The Rule of the Provisional Government

• Following the abdication of the Tsar, the Duma took over, setting up the Provisional Government to rule the country
• Provisional Government was originally led by Prince Lvov, and underwent some changes, which resulted into Kerensky leading a temporary group which aimed to govern until elections for a permanent new government at the end of 1917
• The elections never happened as the Bolsheviks took over with another revolution

The Provisional Government was able to achieve a few successes during its time. This included...

• The disbandment of the Okhrana (secret police)
• Political and religious prisoners were freed
• Freedom of speech and religion was granted
• Death penalty was abolished

However, the government had fallen due to a number of failures

• The Provisional Government wanted spoils of war and not to be associated with failure
• Launched the "Kerensky Offensive" which tried to push the Germans back and gain territory in the West which failed
• 2 million soldiers had run away, some even killed their officers
• The main problems in Russia had been because of the war, and the decision of the Provisional Government caused these problems to continue
• 568 factories closed and 100,000 jobs were lost in Petrograd from February to July

• Provisional Government was not the only political body
• The Petrograd Soviet also helped rule Russia in the system of "dual power"
• The Petrograd Soviet was made up of workers, Mensheviks and socialists
• People listened to orders from two different groups, which sometimes contradicted
• The Soviet did not take power despite probably being more powerful, as it may not have been ready for a workers' revolution and may not have been able to run the country without the support of the army command and middle class
• However, its existence reduced the power of the Provisional Government

• Peasants seized land after the March revolution
• Some soldiers forcefully took land from the nobility, with cases of murder and arson
• Provisional Government opposed the way land redistribution was being carried out, and wanted to do it legally
• However, the Provisional Government seemed like it was not recognising the fact that peasants needed land even though it did, just through legal methods
• The Provisional Government was also unable to stop this issue of violence

• People were unhappy because they lacked the basic requirements of living
• Food shortages, unemployment, and high prices continued to be big problems
• Grain seizures that took crops from the countryside for the army continued throughout the war
• Instead, government paid 100% more for the crops
• However, peasants were still unwilling to sell them, because there will little things left to buy, which were still highly priced