Allies were desperate to relieve the Western Front therefore PG was responding to a treaty obligation to the Allies
Strong nationalist element, did not want to surrender
Kadets thought that a successful offensive would put them in a better position for peace negotiations
Kerensky threw himself into a propaganda campaign to mobilise armed forces and MC civilians volunteered, but the army was not convinced as they wanted peace
Soldiers were increasingly unwilling to fight
Soldiers Committee argued that they could see little point in fighting for territory
No soldier co-operation
There was fraternalization between German and Russian troops
In the advance to Lvov, soldiers discovered large stores of alcohol in abandoned town Konivsky and got drunk
Rate of desertion very high
Soldiers killed their officers instead of fighting
Women's Death Battalion led by Maria Bochareva fought better than the male soldiers
eventually deteriorated as women slept with German soldiers
seen as a failure that women had to fight
The advance collapsed after 2 weeks.
Germans and Austro-Hungarians counter attacked
21 days after the launch of offensive, Gers/Aus broke through Russian lines and Russian troops retreated 150 miles
Lenin opposed the decision to launch the offensive.
But Bolshs had only 10% of Congress Delegates in Soviet Executive Committee
Could only declare their opposition
Changed radically the political alignment of the masses, particularly peasant soldiers who used to support SRs