Russian Provisional Government - Overview

Overview

The Provisional Government was formed in Petrograd by the Provisional Committee of the State Duma and was led first by Prince Georgy L'vov and then by socialist Alexander Kerensky. At the same time the Russian Emperor Nicholas II abdicated in favor of the Grand Duke Michael who agreed that he will accepted after the decision of Russian Constituent Assembly. The Provisional Government was unable to make decisive policy decisions due to political factionalism and a breakdown of state structures. This weakness left the government open to strong challenges from both the right and the left. The Provisional Government's chief adversary on the left was the Petrograd Soviet, which tentatively cooperated with the government at first, but then gradually gained control of the army, factories, and railways. The period of competition for authority ended in late October 1917, when Bolsheviks routed the ministers of the Provisional Government in the events known as the October Revolution, and placed power in the hands of the soviets, or "workers' councils," which they largely controlled.

The weakness of the Provisional Government is perhaps best reflected in the derisive nickname given to Kerensky: "persuader-in-chief."