All kinds of arms, such as rifles and machine guns, must be under the control of the company and battalion committees and must in no case be handed over to officers even at their demand.”
It is important to remember that the Provisional Government was not a democratically elected body, but a body elected by a rebellious committee of the fourth Duma. Although the Duma was an elected body, it was essentially elected only by the upper and middle classes. They had not been elected the working class and the peasants, and became increasingly associated with the bourgeois and the landowners. The Provisional Government was only meant as a temporary body to run the country until a Constituent Assembly could be elected. This led to that many of the members felt that they could not make lasting decisions for Russia, as this was to be the job of democratically elected Constituent Assembly. The divisions between Liberals and Socialists in the Provisional Government often caused splits between the members, leading to a lack of clear policies as the groups would often try and block each other.
Policy that was made by the Provisional government often proved to be quite unpopular, such as the decision to continue the war. This was one of the key points that gave the Bolsheviks their support. If the Provisional Government had made a separate piece with Germany similar to the Bresk-Livstok Treaty the Bolsheviks formed with the Germans, it would have had a greater chance of survival. Instead Alexander Kerensky launched a new offensive against the western front in June 1917. Another policy that caused many problems was the failure of the Provisional Government to legitimize the peasant takeover of the land as they had no way to compensate the landowners and they felt that this decision was one that should be made by the Constituent assembly. This led to many problems the Provisional Government would probably have liked to have lived without. This caused a falling-out with the peasants who were now even more unwilling to supply the cities with food, leading to an even greater shortage of food in the cities than before. As the year went on the peasants began to seize land of their own accord, the Provisional Government was loosing the light control it had on Russia.
There was increasing disillusionment of the Provisional Government in the eyes of the lower and even the middle classes. Their failure to do anything about the deteriorating economic situation and their lack of social reform caused increasing radicalization of the workers. The Provisional Government lost a great deal of support from the national minorities in Russia when they refused to give them even a degree of autonomy.
Kadets, a liberal party, dominated the Provisional Government. As the summer wore on Liberals moved further to the right, as many were frightened and appalled by the violence and power of the workers. In the workers eyes they became associated with reactionary military officers and landowners. The many of the moderate socialists became out of touch with their supporters, who were the workers and the peasants. This also happened to some of the moderate socialists who were in the leadership of the Soviets. In the eyes of the workers and Soldiers, some of the moderate socialists became associated more and more with the Provisional Government.
By October 1917 the Provisional Government was discredited, attracted hatred and was widely disdained. The Kornilov affair greatly discredited the government. Alexander Kerensky appointed General Kornilov the new supreme commander of the Russian forces to bring more troops to Petrograd to deal with any threats posed by the Bolsheviks. However, Kornilov, who had quickly become the favorite of the middle-class, saw this as an opportunity to restore order and authority to Petrograd, prevent the worst excess of the revolution and “Hang the German spies, headed by Lenin… and disperse the Soviet”. At this point Kerensky panicked, denounced General Kornilov and asked the Soviet for help to defend the city. Soldiers, sailors and workers gathered to defend Petrograd, but it was the Bolshevik Red Guard who made up the bulk of those who organized to defend the city. Kerensky and the Provisional Government armed them with weapons, while the Red Guard did most of the organization. However, Kornilov’s troops never arrived. Railway workers stopped the train and Bolshevik agents managed to talk many of the soldiers into deserting their officers. The consequences of these events were quite large. Kerensky and the Provisional Government was now completely discredited, Kerensky’s reputation permanently damaged. Whereas the Bolsheviks emerged as the saviors of Petrograd, the true defenders of the revolution. The Provisional Government had armed the main center for opposition to themselves with weapons that would later be used against them. The officers of the army no longer trusted Kerensky and would not fight for him as they felt that Kerensky had betrayed Kornilov. By association with Kerensky the Socialist Revolutionaries and the Mensheviks were discredited and their seemingly inability to change policy was condemned by the people
Most of the moderate socialists now placed all their hope in the Constituent Assembly. However the Provisional Government failed to call the elections early enough. Many of the members of the Provisional Government, especially the liberals, knew they would not be favored in the elections for the Constituent Assembly so they tried to put off elections until the war ended and a more stable period came where they would be more favored. This let the Bolsheviks gain more and more popularity. When Kerensky moved against the Bolsheviks in the days leading up to the revolution he gave the Bolsheviks an excuse to seize power in the name of the Soviet.
The Bolsheviks were the only party openly opposing the Provisional Government, calling for “all power to the Soviets” this earned them many supporters. One may say that the October revolution in one form or another would have happened even if the Bolsheviks had not been in place, this is probably the case. However, it is important to remember that there were some key figures in the Bolshevik party that held great influence over the events of 1917 such as Lenin and Trotsky. Had they not been where they were, the future of Russia could have look extremely different.