The Bolshevik party was the only party within Russia which stated they would end the war. The war in Russia was very unpopular. The Russian army was getting no where. They were just defending the same line, and taking heavy loses from the Germans. The majority of the Russian people were against the war, which made them very popular with the the workers and members of the armed forces. The result of this policy was the Bolsheviks gained support of key factories and military bases, which helped in the fighting and chaos of the October revolution.
The workers and soldiers of Russia had very similar ideas. They both wanted an end to the war and wanted the majority of power, if not all of it, to go to the soviet. The Bolsheviks had powerful propaganda, including the slogan “Peace, Bread and all power to the Soviets!”, which fitted perfectly with the workers and soldiers thoughts. The result was the workers and many soldiers became members of the Bolshevik party. The Putilov works were renowned for being strong Bolshevik supporters.
The Bolsheviks opposed the provisional government, because they thought that Russia could go from a monarchy, to communism in one fell swoop. The provisional government also opposed the Bolsheviks, but had no real power due to the Soviet of workers. The first order the Soviet gave, made the provisional government have no power at all. It stated the workers and soldiers had to follow what the government said, but only if the Soviet agreed with it. This meant that if the provisional government wanted to do something the Soviet did not want, they couldn't do it. The result was that this made the provisional government weak, as the Bolsheviks 'Supported' the Soviet.
Kerensky, the leader of the Provisional government made some critical errors when in charge. In June 1917, he decided to launch a new offensive, also known as the 'Kerensky Offensive'. Although successful at first, the Germans came back with a strong counter-attack, and the Germans suffered heavy loses. This then made Kerensky very unpopular. The army was refusing to fight, often deserting or sabotaging their own plans to stop them fighting. The result again made Kerensky, and his provisional government very unpopular, and with this support for the Bolsheviks increased.
The provisional government was made up of many political parties. Many right wing parties and left wing parties made decisions in the government difficult to agree on, and when they did, one party would often block the legislation. This made the government indecisive, which again made the government very unpopular, and again support for the Bolsheviks increased.
In October 1917, the Bolshevik party staged a revolution to take power, but how did they do this. The Bolshevik party was still a relatively small party compared to others. The provisional government was very unpopular for things such as the Kerensky Offensive, and not stopping the war. The Bolsheviks had a strong leader, who was undisputed at the top of the party, and were campaigning to end the war. The reason they were so successful was because of the war. If the provisional government had ended the war, they would have taken away the Bolsheviks main policy, which gained them many thousands of supporters, and mainly gained them the support of some of the army. Without the army, they would have not been able to take over in October, and therefore would have not been successful.
