October 1917 Revolution

How effective was the Provisional Government?
1. Here is a list of some decisions that faced the Provisional Government when it took over in March 1917:
-- What to do about the war- The provisional government wanted to get out of the war which was a good decision in a way because the soldiers agreed with this because the soldiers didn't want to be in the war anymore because they were tired of loosing to germany.
-- What to do about land- the Provisional Government took the land from peasants and gave it to the nobles. This upset the peasants so much and they had little respect for the Provisional government.
-- What to do about food-they didn't do anything about the food. The provisional government let it be the way it was, which was that nobody had food and many were dying. Many, almost all of the peasants, hated the Provisional Government now because many were dying and they were doing little to help.

For each one, say how the government dealt with it, and what the result of the action was.

2. Look for evidence in the reading of how the actions of its opponents harmed the Provisional Government:
-- Members of the soviets-This group was also payed attention to by the wprkers. The soviets had the support of workers in key industries as coal mining and the support of the army.
-- Bolsheviks-Bolsheviks led protests against the war and they turned into rebellion. However, when Kerensky produced evidence that lenin had been helped by the Germans, suppor for the rebellion fell.
-- General Kornilov-He wanted to get rid of the provisional government so he marched his troops to get rid of them. He had some troops which were on his side and others who were not loyal which harmed the provisional government but his plan collapsed.

3. Based on your answers to questions 1 & 2, how effective do you think the Provisional Government was? Your answer should be at least two paragraphs. Make sure you provide key details and analysis.
I believe that the provisional government was very effective. Having the majority of votes because they supported the workers helped them out very much. Also, they were very strong and believed in what they thought was right.
Having the majority of the votes helped them stay in office. They had the majority of the votes which were the peasants. They promised the peasants that they would not take any land before the war ended with Germany. They didn't want to end the war because they wanted to finish what had been started. They also had the support from the nobles, lawyers and more. This was important. Also, they were only going to stay into office untill re elections which showed that they didn't think they were going to stay in office for good but they were willing to come out if not elected.
The provisional government believe in what they thought was right which showed the people they wanted to be in office for everyone and to help the situation in russia. The provisional government wanted to help all of the people in russia because the Tsar couldn't. They said that they would come out of office if not re elected which was a good source for the peasants of Russia.


Read the .pdf file Lenin & Trotsky, then:

The Appeal of Lenin and Trotsky
1. Using Sources 42 - 44, and the Profile of Lenin, add extra details to the profile of Lenin:
-- Why Lenin appealed to people-He appeared on the platform in front of an audience. Lenin's brilliant speeches inspired the workers and soldiers to a determined struggle,
-- His personal qualities-he was an extrodinary figure and formost a professional revolutionary. He was a man of iron and inflexible ambition. Short and strudy with a bald head, small beard and deep set eyes. He was the overall planner of the revolution.
-- His strengths as a leader- he was first and foremost a professional revolutionary and had no other occupation. He was theoverall planner of the revolution. He had control and he knew what he was doing. He was very smart as a leader and knew what had to be done in order to get into power.


2. Using Sources 45 - 47, and the Profile of Trotsky, add extra details to the profile of Trotsky:
-- Why Trotsky appealed to people- He appealed to people because he told them what they wanted to hear which made them believe him.
-- His personal qualities- he was a very good public speaker. He made people believe him because he would say examples of real life.
-- His strengths as a leader-He carefully always used exampled in his speeches which made the people believe in him. He had power to master the crowd. He worked behind the scenes.

3. Finally, write a short report on the contribution of each individual to the Bolsheviks' success in 1917.
All of these leaders led to the Bolsheviks success in 1917 because they were not thinking about everyone but just themselves. The provisional government didn't think about what would happen if they took control of the lands and took everything away from the peasants which was not a smart idea because this made them look like they were bad and they only wanted to please themselves. General Kornivol took complete control without thinking and this made the peasants hate Kornivol which made the Bolsheviks look much better then any other party. Lenin took complete control very easily but when everything went wrong and Lenin was made to look like a German, the Bolsheviks came back and showed the people that they were very loyal.