive settlement being imposed on Russia

Question 37

what was the Declaration of War Aims

Answer 37

• published in late March 1917 by the PG
• affirmed Russia’s commitment to the war
• while insisting that Russia wouldn’t forcibly seize territory belonging to other countries

Question 38

what did Milyukov do with the Declaration of War Aims

Answer 38

• he added a private telegram in which he distanced himself from ‘revolutionary defencism’ and insisted that Russia would fight on until a ‘conclusive victory’ has been won

Question 39

what was the consequence of Milyukovs telegram being leaked

Answer 39

• caused uproar
• supporters of the Petrograd Soviet took to the streets, accusing Milyukov of betrayal and demanding his resignation
• clasehes with pro-Milyukov demonstrators, in which people were killed

Question 40

what was Prince Lvov convinced of and what did he appeal for

Answer 40

• he was convinced that the running battle between the PG and PS had to be stopped
• he appealed to the soviet leadership to take office in a reconstructed PG

Question 41

what were the consequences of the PG

Answer 41

• entry of prominent socialist into government would strengthen the hand of the Bolshevik party
• underlined the fundamental weaknesses of the provisional government
• crisis spelt the end of the initial sense of hope and optimism that emerged in Petrograd after the Tsar’s fall

Question 42

what were the weaknesses of the nature of the PG

Answer 42

• its scope for action was limited as the real power was held by the PS
• PG saw itself as a temporary body that couldn’t make binding decisions for the long-term future of Russia and such decisions were to be made by the constituent assembly
• divisions between socialists and liberals led to a lack of clear policies
• kadets moved further to the right as they were alarmed by violence and the power of the working class

Question 43

what were the weaknesses of the policies made by the PG

Answer 43

• decision to continue the war created opposition and other problems stemmed from it
• failure to legitimise the peasant take-over created a rift with the peasants, who were unwilling to supply food to the cities
• lost support of the national minorities by refusing to give them a degree of autonomy
• did nothing about the deterioration of the economy which led to the radicalisation of workers
• Gov failed to call the constituent assembly early enough