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)
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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