Russia- ‘The actions of the Bolsheviks between April-September 1917 was the main reason the Provisional Government failed to keep power in Russia.’ Assess the validity of this view.

There were many factors that influenced the downfall of the provisional government in October 1917. The Bolsheviks are one reason for the downfall however social, economic and political problems are also to blame.

Firstly, the provisional government did not act quickly on the problems that were facing Russia between the first revolution in February and the second revolution in October. For example the food problems had not been sorted out by the provisional government, as food was still in short supply in cities and because of that prices for food were high as most of the food in towns and cities were being shipped to the front line troops, as there were an estimated 5,000,000 soldiers. The provisional government tried to solve this problem by buying the crops and grain from the farms in the countryside. However this didn’t work as there was nothing to buy with the money the farms were getting so these transactions did not take place. This meant that the provisional government were under high amounts of pressure in towns and cities, as food shortages had risen from having 650g of bread as a ration in March 1917 compared to 110g in October 1917. This is a very good cause for change in power over Russia, as any social problems will cause a revolution to occur as nobody would like to live in poverty. Overall, this means that any social problems will cause a revolution.

Secondly, the actions of the Bolsheviks had a big part to play in the failing of the provisional government. One of the actions they took was the protection of Petrograd during the Kronilov affair, In August 1917, a Russian General, Lavr Kronilov, made an attempt to seize power for himself. His army advanced on Petrograd, with the Provisional Government under the leadership of Alexander Kerensky, seemingly powerless to stop him. To stop the army taking control of the country Kerensky informed the Bolsheviks about the army. This defense made the Bolsheviks seem strong and the provisional government the opposite. Moreover the Bolsheviks seem well organised to the Russian public, this is due to Lenin’s April Theses, and this included a simple 10 point plan that stated what the Bolsheviks and he wanted. This would have been nice to see as a Russian as the provisional government were not organised and didn’t have a clear view as there was a mix of political parties inside the provisional government, these involved socialists and liberals.

Moreover the Bolsheviks were gaining support form well known political figures, this includes Trotsky, as he had just been released form prison after beaning involved in the first revolution. Leon Trotsky born Lev Davidovich Bronstein, 7 November, 1879 – 21 was a Marxist revolutionary, theorist, and Soviet politician. This political figure was a huge advance for the faction as he became a lead runner for the faction alongside Lenin and Starling.

In addition, the War was partly to blame for the loss of power for the provisional government. World War 1 had caused problems for the Tsar before the provisional government, as there was a huge debate as they didn’t know whether to fight an offensive war or a defensive. This problem faced the provisional government as the public didn’t want to face more casualties as there were already 1.6 million dead, this meant that the public wanted a defensive war. However the provisional government were set on fighting an offensive war. This didn’t go down well with the public. The Bolsheviks were offering a defensive war, this was one reason why the support for the Bolsheviks was so strong and the provisional government was losing support.

The Petrograd soviets were also a reason for the provisional government, as they were gaining a lot of support and causing problems. For example the Petrograd soviets had support from many public services, this was the cause for the collapse of communication in the storming of the winter palace. Moreover the Petrograd soviets had a major presence in the army, this is shown by order number 1. These services that the Petrograd soviets had was a major issue for the provisional government.

To conclude, I believe that the Bolsheviks were the main cause for the collapse of the provisional government, as they cause high amounts of disruption and problems towards for the government.