‘The fall of the provisional government in October 1917 was entirely due to its own failings?’
Explain why you agree or disagree with this view.

There are a lot of factors which contributed to the downfall of the provisional governments, some with a bigger impact but came from both inside and outside of the provisional government. After the Tsar’s own downfall in March the Provisional Government was introduced to fix all of Russia’s problems. Though Russia was still struggling from the aftermath of the February revolution, and therefore was a tough time for the Provisional Government with Russia going though social, economic and not to forget the political crisis.

A major problem with the provisional government was the dual authority. It was the provisional government and the Petrograd Soviet that worked together as this dual authority. The significant problem of this was when the Petrograd Soviet introduced ‘Order Number 1’. This meant that no law regarding military action could be passed unless it had been approved by the Petrograd Soviet. This put the provisional government in a weaker position than it already was, having no power over its army reflected up the power the provisional government had with the county. The provisional government being an unelected body already meant that gaining support and loyalty of the Russian people was already a difficult task. While the provisional government retained the formal authority to rule over Russia, the Petrograd Soviet maintained actual power.

A further failing of the new provisional government was the continuation of the war against Germany. Unfortunately for the provisional government, in order to endure the Russian economy Russia had to continue fighting in the war in order for Russia to receive money from Britain and France. The loans that Russia had taken out from these countries while under the Tsarist regime had left Russia financially destroyed. Though of course the provisional government is not responsible for this economic crisis as the loans were decided before the provisional government had originated. There was however, other suggestions of how all in all Russia could come out of the war such as from Josef Stalin. Stalin suggested peace talks with Germany so the attention of the provisional government could resume back to Russian homeland. If these peace talks had of occurred the provisional government would have had been more in touch with the issues people were facing within Russia itself, although the continuation of the war ended in being a factor of its fall.

No legitimate nor strong leadership was imposed within the provisional government, and therefore created attention upon the structure and organising the body itself rather than upon the issues within Russia. Prince Lvov; the leader of the provisional government had little experience with government. Lvov suffered with a lack of popularity and was not elected as leader but was just put into place after the Tsar abdicated. The Kornilov Revolt is an event which highlights the lack of support and power which the provisional government had hold of. Kerensky; also a leading member of the provisional government, attempted to assert control over events and appointed Kornilov to reassert discipline in the army. Kerensky released the Bolshevik’s from whom were in prison as a result of the July Days. They were released from prison and given weapons to fight off the SR and Mensheviks. Kerensky’s role damaged the army who were left demoralised and confused. This event had given the Bolsheviks massive support therefore being a big threat against the provisional government.

Another problem and factor towards the provisional government was the land distribution. The issues with land was a massive concern for the peasants who revolted as a reaction towards these issues. They murdered and forced out the land owners in their aim to receive the land and redistribute it amongst themselves equally. The provisional government did very little about this being opposed to the idea of land redistribution. As a result of this the peasants became opposed and angry towards the provisional government. At this point Lenin stepped in promoting the peasants need in favour of the Bolshevik party gaining it support from the lower class. The provisional government’s lack of involvement cost it its support and its oppositional group, being the Bolshevik party, further popularity.

The collection of events which happened under the provisional government in Russia shows a series of mistakes all contributing to its own fall. From the start, the provisional government had lacked both support and authority. Though its lack of involvement or its particular involvement expressed no sense of direction or stability in which peasants, workers, sailors or the army were all in hope for.