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Chapter 2: Who took control of Russia after the February Revolution? The downfall of the Tsar had been swift because there was very little support left for him in any section of society. The February Revolution seems to have been a spontaneous and popular revolution with a little involvement from
revolutionary leaders.
A Provisional Government was formed by liberal politicians to rule Russia during a transition period until a Constituent Assembly could set up a new system of government. A Provisional Government had a little power in Petrograd. The power lay with a rival body-the Soviet-which had been formed at the same time. The Soviet, led by socialist intellectuals, represented workers and soldiers. It controlled armed forces, industries and services in the capital. The Soviet could have taken control but had several reasons for not doing so and for co-operating with the Provisional Government. In particular, the Soviet leaders did not want a Civil War to break out. Things seem to start well, as the Provisional Government announced elections and civil rights for the Russian people. In the rest of Russia, all sorts of bodies were set up to run local government. The soviets were the most important of these bodies. They were simply councils or committees run by local people, non-party socialists, Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries, pretty much outside of anybody elses control. Things did not immediately get better after the revolution. The war was still going on and food and fuel were still in short supply.
Chapter 3: Was the Provisional Government doomed from the beginning? Lenin offered a radically different programme from that of the Provisional Government and the moderate socialist
leaders of the other parties.
The Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries were drawn into the Provisional Government and thereafter became associated with its weakness and failures. War was the source of many of its problems but the Provisional Government, for a number of reasons, was unwilling to make separate peace with Germany. The peasants were increasingly taking matters into their own hands after the Provisional Government refused to legitimize their right to redistribute land amongst themselves. There were splits in the Provisional Government between the liberals and the socialists over how to treat the national minorities. The workers became more radicalized as the summer turned into autumn, and class antagonists with employers became more acute. Solders, increasingly war weary, did not want to fight.
Chapter 5: How did the Bolsheviks survive the first few months in power?
The Bolsheviks government was in a fragile condition in the first few months, facing strikes and protests from other socialists over one-party rule. There were divisions within the party over a proposed socialist coalition. Some leading Bolsheviks temporarily resigned in protest at Lenins failure to support the coalition idea. Lenin always intended to rule on his own and asserted this in his own party and in government. Lenins early policies had to be modified in response to pressures from the masses. The Bolsheviks crushed opposition and developed forces of terror and coercion, especially the Cheka. Lenin persuaded the Bolsheviks to sign the unfavorable Treaty of Breast-Litovsk. He knew he had to have peace for his government to survive.