Problems of the Provisional Government

Economic

The War

National Minorities

Land

Minister of War: Milyukov (end of Apr.)

Wanted territorial gains

Constantinople (TR)

Bosphorus Strait into Black Sea

Sought after centuries

Soviets only committed to war for defensive purposes

Forced to resign after end of Apr. crisis

Crisis solved after May 5th reform

5 socialist leaders joined

Tsereteli (Menshevik)

Chernov (Soc. Revolutionary)

click to edit

Associated with war, would lose support if further losses occured

The summer offensive (1917)

Major offensive launched against Germany

Reasons:

Britain & France requested them to do so (Treaty)

Bring pressure off Western Front

Nationalism and Patriarchy across all classes

Defeat: Loss of land

Defeat: National humiliation

Kadets and Conservatives

Successful offensive: Old generals put back in positions

Bring revolution under control

Wanted all classes to unite

Some socialists

Wanted better bargaining positions with Germany in peace negotiations

Alexander Kerensky (New Minister of War)

Popular and held patriotic speeches

Some middle-class members volunteered for shock battalions

Unsuccessful with soldiers

"Little point in fighting ... when everybody wanted peace"

Fraternisation with German troops

Thousands ran away before offensive began

Offensive (16 - 19th of June)

Troops suffered from alcohol addiction

Time needed to 'sober up' led to German reinforcements arriving

Female volunteers broke through first two German lines

Met with heavy fire: Dispersed in panic

Fell apart on third day

100,000+ soldiers killed

Further territorial losses

'July Days' in Petrograd

Armed uprising

P.G. survived but socialist members lost credibility with workers and soldiers

May 1917: Peasant unrest

Collapse of central authority led to hunger for land

Felt betrayed by emancipation of 1861

Wanted government to approve a reform allowing them to take land

Liberal officials unwilling to create land reforms entitling peasants to land

Wanted it to be done within law framework set by Constituent Assembly

'Free land for all' could cause soldiers to return

Peasants continued to raid private estates and to take land

Socialist Revolutionaries brought hope to peasants

Chernov made Minister of Agriculture

Wanted issue to be solved by Constituent Assembly too

Drafted a radical movement empowering peasants to take private estate land

Blocked by liberals

Failed to understand that peasants did not want the 'Constituent Assembly resolution'

Did not want 'landowner compensation'

Land seizures continued (237 cases in July)

Finns and Poles called for indepedence

Ukraine also wanted independence

Contained most valuable farmland and access to front

Liberals denied independence

Wanted Russia to stay a great power by uniting the regions

Caucasus region wanted independence

Railway system damaged by war and near breaking down

Raw material and fuel shortage in cities led to reduced factory output

100,000 workers laid off as 568 Petrograd factories closed (Feb - Jul)

Poor harvest of 1917

Scarcity of goods led to rise of goods prices

Peasants kept grain to themselves as money made was worthless

Grain prices doubled (Feb - Jun) in Petrograd

Punishment brigades in countryside made peasants hostile

Growing dispute between workers and employers

Worker social reform not set completely

Wages became useless

Strikes grew

Workers wanted price controls and the arrest of profeteers

Liberals urged by industrialists to not interfere

Socialist revolutionaries unable to meet the needs of workers