October 1917 Revolution

In the shared file folder entitled "Russian Revolution," read the .pdf file Provisional Government.

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.
For each one:
A. How did the government deal with it?
B. What was the result of their action?

-- What to do about the war
A. They promised Russia's allies that it would continue the war, while trying to settle the situation in Russia
B. The soldiers deserted the army and came home. Kerensky took control and wanted a large offensive, but the army fell apart due to a German counter-attack. Soldiers who were mostly peasants went back to the countryside to take land.

-- What to do about land
A. It urged the peasants to be restrained and wait for elections before taking any land.
B. The peasants ignored their orders, they took control of the countryside.

-- What to do about food
A. They didn't do anything about fixing the food shortages.
B. There were long lines of people waiting in the cold for food.

2. Look for evidence in the reading of how the actions of its opponents harmed the Provisional Government:
-- Members of the soviets
They had the support of the workers in the coal mining and water industries, and much of the army. Some of them supported Lenin and the Bolsheviks.

-- Bolsheviks
Lenin, leader of the Bolsheviks, wanted to push the revolution farther. When he heard of the March revolution, he came back from exile. He stated his April Theses, which urged the support of the Bolsheviks in a second revolution. Lenin's slogans ("Peace, Land and Bread", "All power to the soviets") were very different from the messages of the Provisional government. Support of the Bolsheviks increased quickly, especially in the soviets and the army.

-- General Kornilov
He marched is troops towards Moscow intending to get rid of the Bolsheviks and the Provisional Government and restore order. His troops refused to fight Soviets so his plan failed.

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.
The Provisional Government was not very effective. When the government tried to suppress the peasants, the peasants just didn't listen to them and took over the countryside. The Provisional Government didn't do anything major to stop food shortages, which also added to the opposition of the government from the people. The government also didn't do a good job with keeping the soldiers in the war. Many of them just deserted the war and went home, which shows that the government didn't have much control over them.
There were opposing unofficial governments and revolutionary leaders that gained the people's support. Lenin and the Bolsheviks had good messages that were more popular than the Provisional government's messages, which gained them more support. The Provisional government was not successful in making the people happy, therefore its opponents took advantage of this and tried to take power.


Read the .pdf file Lenin & Trotsky, then:

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 was like the people, they could relate to him, good public speaker
- His personal qualities-dedicated, ambitious, ruthless, inspirational
- His strengths as a leader-dedicated to revolution and his own political ideas, had good control and discipline over the Bolsheviks, good public speaker

2. Using Sources 45 - 47, and the Profile of Trotsky, add extra details to the profile of Trotsky:
-- Why Trotsky appealed to people-very good public speaker, inspirational, people could easily relation to him, even better than Lenin
-- His personal qualities-very smart, good writer
-- His strengths as a leader-good public speaker, liked very much by the people

3. Finally, write a short report on the contribution of each individual to the Bolsheviks' success in 1917.
Lenin and Trotsky were very important in the Bolsheviks' success in 1917. They both were very good public speakers. Also, the people could easily relate to them because they used real life examples in their speeches and seemed to be one of them rather than someone trying to rule them. Russia needed someone that could pull the country together and understand the people rather than just take control.