Kerensky took measures to stop the revolution. Having already disarmed the Bolshevik Red Guards and issued warrants for the arrest of Lenin and other socialist leaders, he now prepared to face the challenge from the right. However, Kerensky was not strong enough to face a simultaneous challenge from both Right and Left and had no choice but to appeal to the Left for help. He was therefore forced to allow for the re-arming of the Red Guards and had to call on workers, soldiers, and sailors to come to the defence of the Provisional Government. Troops who were loyal to Kerensky persuaded some of Kornilov's soldiers to turn back. Most of Kornilov's force mutinied against him, later sending a letter to the Petrograd authorities, apologising for rebelling against them. This was the end for Kornilov and his challenge for power was over. With the threat from the Right now dispelled however, Kerensky had no one to save him from a determined push from the Left.
Though no coup actually happened, it became one of many causes to the eventual downfall of the Provisional Government and the rise of the Petrograd Soviet. Kerensky's reputation was now damaged, because of his poor handling of the affair. It revived the Left and again raised peoples fears of a counter-revolutionary threat from the Right. It also proved the strength and the power of the working class and their ability to uphold the revolution.
The Kornilov affair was used by the Petrograd Soviet to make the Provisional Government look "dishonest", weak and unable to control the various factions challenging for control. The high command of the army had been humiliated , its moral severely damaged and therefore it was unable to effectively challenge the dramatic swing of power.
'Kornilov’s coup played into Bolshevik hands'
This statement tells us a lot about the stability of the Provisional Government ; it was weak and unable to hold up against other parties as the 'workers had now turned to the one party who had refused to co-operate with the failed regime'. In the soviet elections, the Bolsheviks had won control of the Moscow soviets and Petrograd and stood strong against everyone, including the Provisional Government.(PG)
The PG showed no support of the measures being taken to prevent chaos in Russia and no actual 'coup' or 'affair' ever took place but played an important role in the causes of the downfall of the PG and the steady rise of the Petrograd soviet. The Kornilov affair was used by the Petrograd soviet to successfully make the PG look dishonest and weak.
As Kornilov was Kerensky’s commander-in-chief of the armed forces, he still had loyalty of a few military units and felt strong enough to march against Kerensky in Petrograd later on, which at this point, could've caused trouble with both the Petrograd soviet and the PG. Overall, it 'intensified mutual distrust and completed work of destruction’.
General Kornilov believed that only discipline and strong leadership could actually save Russia and along with the clever tactics of Lenin and the Bolsheviks, the PG were doomed to failure.
The PG weren’t popular at this stage and made many mistakes such as arming the Bolsheviks in the Kornilov affair which aided them in regaining their popularity.
The authority given to the government was to deal with the major problems that Russia were facing, but they weren't using their given authority in the appropriate way and this made them unpopular with the Russian people.
The Kornilov Coup was important because it lead to the eventual downfall of the PG. The soviet used the Kornilov Affair to make the PG look dishonest and weak. Arming of Bolsheviks in the Kornilov affair allowed them to gain back the popularity that they had lost and gave them military resources which could overthrow the provisional government. Kerensky had armed the one party that since April had been committed to overthrowing the PG, and the Bolsheviks now looked like the saviours of Petrograd.
