The Provisional Government made many mistakes such as failing to conclude the war. The Government failed to remove one of the greatest obstacles to peace: Russian participation in World War I. The decision to continue with the war was to prove extremely unfortunate. It was unpopular, as there appeared to be few aims to the continued fighting. The government quickly lost the support of a large proportion of the troops. This provided excellent targets for Bolshevik propaganda. What is more, the Russian situation in the war worsened and humiliating defeat began to loom large. This robbed the Provisional Government of any popular support, and the chance to crush army dissent.
In May, Kerensky was made war minister and inspired the country to support the Army in a fresh attack on the Austrians. However, this attack known as the ‘June Offensive’ was a failure. As a consequence, bread rations were reduced even more, rail workers went on strike as well as workers from Putilov arms factory. Whole Russian regiments begin to mutiny. The Government created hope among the people but there was a disastrous outcome. People started to question their judgment and turned their heads to the Bolsheviks.
In the atmosphere created by the news of the failure of the offensive and the government’s mounting problems, the protests of early July turned into a direct challenge to the Provisional Government. The Provisional Government blamed the small revolutionary parties and particularly the Bolsheviks for stirring unrest. The Government ordered the arrest of leading Bolsheviks and those who were not captured were forced into hiding. Even though as a result of the fears aroused by the July days the Provisional Government was reorganized under a new leader, Kerensky, many believed it to still be weak- and growing even weaker.
Another challenge that the provisional Government faced was the Kornilov affair. They were further weakened by the coup, the attempt to seize power, by General Kornilov. Kornilov believed the provisional Government was not strong enough or determined to take the action that was needed to continue with the war or to crush the revolutionary parties. He attempted to seize power by ordering the army he commanded to march to Petrograd and take control of the city. This however failed. However it did not failed because of the obstruction of the Government, but because the Bolsheviks organized he railway workers to sabotage the troop trains and block the rail-way lines. The Bolsheviks infiltrated Kornilov’s army and encouraged his troops to mutiny. the Bolsheviks were able to claim that it was they, and not the provisional Government, who had saved Petrograd from Kornilov. The Bolsheviks gained publicity and popularity as a result. They soon won a majority on the Petrograd Soviet and Trotsky was made chairman. This event showed how influential and shrewd the Bolsheviks were, and it confirmed how un-prepared and ineffectual the Provisional Government was.
It can be questioned whether the Government did enough to prevent the coup on the 24 October. They took many precautions, but it can be doubted that they didn’t take enough. They cut telephone wires to the Bolshevik’s headquarters, raised bridges over the River Neva to stop crowds entering the city centre, they sent the following to guard and protect the Provisional Government in the Winter Palace: three detachments of student soldiers (cadets), the women’s death battalion, a bicycle unit, 40 war invalids led by an officer with an artificial leg and some light artillery (guns which fired shells).
The objective for taking these precautions was to prevent a possible attempt for Bolshevik to seize power. These however failed. This is because the actions they did take did not cancel out the possibilities for the Bolsheviks to capture the Winter place. There were still many entries the Bolsheviks could take. There was also a lack of security around the Winter place as they had cadets who were just in training therefore they were not qualified, there were women volunteers who wouldn’t have implemented their roles as well as a practiced male soldiers could have and they have war invalids an with an officer was a man with an artificial leg who would have been able to fight with their utmost capability. The army sent no machine guns to use so artillery to discourage the Bolsheviks to seize the palace. The army also left their own headquarters unguarded, which could have been easily captured.
The Bolsheviks alternatively had many strengths to take advantage of during February to October. The Bolsheviks had many clear ideas and clever slogans. On his return to Petrograd, he made a speech which was then compiled into a document called the "April Thesis". Sections of this were used as slogans for the Bolsheviks. "Bread, Peace and Land" and "All power to the Soviets" made them very popular with the different classes. Lenin galvanized the small and theretofore cautious Bolshevik party into action. The courses he advocated were simplified into the powerful slogans. The catch phrase “Peace, Bread, Land” had become extremely popular with the peasantry. Lenin was able to appeal to the peasants promising land reform, an end to the war and an improvement in Russia’s food supply. Lenin used propaganda to spread his slogans, such as his newspaper ‘Pravda’. The Bolshevik’s slogans and ideas appealed to many people as they were the first party to provide a solution to Russia predicaments, opposed to what the provisional government was offering.
By June the Bolsheviks slogan "All power to the soviets" was eagerly taken up by tens of thousands of demonstrating workers. The Bolsheviks controlled the soviets and its militia. This united leadership made the Bolsheviks stronger and more of a threat to the Government. It was not that Lenin supported the soviets in their present composition, and he did despise much of what they had done, but the soviets were a power base. They had become an essential part of the Government. Lenin thought that the soviets offered his small Bolshevik Party the means by which they could obtain power. Bolshevik takeover of the soviets would be a prelude to Bolshevik takeover of the state.
The red guards played a very big part to the revolution. They were armed factory workers. Under the influence of the , the Red Guards played an important role in the defeat of the revolt led by General in September, 1917. They also were used to seize control from the in November, 1917. It is estimated that by the end of the revolution there were 7,000 Red Guards in Russia. This illustrates an image of the amount of militia the Bolsheviks directed. The red guards were an advantageous asset to the Bolsheviks as together they held potency resulting in two key beneficial events (Kornilov’s affair and Winter palace capture). Without these men the Bolsheviks wouldn’t have the fighting capability to overwhelm its opponents.
The Bolsheviks were perceptive enough to seize opportunities. They noticed that the Provisional Government were very susceptible therefore they benefited from this. The Bolsheviks knew that people were growing restless toward the government so they produced the slogans which encapsulated the basic problems (i.e. the war) that were confronting Russia. By doing this the Bolsheviks gained the public’s awareness towards Russia’s state and made them realise the current system was not effective, therefore they gained more support as Lenin proved himself to be a charismatic leader that the Russian were waiting for.
In conclusion, the Bolsheviks didn’t simply pick up the power but they did produce their own efforts to seize it. However, they did have many advantages due to the Provisional Government’s vulnerable state. It is clear to say that the Provisional government were incapable of ruling Russia at the time due to the challenges they faced, therefore the Bolsheviks cleverly took advantage of this by creating a people’s party that’s fuel were the weaknesses of the Government.
