After overthrowing Tsar Nicholas II, Russian people were optimistic for change. The Provisional Government inherited authority after the removal of Tsar Nicholas II. A better life was promised and optimism spread across the country as the Provisional Government took control. Eventually the Provisional Government was confronted by the same issues Tsarism faced. The majority of the people felt the abdication of the Tsar was positive, but now the main issue became Russia’s involvement in World War 1. Alexander Kerensky, was appointed Minister of War and rose to a higher rank on July 1917, when he became Prime Minister. Kerensky was initially praised for his role in the Duma and was favourite to become Russia’s saviour. Despite his best efforts to unite all political parties, he soon alienated himself by not bettering the lives of the Russian people. He also lost the confidence of the left wing by refusing to apply their radical social and economic program. Kerensky failed to control certain aspects such as; Russia’s involvement in World War 1, Land rights and the “Kornilov Affair”. Due to these failures Kerensky and the Provisional Government collapsed.
During World War 1 Russia faced difficulties constantly. Russia suffered food, transport, men and weapon shortages regularly. After the failures of the June Offensive, Kerensky took charge. The Russian army’s strength had been eroding for months. The Radical-Left political group, the Bolsheviks, called for "peace, land, and bread.”. Kerensky had planned an offensive, known as the June Offensive. The June Offensive failed and this impacted negatively on the Russian army. Morale was dangerously low, whilst desertion and indiscipline began to grow. Weary soldiers terrorised the civilian population on their way home, and violence became a common daily condition in Russia. Whilst Kerensky was trying to inspire soldiers, Lenin was actively convincing people to stop fighting. General Brusilov said
“In a year of war the regular army had vanished. It was replaced by an army of ignoramuses.” From July onwards it became increasingly evident that the majority of support for the soldiers lay with Lenin and the Bolsheviks, instead of Kerensky. Kerensky claimed propaganda had
Lenin did just this and immediately got the support he and the Bolsheviks needed at the expense of Kerensky. To undermine the support of the Bolsheviks, Kerensky ordered that elections should take place for a constituent assembly. The elections were to be held in January 1918. Lenin had called for such elections earlier in 1917, so he could not object to this. As Kerensky argued, it was simply an extension of the democratic process denied to the people by the Romanovs. However, all the evidence indicated that the Bolsheviks would have done less well than other groups – including the Mensheviks.
tried to create a western style society. Nevertheless, this government led by Alexander Kerensky lasted for only seven months, by which at the end Lenin and the communist Bolsheviks seized power over Russia. When the peasants claimed land from the government the government refused which made the Bolsheviks extremely mad making them riot against the government. The Provisional Government lost to the
The Bolshevik revolution came to prominence because of the Provisional Government’s inability to gain support from the Russian population. ‘The government enjoyed little confidence amongst the masses; and many of its members were largely unknown to the new Russia that had burst upon the political scene.’[3 ] Kerensky himself comments on the problematic circumstances his government experienced, ‘the old (governmental machine) had disappeared; the new was not yet established.’ The support of the peasantry was critical in establishing popular rule, as historian Richard Abraham comments, ‘the largest social class in Russia was still the peasantry.
As World War I was heading towards its end Russia was focusing on internal issues. Led by Vladimir Lenin the Bolsheviks embarked on a campaign against the war. Using propaganda which focused on trying to turn the allied troops against their officers Lenin looked to inspire a socialist revolution. The Bolsheviks were also fueled by the poor conditions of the Russian Army. Nicholas II, in a letter to his wife Alexandra, admitted the obstacles that the Russian Army faced, "Again that cursed question of shortage of artillery and rifle ammunition - it stands in the way of an energetic advance." Czar Nicholas tried to deny the fact that his Army was in no condition to continue the fight. Lenin and the Bolsheviks used this information to gain
In March 1917, there was a Revolution in Russia that started to change things in Europe. Tsar Nicholas had left power at this time, and Prince Lvov took over. Kerensky was the one who lead the revolutionary party. He was the person who was looking out for
Urban workers and peasants followed suit and complained about how they are poor and hungry for more land. The First World War played a crucial role in bringing down the Tsardom regime in February because of their military failures, failure to make political reforms and the role of the Tsarina and Rasputin. The Ideological appeal of Lenin and Bolshevism, and role of Lenin (appeal of radical alternative, charismatic and dynamic leader, taking advantage of crisis situation in Russia in 1917. Lenin's political ideas attracted widespread support among the Russian people. On 16th of April 1917, Lenin held a speech called the April Theses. The speech called for a World wide socialist revolution, land reform to peasants, the immediate end to WW1 and the immediate end to cooperation with Provisional Government and urged Soviets to take power. Lenin also revised Karl Marx ideas, which claimed that Russia was not ready for a revolution. The ideas in the speech were made into simple but effective and radical slogans such as "all power to the soviets" or "bread, peace and Land". These slogans attracted a lot of support for the Bolsheviks, as they appealed to the workers. They provided
Tsar Nicholas II is thought to be personally responsible for the collapse of the Russian Monarchy. His nature wasn’t well suited for the role he held therefore he was an incompetent leader. Russia was undergoing many changes and was in early stages of industrialization. This was followed by an embarrassing string of defeats of which the Tsar was badly prepared. His unsuccessful involvement in the First World War added to the disappointment in the government’s incompetence and corruption. There were many opportunities for Russia to modernize but this would require political change, which the Tsar was unwilling to do. Nicholas had many opportunities throughout his reign to reform, but destroyed his last chance of survival.
However, the question and this investigation are only concerned with the last of these governments in which Alexander Kerensky was the leader or Prime Minister. The weakening of the Provisional Government because of its reforms and policies was a result of its incumbents and hence its collapse may partly be blamed on its leadership. Historians vary on the importance of Kerensky, some say he was simply invited into the government as a figure head to create a
During the Russian Revolution of 1917, Aleksandr Kerensky was a speaker and socialist who helped connect the people and the government. Kerensky was a lawyer. In 1912 he won an election to the fourth Duma as a part of the Russian Labor Party representing Volsk. In March of 1917, a temporary government was put into the place of Czar Nicholas II, and Kerensky was put on the cabinet as the minister of justice. The temporary government was accepted by the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, and France. As minister of justice, Kerensky dealt with Czar Nicholas II and his family’s affairs. During the World War I, Kerensky was made the minister of war and the navy and a vice chairman of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies.
Alexander Kerensky the leader of the provisional government appointed General Lavr Kornilov as the new commander of the Russian army. Although because of the two men’s very different views on the military policy they began to conflict with one and other. Due to this Kerensky decided to fire Kornilov as the new commander. Kornilov took this opportunity to send his troops to take control of the city of Petrograd (Petrograd now known as the city of St. Petersburg) with the support of the Russian imperial general Aleksandr
Ten years in exile had not swayed Lenin?s determination to create and direct a powerful revolution. Lenin returned to Russia from exclusion in February 1917, believing that the time was ripe to seize power. The Russian economy was in ruin after the army was nearly defeated and the people exhausted as a result of the First World War. The country was in an unstable state, suitable for a revolution (Levinthal 119). Around October 20, Lenin, in disguise and at considerable personal risk, slipped into Petrograd and attended a secret meeting of the Bolshevik Central Committee held on the evening of October 23. Not until after a heated 10-hour debate did he finally win a majority in favour of preparing an armed takeover. Now steps to enlist the support of soldiers and sailors and to train the Red Guards, the Bolshevik-led workers' militia, for an armed takeover proceeded openly under the guise of self-defense of the Petrograd Soviet. Even at great personal risk, Lenin was adamant in spurring a successful revolution.
After leaving university, Kerensky became involved in left-wing political groups and during the 1905 Revolution, joined the Socialist-Revolutionary party. After joining the party, Kerensky became a prominent lawyer, and spent most of his time defending revolutionaries who were being prosecuted.
After examining the reasons for the Bolshevik victory in the Russian Civil War, one can certainly say that it is due to the superior leadership, organization, and support that they achieved victory. Lenin and Trotsky provided the
Therefore, morale in Russia was not a reason why there was an outbreak of revolution in 1917. Nevertheless, the few military successes could not make up for the shocking casualty list revealed later on in wartime. Also, when the economic and military problems arose they could have been tolerable for the general public if they were encouraged by the people at the top such as the Tsar but no leadership was shown. Though this was a problem in Russia the morale in Russia was not too bad although people did begin to focus more on taking care of themselves because of the effects of the war on everyday life. On the other hand, the fact that central leadership was not being provided to the Russian public, criticisms began to be pointed directly at the Tsar. Nicholas failed in being commander-in-chief of the Russian armed services. He did not encourage war effort and did not prove to be the appropriate representative for the Russian people. In addition, the fact that he took on this important role meant that he was responsible for the wars consequences and the survival of Tsardom depended on military success. Due to the lack of success, Nicholas II was blamed and not his generals. This was a reason for the revolution in February 1917 to happen as it appeared to the citizens of Russia that they did not have a strong leader, also the tsarist system’s claim to the loyalty of the Russian people had been forfeited thus
The First World War became the Tsars worst nightmare. Russia joined the war in many ways to keep peoples minds of Russia’s backwardness and badly run government, and onto the war effort itself. But within the first year of the war people’s minds began to wander away from troop moral and toward the Tsar and his control.