How Far Was the Provisional Government Responsible for Its Own Downfall? Essay Example
S13hsm 2 Joe Pendlebury
How far was the Provisional Government responsible for its own downfall?
There are many factors which were responsible for the Provisional government’s downfall. Some are more important than others because they had more impact on the downfall. The War, the distribution of land and the people in the provisional government all contributed to the downfall of the provisional government. They each had different amounts of impact.
The Provisional Government had a programme initially designed to create a better Russia. The main aims of this government were to abolish Tsarist governors and hold elections based on a universal adult franchise. However, the members that made up the provisional government were from the Duma of masters, priests, and lackeys. This meant that, because of the weighted elections, it was not representative of the population, and therefore lacked legitimacy. They had little support from the working class because it was dominated by the Liberals; members of the elite. The government also lacked control because of the dual authority with the Petrograd Soviet, who issued the Soviet Order Number One which directly challenged the Provisional Government. All ideas had to be agreed by the Petrograd Soviet, specifically to do with the military. In the Second Provisional government (the first coalition), the composition had become more left-wing, with Kerensky (a social Revolutionary) as president. Although this could be argued that this would have happened naturally, because the majority of the population were peasants, it definitely contributed to the downfall of the Provisional Government.
The decision to stay in the war was largely responsible for the Provisional Governments downfall. Arguably they were restricted and had to stay in the war, due to having to keep strong relations with Britain and France that funding was continued, and making sure Russia was defended. However this caused huge shortages in coal and food
How far was the Provisional Government responsible for its own downfall?
There are many factors which were responsible for the Provisional government’s downfall. Some are more important than others because they had more impact on the downfall. The War, the distribution of land and the people in the provisional government all contributed to the downfall of the provisional government. They each had different amounts of impact.
The Provisional Government had a programme initially designed to create a better Russia. The main aims of this government were to abolish Tsarist governors and hold elections based on a universal adult franchise. However, the members that made up the provisional government were from the Duma of masters, priests, and lackeys. This meant that, because of the weighted elections, it was not representative of the population, and therefore lacked legitimacy. They had little support from the working class because it was dominated by the Liberals; members of the elite. The government also lacked control because of the dual authority with the Petrograd Soviet, who issued the Soviet Order Number One which directly challenged the Provisional Government. All ideas had to be agreed by the Petrograd Soviet, specifically to do with the military. In the Second Provisional government (the first coalition), the composition had become more left-wing, with Kerensky (a social Revolutionary) as president. Although this could be argued that this would have happened naturally, because the majority of the population were peasants, it definitely contributed to the downfall of the Provisional Government.
The decision to stay in the war was largely responsible for the Provisional Governments downfall. Arguably they were restricted and had to stay in the war, due to having to keep strong relations with Britain and France that funding was continued, and making sure Russia was defended. However this caused huge shortages in coal and food