The Provisional Government didn’t really have enough power because this was held by the Soviet. This meant that they struggled to take action to the problems. Also by failing to give national minorities a degree of autonomy, they lost more support from these minorities. Kerensky also contributed in a big way to the failure of the provisional government; he didn’t realise the true strength of the Bolshevicks and moved against them in October. This gave them an excuse for seizing power, which gave them more support and allowed to seize power in the name of the Soviet.
The government was unable to solve the economic problems or end the war, the war was causing problems for the government and they were in-turn failing to deal with them. This meant that obviously the soldiers were discontent because they wanted the war ended, so they started to support more extreme parties because they thought the present system didn’t work.
The Provisional Government had many issues to deal with and they couldn’t really cope. There was the war, the economy and the land that needed sorting out. With these major issues not being sorted, the people involved were again becoming more discontent and so turned to extreme parties like the Bolshevicks. This is how the people as a mass links in, because it was the parties who needed their support and if they lost it they were nothing.
Gradually different social groups were getting discontent with the situation of the P.G. and wanted a change. The Bolshevicks could have provided this change if they got the support that they needed.
The Role of the Bolshevicks (The opposition of the PG) was one of the other main factors to why there was a revolution. They had a very big part to play in the revolution. They had much strength as a party to gain support and revolt. They had the ability to recognise where their votes could come from and then channel their slogans etc. to these groups. They were able to win the peasants support with their slogan “Peace, bread and land”. This was effective because during the war peasants were starving and had lost their land. They wanted the war to end so things could get back to normal and they could have things like bread and land. It was key to the Bolshevicks to gain the support of the peasants as they made up the majority of the population and had revolutionary potential.
They could gain the support of the soldiers because they wanted peace and the provisional government kept the war going. The “Peace” part of their slogan obviously appealed to the soldiers because they wanted peace, and so a lot of soldiers supported the Bolshevicks because of this promise that was made.
An issue, which greatly increased support for the Bolshevicks, was the fact that they were the only party who wanted to finish with the war, this increased support for their party because all the troops and most of the Russian public wanted the war to finish. This was because of the problems it was causing economically. Due to the soldiers and peasants becoming more radicalised, the promises of the Bolshevicks secured their support.
Lenin played a key role in the revolution, in fact without Lenin the revolution probably wouldn't have happened. He was a strong and determined leader, which meant he could make key policy decisions happen, for example, the April Theses.
The Bolshevicks also encountered some luck in their attempt for power. The economic and military collapse helped them because they could make promises to the people involved about sorting them out. The provisional Government also failed in dealing with the rising, they never really attempted properly to sort it out.
A lot of the Bolshevicks’ supporters were from Petrograd and Moscow which were key places in the revolution.
These successes of the Bolshevicks and the failures of the Provisional Government were the main factors to why there was a revolution in October 1917. However, the effects of the war and the role of the people as a mass also contributed to the revolution.
The effects of the war were noticed economically as well as socially. The army had been demoralised after heavy defeats and there was a lack of supplies to them. They just wanted the war to end. The provisional government didn’t end the war, and so lost the support of the soldiers. The war also had it’s effects economically, inflation was getting worse which wiped out wage gains, factories were closing and unemployment was on the increase. This obviously caused discontent so again the provisional government lost support due to the effects of the war. The people as a mass also had a part to play in the revolution.
The workers, peasants and soldiers were the main social groups involved as they were most directly affected. The people as a mass were of key importance really, as they had the revolutionary potential because without them then parties would have no support. The workers realised their aspirations tied in with the Bolshevicks ideas and so supported them. The soldiers wanted to the war to end, these turned to the Bolshevicks because they were the only party who also said they wanted to pull Russia out of the war. The peasants supported the Bolshevicks because they were also attracted to the Bolshevick ideas and aspirations. The Bolshevicks used a slogan “Peace, Bread and Land”. This was effective because it appealed to the three major social groups and gradually led them to supporting the party. The people are of importance because the Bolshevicks needed their support and revolutionary potential to gain power in October.
The strengths of the Bolshevicks and the failures of the provisional government combined was what caused the revolution. The Bolshevicks had the strength of Lenin and his strong character and the provisional government failed to deal with key problems like the war and the state of the economy. This led the people who were affected, to become radicalised and support the Bolshevicks who made them promises, which they wanted. However the effects of the war also contributed to the revolution because it was the war that caused the problems in the first place with the economy especially. The people were also important because it was them who the Bolshevicks needed to gain the support of, and when they did, another revolution was possible.
