1917 Russia- Dual government

• 1917 timeline


  1. January - 300,000 workers on strike in Moscow, 145,000 in Petrograd

  2. February - 100,000 workers on strike in Petrograd, Bread became rationed from 1st March, 20,000 workers locked out of Putilov iron works, 200,000 workers on strike with red flags being waved, Chief of police dragged from his horse and killed, Cossacks begin to refuse to attack the processions, Duma president writes to the tsar to which he ignores, International women's day - 90,000 workers are on strike and join the women in their march through Petrograd, 66,000 soldiers strike against their ordered from the tsar (he no longer has control of his army)

  3. Nicholas abdicates on the 2nd March, he decided that his son Alexei was too weak to rule after him and so put his brother Mikhail on the throne, Mikhail refuses
• What now?


  • Petrograd Soviets
  • Provisional government
  • Set up during the February revolution after Mikhail rejected the throne
  • Led by Prince Lvov until July 1917 (he was a part of the Kadets who favoured a constitutional monarchy)
  • Alexander Kerensky took over from Prince Lvov - he was the only person who was a part of both the provisional government and the Petrograd soviet
  • Consisted of Duma representatives
  • Had the backing of old Tsarist civil service (made up of elites who still had ideas that the Tsar shared)
  • They intended to be a temporary government who wanted to start a possible elected government
  • Provisional government felt that they should continue with the war as being defeated by the enemy would cost Russia immensely
  • Didn't make decisions on redistribution of land straight away and left things the way they were
  • The tsar was dangerous but he had a family and should be allowed to live his life somewhere away from Russia
  • Dominated by social revolutionaries and mensheviks
  • Was going to share Dual power with the provisional government
  • Led by a group of radical socialists including Leon Trotsky many of whom had been exiled in the years leading up to the February revolution
  • Believed in the redistribution of power to the workers and have the power taken away from the ruling classes
  • Spread theories of Marxism to masses for re-education
  • Believed the war should never have started and it should be ended as soon as possible
  • All land should be shared by the people and farmed as a community- immediate redistribution of land
  • The tsar was dangerous whilst he was still round- he must be eliminated
• Dual power


  Kerensky was able to join both the Petrograd soviet and the provisional government together to form dual power over Russia - foundations were made in March 1917
• The soviet accepted the provisional government's promises of: General amnesty for political prisoners, Basic civil liberties, abolition of legal disabilities based on class, religion and nationality, the right to organize trade unions and strikes, freedom of press and religion and that a Constituent Assembly would be elected
• July days


  3rd - 5th July 1917, Street riots began to occur and it was suspected that the Bolsheviks were behind it, As a result, grain prices doubled in Petrograd, poor harvests occurred, 586 factories were closed causing a loss of 100,000 jobs, There were chants of 'All power to the soviets' and 'Bread, peace and land', Shops were looted and railway stations were seized
• Kornilov affair


  It was an attempted military coup d'etat by the commander in chief of the Russian army- General Lavr Kornilov against the Russian provisional government and the Petrograd soviets, The provisional governments own army was threatening them- Kerensky claimed that he had the approval of Kornilov to arrest the Bolsheviks and disperse the Soviets
• October revolution


  November 6th and 7th 1917 (October 24th and 25th on the Julian calendar), The Bolshevik party launched a coup d'etat against the Duma's provisional government, It led to the establishment of a communist system in Russia
• Consolidation of Bolshevik government


  Right-wing SR's won the majority of the votes however left wings became executives- causing the right-wing SR's to walk out, The left-wing SR's created the 'soviet of people's commissars' or Savnarkon, This new government was led by Lenin and Trotsky as commissar for foreign affairs, Lenin made promises to ensure that he would have the Russian people's support: a promise to end the war, abolishment of private ownership of land, workers given the right to supervised management, women were able to become citizens in their own right, divorce was legalized