When it became known that the foreign minister Milyukov had made a pledge to the Allies that Russia would fight on until Germany was defeated, this sparked controversy and many felt he had been deceitful. Late in April, violent demonstrations followed. These led to a Government crisis and both Milyukov and the war minister, Guchkov, resigned in early May. The cabinet was reshuffled and places were found for leading Mensheviks and SRs. It was hoped that this indisputable shift towards the left of The Provisional Government would ease its relationship with the Soviet. This was not the case belief proved unfounded.
In July, Prince Lvov was replaced as Prime Minister by Kerensky. He became a major influence and campaigned for Russia to embrace the conflict with Germany, seeing it as the only way to rescue the revolution. This endeavour to turn the war into a revolutionary campaign took account of the real situation. It was an actuality that Russia was now beyond the point where it could engage in successful conflict with Germany. Nonetheless, he Kerensky persisted with war and, in June, a major offensive was initiated on the southwestern front. It proved ineffectual and mass mutiny was its result. When rumours began to spread that land was being redistributed, the peasants in the army deserted and returned home to claim their land; the Russian armies disintegrated and, by the autumn, the Provisional Government wad discredited. General Kornilov became concerned with the turn of events and called for the Provisional Government to leave the Germans and concentrate on the difficulties at home for the time being.
In April, Lenin returned to Russia. In the ‘April Theses’, he set out his aim – “all power to the soviets”, which meant overthrowing the Provisional Government. Soviets had been set up all over the country. They claimed that, as their members were elected by the workers, they represented the will of the people more faithfully than the Provisional Government. They certainly enjoyed more popularity and support. When Lenin returned to Russia, the soviets were dominated by Social Revolutionaries and Mensheviks. The Bolsheviks, despite being a minority, were a highly-trained group of determined revolutionaries. But, after the failure of Lenin’s first attempt to seize power in July, he fled to Finland and many of his followers were arrested.
An attempted right-wing coup by General Kornilov in September restored the Bolshevik’s fortunes. They played a major part in defeating Kornilov and this won them support in the Petrograd and Moscow soviets. The Bolshevik’s central committee decided on armed insurrection and began to plan what would prove to be the final attempt at revolution. The revoltion took place on 6-7 November, the day before the meeting of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets. The Congress immediately confirmed the Bolshevik’s in power.
Therefore, in conclusion, it can be seen that there were many difficulties that hindered the Provisional Government, which in turn led to the successful revolution. In the October Revolution, a determined minority were able to seize power from a weak Provisional Government which had ultimately failed to seriously address the problems which led to the inevitable downfall of the Tsar.
