HOW far do you agree that the main reason for the failure of the PG was the decision to continue fighting in the war? Essay

Submitted By WillAlecock
Words: 1072
Pages: 5
Open Document
HOW far do you agree that the main reason for the failure of the PG was the decision to continue fighting in the war?

The decision to continue fighting in the war was the main reason for the failure of the Provisional Government. The reason being that it caused a progression of other events that ensured the government could not succeed in, firstly winning the war but mainly, keeping peace and prosperity in Russia. However, there are some other key factors in the fall of the Provisional Government. These added insult to injury and allowed the Bolsheviks to seize power with relative ease in the October of 1917.

The first minor problem was that there had never been democracy in Russia and their system was a little flawed. The government did not fairly represent the parties in the country. People were also unhappy with the instability of its power, which of course was no help. Because of the country's lack of administration, due to the abdication of the Tsar, and the unrest in the countryside, due to unhappiness about unfair land distribution, a major crisis in the countryside ensued. Peasants took the law into their own hand and took over land plus used violence against the landowners. After the failure of the June Offensive the soldiers who had deserted came back to their homes in the country and assisted in requisitioning land. By the end of August this had causes major chaos throughout the country. The fact that the government lacked the ability to keep control showed that they were weak, and this played a part in its failure. Lenin's return to Russia provoked means for failure too. Upon his return he delivered a 90 minute speech which moved his onlookers and slated the work of the Provisional Government. He boosted support for the Bolsheviks with the two slogans: "peace, land, bread" and "all power to the soviet". The implications of his return and his speech, the transcript of which was published and named the "April Thesis", were big. Bolshevism was now a leading idea for workers and peasants who would benefit from "peace, land, bread" and there was an ever growing lack of support for the current government. Of course, this made failure an inevitability for the government as we can see from it being the Bolsheviks who did eventually seize power. What was essentially Lenin's biggest mistake and the Bolshevik's also was the 'July Days', a period in early July of mass demonstrations against the Provisional Government fuelled by Lenin. However, whilst diminishing Bolshevik support it was also a major problem, although by absolutely no means a failure, of the government's because it kept the country in constant disarray and showed the country was in a fragile and tense state. But, in no way was this as much as a major factor as the continuation of fighting.

This decision was quintessential to the Provisional Government's failure. Firstly it immediately split politicians into those who favoured the war and those who didn't. An instant cause for concern because now the government was divided and ultimately this weakened it. It also stopped the Soviet and Provisional Government getting along. The soviet wanted to continue fighting the war to protect Russia and keep the Germans at bay, where as the government wanted the gain land and resources at the expense of the Ottoman Empire. The government went with their way which caused resentment in the Soviet and at the end of the day lack of support from them. It also led to demonstrations against the Provisional Government in Petrograd. Another cause of demonstration and a lot of civil unrest, in cities especially, was the strain on food, food distribution and other essential supplies. Russia just did not have the capability to transfer food as well as munitions across the country. This is what continuing the war boiled down to: Russia was not capable of winning the war because their transport was nowhere near as efficient as it had to be, it was the
Show More

Related Documents: HOW far do you agree that the main reason for the failure of the PG was the decision to continue fighting in the war? Essay

Business Journalism in India Essay

role of (5) subsidies and foreign exchange reserves 4 Companies, balance sheets, AGMs window dressing of balance sheets, the loopholes (the case of Satyam) (5) 5 Stock exchange, Sensex and its ups and downs, need for stricter monitoring, how to (5) cover Stock Exchanges, qualities of a good stock exchange reporter 6 Ethics for…

Words 26083 - Pages 105