Cause of the Civil War

Why were the Bolsheviks successful in 1917?

A. Which was more powerful: the Provisional Government or the Soviet?

Provisional Government (formed Mar 2, 1917):

made up of the Kadets and other liberal parties

role: to run the country until a Constituent Assembly is elected

Petrograd Soviet (formed Feb 27, 1917):

made up of workers’ and soldiers’ representatives, socialist intellectuals (mainly Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries)

role: to protect interests of the working class and soldiers

Order No.1:

gave soldiers representation and their committees control of all weapons

stated that soldiers would only obey orders of the Provisional Gov’t if the Soviet agreed

“dual power”: Provisional gov’t was popularly accepted, but real power lay with the Soviet

Soviet kept distance from middle-class Provisional Government

decided not to participate directly with the government but made sure it did nothing to damage interests of working class

Exception: Alexander Kerensky - vice-chairman of Soviet and Minister of Justice in the Provisional government; made sure there were no misunderstandings

Why did the Soviet not take power?

Soviet leaders did not think the time was right for workers to form the gov’t (believed they needed a period of education)

believed that Russia had to go through a “bourgeois revolution” before workers could assume power

wanted to avoid a civil war and counter-revolution (needed to keep middle-class and army commanders on their side)

also believed there had to be a period of time for society to become more industrialized

needed to keep the middle class and army commanders on their side

leaders (mainly intellectual socialists) were not sure if they could control the masses

B. The honeymoon of the revolution

little conflict between Provisional Gov't and the Soviet within the first 2 months

measures taken by the Provisional Gov't met with Soviet and public approval:

Tsarist ministers arrested and imprisoned

secret police were disbanded

granted an amnesty for political and religious prisoners and established freedom of speech. Abolished death penalties. Social, religious, national discrimination was made illegal.

promise to arrange for elections for a Constituent Assembly

new gov't received lots of support

What was happening in the rest of Russia:

in many areas, "Committees of Public Organisations" were set up

at first, these tended to be multi or non-party bodies run by middle-class zemstvo members

soon, their membership expanded to take in representatives of workers', soldiers', trade union and other popular committees

however,bodies were beign outsripped by the growth in towns and districts of soviets that were set up to represent workers’ interests

peasants started to set up committees and give voice to their opinions and demands

honeymoon period was coming to an end as decisions had to be made

C. What were the policies of the key players in March 1917?

Key issues in March 1917:

War: immediate peace, defensive war, or fight with Allies to try gaining territory?

Social reform: how quickly can a program be put into action? how far should it go?

Land: should land from nobility be left to peasants to divide or government to distribute?

Economy: How can the situation be improved?

National minorities: