October 1917 Revolution

How effective was the Provisional Government?

1. Here is a list of some decisions that faced the Provisional Government when it took over in March 1917:
-- What to do about the war
-- What to do about land
-- What to do about food
For each one, say how the government dealt with it, and what the result of the action was.

The Provisional Government promised to its allies to try to keep the war going, while trying to settle the situation in Russia. The result was soldiers were deserting by the thousands, however when Kerensky became the Minister for War he tried to rally the army for an offensive in June. Unfortunately for Kerensky and the Provisional Government, it was a disaster against Germany and the deserters decided to go home rather than help. Then another problem occurred for Kerensky's government, Kornilov and his troops marchedd to Moscow to get rid of the Provisional Government and the Bolsheviks, but Kerensky knew he didn't have enough troops and called on the help from his opponent, the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks helped a lot and got rid of Kornilov and his troops. However, Kerensky's government was in shambles by October and he saw that there was no future for the Provisional Government because it tried to carry on the war and failed which made them lose the army's support.

The government tried to make the peasants wait for elections before taking any land, however in only worked until the second half of the year 1917. The peasants ignored the government to wait and the soldiers, who were mostly peasants, didn't want to miss their turn to get land so they went and got land for themselves. Kerensky tried to stop the peasants from taking over the land, but as a result it made the Provisional Government lose support from the peasants.

Kerensky's government tried to figure the best way to get food to the starving workers in the cities. However Kerensky and his government lost support from the peasants, as a result food prices sky-rocketed and no food was being brought into the cities.

2. Look for evidence in the reading of how the actions of its opponents harmed the Provisional Government:
-- Members of the soviets
-- Bolsheviks
-- General Kornilov

Members of the Soviets harmed the Provisional Governmnent because they had all of the support from the workers in major industries like coal mining and had a lot of support from the army. However, members of the soviets and the Provisional Government supported each other during the Spring months in 1917, which made a lot more support go towards members of the Soviet. Also, the Bolsheviks harmed the Provisional Government with Lenin's slogan "Peace, Land and Bread" and "All power to the soviets," which increased Bolshevik's support because peace, land, and bread were the things people wanted the most and the Provisional Government wasn't giving it to them. Lastly, General Kornilov harmed the Provisional Government by them having to call on help from the Bolsheviks, which made the Bolsheviks more likeable to the people. Therefore as a result the Provisional Government lost support from the peasants and its people.

3. Based on your answers to questions 1 & 2, how effective do you think the Provisional Government was? Your answer should be at least two paragraphs. Make sure you provide key details and analysis.

I believe that the Provisional Government was completely uneffective because they weren't listening or giving peace, land, and bread to the people even though that's what they wanted, and they failed to keep order in the government. The Provisional Government planned on giving the peasants land, but they wanted them to wait. However, the peasants, soldiers, and other people couldn't wait, they wanted to get their chance to get land and so they did. The Provisional Government tried controling this, but failed and lost support from most people. Also, the Provisional Government tried to find a means to supply food and bring it to the cities, but they failed with this task as well. As a result, food prices sky-rocketed and nobody could afford it, so they no longer supported the Provisional Government because they were starving. Lastly, the Provisional Government wanted to keep the war going, however many soldiers were deserting the army and there were many casualties. Since the Bolsheviks promised peace they supported them. The Provisional Government lost support from their troops and were heading down to collapse. Since the Provisional Government couldn't supply food, make peace, or give land to the people they were very uneffective because that's all the people wanted. It would've been smart to give people what they wanted because then the Provisional Government would've had a lot of support and wouldn't have collapsed.

In addition, the Provisional Government failed to keep order in the government, which was a key factor in sustaining their control over the country. The soldiers, who were in the front, started to desert the fighting and war effort and just went home. The Provisional Government couldn't bring them back or train them properly, therefore they were ineffective in keeping the war going. Also, the people joined the Bolsheviks in an almost revolution, which showed that the Provisional Government didn't have a lot of support. However, a bit of luck occurred when Kerensky found out that Lenin had support from Germany. The Russian people greatly disliked the Germans, therefore support went back to the Provisional Government, but it was only short term because the Bolsheviks came back and proved themselves to everyone when they helped the Provisional Government fight off Kornilov. This showed the people that they weren't German spies and were loyal to the people, therefore the Bolsheviks gained more support from the people.

The Appeal of Lenin and Trotsky
1. Using Sources 42 - 44, and the Profile of Lenin, add extra details to the profile of Lenin:
-- Why Lenin appealed to people: He appealed to the people because he was "short and sturdy with a bald head, small beard and deep set eyes, Lenin looked like a small tradesmen."(42), making him appealing to the public because he looked like one of them. In addition to his looks he was a very good orator, he gave speeches that "inspired the workers and soldiers to a determined struggle."(44).
-- His personal qualities: His personal qualities, such as a good compromiser, the planner, ruthless, very ambitious and had a lot of strong will made him a good leader and appealed to the public. The public saw how organized he was and how he believed in his amitions even if they were far fetched, which made other people believe in them as well. Also, since he was a good compriser and a good planner the other members of the Bolsheviks saw him as a good leader because he could keep people in order if there were "internal divisions within the party," where he kept things in order and stopped the fighting within the party.
-- His strengths as a leader: Some of Lenin's strengths as a leader are tight control of the party, some discipline, and a good orator. Since he tried to discipline and keep tight control he was a good leader because he could do these things and the members of the party listened to him. Also, he was a good orator, which made him appealing to the public because his speeches were inspiring and they believed in him.

2. Using Sources 45 - 47, and the Profile of Trotsky, add extra details to the profile of Trotsky:
-- Why Trotsky appealed to people: Trotsky appealed to the people because he used real life examples in his inspiring speaches and pieces of writing. For example, he published two Bolshevik newspapers one called Pravda, which inspired many people in Russia. Since he grew up in a farming family, people saw him as one of them.
-- His personal qualities: He's very brilliant and an awe-inspiring orator, which gave him great appeal from the public and made him a key figure in the Bolshevik party because he had so many supporters.
-- His strengths as a leader: A very good orator was his key strength because it inspired so many people and made them support the Bolshevik party, He was a good orator because he was intelligent and new how to get the support from the people.

3. Finally, write a short report on the contribution of each individual to the Bolsheviks' success in 1917.

Lenin's ruthlessness and tight control made him a major contribution to the Bolshevik success because he was the one that began the takeover when everyone else said it wasn't the right time, but because he stuck to his plan he was able to lead the Bolsheviks into the takeover of the Provisional Government. However, he wouldn't have been able to have so many members and volunteers in the revolution without Trotsky's speeches. With Trotsky's speeches the Bolsheviks were able to get an immense amount of support from the people, without this support they probably wouldn't have been successful in the takeover. Also, since Lenin was able to think of the slogan as a strategy he was able to gain support as well, and without this there probably would've been more support for the Provisional Government.