Extracts from this document...

Introduction

How far was the Provisional Government responsible for its own downfall? The Provisional Government was implemented after the fall of the Tsarist regime due to the February revolution; this in itself posed issues for the government. As it hadn?t been voted for it lacked credibility and power outside of cities, the question of whether to continue the war still stood alongside how to deal with the remaining political opposition ? the Bolsheviks. So was the government always going to fail or was it due to choices made its Prime ministers like Kerensky? With the implementation of the provisional government came several issues that still needed addressing by whoever was to take charge, the most important on which was whether Russia would remain in the war or withdraw. Most Russian workers favored withdrawal as the war was placing a strain on the already damaged Russian economy as food and ...read more.

Middle

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. ...read more.

Conclusion

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. ...read more.

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our AS and A Level Modern European History, 1789-1945 section.