More importantly, was the significance of the April Theses. The Provisional Government had failed to gain the support of the peasants – the 84% majority of Russia. To gain power, the Bolsheviks needed their support, and they got it by putting together this thesis. It simply gave them land, which was all that they wanted – another failure by the Provisional Government which proves just how weak it was. Also, the Bolsheviks gained vital support by stating in the thesis that Russia must withdraw from the war. No other parties had this on their agenda so the Bolsheviks now stood out from the pack. This increase in support and different ideas gave the Bolsheviks the edge out of all the parties and just added to their ability to seize power.
Of even greater importance was the fact that the Bolshevik party received great contributions from Lenin and Trotsky. Lenin was a great leader. He was a strong professional revolutionary who was ruthless and a great planner. Also he only had his mind on one thing – to overthrow the government. Basically, the Bolsheviks had a superb leader and were well led which was vital when planning a revolution. Trotsky, had enormous power as he became chairman of the Petrograd Soviet in September 1917. This gave the party a sense of superiority and he was obviously a man with experience and knowledge to get such an important position in the Petrograd Soviet. This position gave him impressive links with members of the Petrograd garrison and Baltic fleet – enabling the party to call up support if needed. He was an excellent planner – solely planning the October Revolution and he was also a brilliant organizer and orator, bringing crucial skills to the party. These two men gave the party all that it needed in the sections of leadership, propaganda, planning, and carrying out actions – the were absolutely critical to the party and a major reason why the Bolsheviks did seize power in Oct/Nov 1917.
Most importantly, it was the inherent weaknesses of the Provisional Government that allowed the Bolsheviks to seize power in late 1917. Kerensky was a weak leader and because of this decision making was poor and there was no strength within the government. Dual-power with the Petrograd Soviet was also a weakness as many things, such as the armed forces, were controlled by the Soviet, not the government. The Provisional Government was not at all legitimate as the members, including Kerensky, were self-elected. Moreover, peasant’s problems were not addressed therefore making them angry, and the nationalities issue was also not addressed which made different states (for example Poland) want to leave the country to form on their own. This caused unnecessary chaos in a country that was already on the edge.
The weaknesses of the government were the major cause of the Bolsheviks seizure of power because the Russian people had a simple of who should rule their country – the Provisional Government, or the Bolsheviks, and with the government being so weak people supported the Bolsheviks. This gave them the support, and as they already had the ability, the Bolsheviks overthrew the government in Oct/Nov 1917 quite easily and they proved to be a strong and well organised party with great influence over the incredibly large and powerful nation that was Russia.
