How far was the Provisional Government responsible for its own downfall?

   The PG also inherited the soviets, the largest of which being the Petrograd Soviet which was dominated by Bolsheviks by September 1917. The Petrograd soviet used the power it held after the revolution to institute changes, the main one being ‘order number one’ which allowed soldiers to choose their Generals and meant that any military action taken by the PG must be first approved by the Petrograd soviet. Therefore giving them significant power as they now have final rule of the course of action to take on issues which arose, showing that the PG had little power over what could be done meaning they couldn’t be responsible for the downfall. However, even when the PG could have made concessions especially towards the peasants to gain favor they chose not to which reinforced the view that the PG wasn’t legitimate as it wasn’t voted for. This diminished their power outside of the cities which is reflected in the amount of land that was taken by peasants from landowners, showing little control over agricultural areas as well. This lack of recognized power by most outside of the major cities made it impossible for them to attempt reformations before they had held elections in November. Given that 80% of the Russian population this lack of support is a vital reason why the revolution succeeded. However, it can be argued that if they had succeeded in the elections they then would have had legitimate power over Russia and been able to assert their authority over the peasantry.

   Arguably, the main contributing factor to the downfall of the PG was the return of Lenin through Germany after the fall of the Tsar although he went into hiding. Upon his arrival in Russia Lenin was the only member of the Bolsheviks that wanted an armed insurrection, not even Trotsky did at this point. Lenin believed it was essential to carry out the insurrection before the November elections, as these would grant the PG legitimate power and it would be hard to overthrow a legitimate government form that point. Lenin’s leadership was a vital reason that the government was removed showing that it was not the responsibility of the PG as the Bolsheviks now controlled a large force of armed workers.

   Overall, the PG inherited a severally damaged Russia in need strong leadership however the lack of true power to the PG preventing this as the Bolshevik dominated Petrograd soviet had an almost equal power due to order number one. Alongside, this the return of Lenin and the timing of the Bolsheviks were able to undermine the illegitimacy of the PG and exploit it to gain favor, showing the PG could not have been responsible for its downfall.