How far was the Provisional Government responsible for its own downfall
How far was the Provisional Government responsible for its own downfall?
To a large extent I believe that the provisional government was responsible for its own downfall due to the fact that they had to share power with the soviets and their perilous decision to continue fighting in the First World War. Their decision to carry on fighting in the war was the most important due to lost support from the Russian people and more importantly, from the armed forces who they relied on to defend them. There are also other factors which contributed to the provisional government’s downfall such as the return of Lenin and the Kornilov affair which led to the success and rise of the Bolsheviks.
A major factor which led to the downfall of the provisional government was First World War. Russia had already lost territory in Poland and morale; this was predominantly down to low members within the army. Additionally Russia owed large amounts of money in foreign loans, and the British and French agreed to continue lending money as long as Russia continued fighting therefore also influencing the provisional government to continue with war. The agreement for Russia to continue fighting in the war brought the provisional government into conflict/disagreement with the Soviet for they believed the only way to bring Russia out of depression was to remove itself form the war. This meant that they would not support the continuation of the war for any other reason, for instance gaining land or money from their defeated opponents. This led the provisional government to plan an offensive on the Eastern Front in order to win support from home and abroad. The June offensive was introduced and made against the Austro-Hungarian army, the failure of the June offensive lead to mass numbers of Russian troops deserting from the front. This was a major collapse for the authority of the provisional government and resulted to July days which led to a series of riots and demonstrations in Petrograd (St
To a large extent I believe that the provisional government was responsible for its own downfall due to the fact that they had to share power with the soviets and their perilous decision to continue fighting in the First World War. Their decision to carry on fighting in the war was the most important due to lost support from the Russian people and more importantly, from the armed forces who they relied on to defend them. There are also other factors which contributed to the provisional government’s downfall such as the return of Lenin and the Kornilov affair which led to the success and rise of the Bolsheviks.
A major factor which led to the downfall of the provisional government was First World War. Russia had already lost territory in Poland and morale; this was predominantly down to low members within the army. Additionally Russia owed large amounts of money in foreign loans, and the British and French agreed to continue lending money as long as Russia continued fighting therefore also influencing the provisional government to continue with war. The agreement for Russia to continue fighting in the war brought the provisional government into conflict/disagreement with the Soviet for they believed the only way to bring Russia out of depression was to remove itself form the war. This meant that they would not support the continuation of the war for any other reason, for instance gaining land or money from their defeated opponents. This led the provisional government to plan an offensive on the Eastern Front in order to win support from home and abroad. The June offensive was introduced and made against the Austro-Hungarian army, the failure of the June offensive lead to mass numbers of Russian troops deserting from the front. This was a major collapse for the authority of the provisional government and resulted to July days which led to a series of riots and demonstrations in Petrograd (St