The Provisional Government March–October 1917

The Provisional Government that emerged from the February Revolution faced an impossible task: governing a vast, war-torn empire without democratic legitimacy, military authority, or the ability to satisfy the contradictory demands of its population. Its eight-month existence was marked by progressive radicalisation, escalating crises, and the steady erosion of its authority. Whether the Provisional Government's failure was inevitable or the result of specific mistakes remains one of the most debated questions in Russian revolutionary history.

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The Nature of the Provisional Government

Composition and Legitimacy

The Provisional Government was formed on 2 March 1917 (OS) by members of the Duma's Provisional Committee. It was not elected — it was self-appointed and intended to govern only until a Constituent Assembly could be elected to determine Russia's future political system.

Feature	Detail
First leader	Prince Georgy Lvov — a liberal zemstvo leader
Political composition	Dominated by Kadets and Octobrists; later included moderate socialists
Key figure	Alexander Kerensky — the only man who sat in both the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet
Legitimacy problem	Unelected; derived its authority from the Duma, which had itself been elected on a restricted franchise

Early Reforms

The Provisional Government introduced genuinely progressive reforms:

• Amnesty for all political prisoners
• Freedom of speech, press, and assembly
• Abolition of the death penalty
• Recognition of equal rights regardless of religion, nationality, or gender
• Plans for a Constituent Assembly to be elected by universal suffrage
• Abolition of the Okhrana (secret police)
• Recognition of trade unions and the right to strike

Key Definition: Provisional Government — the temporary government formed after the February Revolution, intended to rule until a democratically elected Constituent Assembly could determine Russia's permanent political system. Its 'provisional' nature was both a strength (it claimed to be democratic) and a weakness (it lacked the legitimacy to make binding decisions on contentious issues).

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The System of Dual Power

The Provisional Government did not govern alone. From the outset, it shared authority with the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies.

The Petrograd Soviet

Feature	Detail
Formed	27 February 1917 (OS), in the Tauride Palace
Composition	Elected representatives of workers and soldiers; initially dominated by Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries
Order No. 1	Instructed soldiers to obey only orders consistent with Soviet decrees; effectively gave the Soviet a veto over military decisions
Popular support	The Soviet had genuine popular legitimacy that the Provisional Government lacked
Conditional support	Agreed to support the government 'insofar as' it pursued democratic policies

This created what the historian Rex Wade calls an 'unstable equilibrium' — each body needed the other but resented its partner's claims to authority.

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The Failures of the Provisional Government

The War Question

The decision to continue the war was the Provisional Government's most fateful choice:

• Foreign Minister Milyukov publicly committed Russia to pursuing the war to 'a decisive victory', including the acquisition of Constantinople — provoking the April Crisis and mass demonstrations
• Milyukov was forced to resign; the government was reshuffled to include more socialists
• Kerensky became War Minister and launched the disastrous June Offensive (initially successful but quickly collapsed, costing 200,000 casualties)
• The army was disintegrating — desertion reached mass proportions by summer 1917
• Soldiers' committees undermined military discipline; officers were ignored or attacked

Exam Tip: The war question was the Provisional Government's central dilemma. Continuing the war was necessary for Allied support and international credibility, but it was deeply unpopular and impossible to sustain. Ending the war would mean abandoning the Allies and accepting territorial losses. There was no good option — but the decision to continue fighting was politically fatal.

The Land Question

The Provisional Government refused to redistribute land before the Constituent Assembly:

• Legally and constitutionally, this was defensible — only a democratically elected assembly had the moral authority to make such a fundamental change
• Politically, it was disastrous — peasants were seizing landlords' estates throughout 1917, and the government's refusal to act drove them toward the Bolsheviks and the SRs
• Soldiers (who were predominantly peasants) deserted in increasing numbers to ensure they received land in their home villages

The Economic Crisis

The economy continued to deteriorate:

• Inflation accelerated; the rouble lost most of its value
• Food shortages worsened despite the end of winter
• Factory closures increased as raw materials ran out
• Workers increasingly took matters into their own hands through factory committees and worker control of production

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The July Days (3–7 July 1917)

In early July, soldiers and workers in Petrograd took to the streets in armed demonstrations demanding that the Soviet seize power.