The Bolshevik seize of power in October 1917 was undoubtedly a turning point for Russia’s political situation and a point that would set the tone for the future rulings. It can be easily argued that the Bolsheviks were only able to take over as a result of the long term weaknesses and failures of the Provisional Government. However, as with all events in history, the final seizure in October would not have been possible had it not been for the more recent, trigger causes. The roles of Lenin and Trotsky, during the later months of 1917, were key factors in allowing the takeover to happen; and the extremely poor decisions and military leadership executed by Kerensky strengthened the Bolsheviks position for revolution. Whilst these short term causes played a major role in October, it cannot be argued that without the weaknesses of the Provisional Government, the Bolsheviks would not have been sitting in power by the end of 1917.

The weakness of the Provisional Government was one the most important factors in the Bolshevik takeover in October 1917. After the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II in March 1917, the Provisional Government, formed from some of the previous Dumas, was set up to govern Russia. The new government was weak and unstable from the start, mainly due to whom it was made up of. It was a coalition, if you could call it that, between the Liberals, the Mensheviks and the Social Revolutionaries; and thus the new government had no unity from the start. With each part working for their own plans and agendas, the Provisional Government and plenty of internal strife, painting a picture to the people of an incompetent, weak government. Not only did the people view the government as weak, they also saw it as a remnant of the Tsarist era that was connotative of support for the Tsar, which caused further loss in support from the people. It should be emphasises however, that the Provisional Government had never been meant to last. As the very title suggests, it was meant to tide over the time, along with its partner in the dual authority, the Petrograd Soviets, as a sort of ‘caretaker’ government until the autumn elections, after which the Constituent Assembly was to be formed. The implementation of Order No. 1 by the Soviet reduced the Provisional Government’s power even more. By stating that it could pass nothing with the Soviet’s agreement, the Provisional Government had very little control over the policies it could implement. The Constituent Assembly was the ‘dream government’. It would have been the first fully elected, nationwide, democratic parliament in Russia’s history, to which all parties, including the Bolsheviks were committed. As a consequence, the Provisional Government was also seen by the people as not having the right to exercise full authority. Such limited strength allowed the Bolsheviks to undermine the government, and exercise their own policies. Despite all this, the dual authority did have a ‘honeymoon’ period. From their establishment until the return of Lenin, the Provisional Government and the Soviet work well together. It was only when Lenin ended the co-operation that these major problems arose.
To make matters worse, the Provisional Government made many wrong decisions, dramatically reducing its own credibility. The continuing of the campaign against Germany was one of these wrong decisions. Russia had already faced crushing defeats during their campaign and the continuation of the war was becoming increasingly unpopular. The soldiers on the front line became increasingly war weary and their moral hit the lowest of the campaign. However, not just the soldiers were affected and unhappy with the Provisional Government’s decision, the peasants suffered as a result. Due to the food rationing, and the decision to send a majority of the food to the troops fighting the war, the peasants working the fields in Russia were left with very little to eat, causing widespread starvation. Such an unpopular decision, to all fronts of Russian people, gave the impression that the Provisional Government did not care or take into consideration the needs of its people. By the summer of 1917 it seemed as though the government was no longer in control of events. The spread of the soviets, the worker control of the factories and the widespread seizure of land by the peasants were all ominous signs. Such developments tempted a number of revolutionaries in Petrograd to bring about the downfall of the Provisional Government. These attempts became known as the ‘July Days’. In fact, the majority of the changes they had made since February were unpopular, and the ones that sat well with the people, ended badly for themselves. They legalised the freedom of speech, likening themselves to many of the western countries like America and England, which gave the Bolsheviks a huge opportunity to gain support. They were now able to hold public speeches, produce newspapers and spread their beliefs and policies very easily. As a result of this, the Bolsheviks were able to publically target the Provisional Government and condemn then for their inability to implement reforms. This lost the already discredited government even more support and many of the people turned to the seemingly best and most available alternative; Lenin and the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks capitalised on the mistakes made by the Provisional Government, promising to make the lives of the people better once they took over, further increasing their support and taking it away from the near crumbling Provisional Government. Clearly, without the weaknesses of the government, Lenin would not have been able to gain the necessary support he needed for the revolution to happen, and thus the weaknesses of the Provisional Government is an extremely important, if not the key, factor in the Bolsheviks seizing power in October 1917.

Kerensky, who became Prime Minister in July 1917, was a key figure in the Bolshevik seizure of power. His extremely poor decisions and military leadership were both big factor as to why the Bolsheviks came to power in October 1917. Under his leadership, the Provisional Government was unable to gain support or authority due to his ambiguous role in many of the 1917 crucial events, like the Kornilov Affair, which questioned Kerensky’s leadership abilities and damaged his standings with both the right and left wings of the government and Russia. By the end of August, Kerensky desperately needed troops in order to deal with any possible Bolshevik threat. In order to accomplish this, he assigned a new Supreme Commander of the Russian forces; General Kornilov. This proved to be the wrong decision as Kornilov saw his new position of power as an opportunity to crush the radical socialists, and marched on Petrograd. It was the Bolsheviks who answered Kerensky’s call to defend Petrograd, and as a result where seen as the ‘heroes’ by many of the Russian people, and rode back into Petrograd on a ‘wave’ of support. The Kornilov affair was critical in the Provisional Government starting to crumble and Kerensky was undoubtedly to blame. His reputation was irretrievably damaged and the Menshevik and SR leaders were discredited by their association with Kerensky, along with the Provisional Government.
Furthermore, Kerensky decided to continue the effort against Germany, after refusing to make separate peace with them. This continuation of the war resulted in the loss of 40,000 more Russian soldiers, adding to the ever increasing death toll. On the left, this had led to an upsurge of support for the Bolsheviks, isolation Kerensky and his Provisional Government.
Kerensky had one more fatal error to make. After reading an article published by two men from the Bolshevik Central Committee, which he misinterpreted by thinking a date for the Bolshevik overthrow had already been set, he closed down the Bolshevik newspapers on October 23rd 1917. This left the Bolsheviks with no choice, and Lenin ordered the planned overthrow to begin. Kerensky’s poor leadership had not only weakened the Provision Government, but almost discredited it fully. This meant that the Bolsheviks gained even more support, strengthening their position for revolution, and eventually allowing them to seize power.

Lenin had long been an influential figure in the eyes of the workers of Russia and his role within the Bolsheviks was conceivably a huge factor for the vast amount of support they received, which allowed them to take control from the Provisional Government in October 1917. His charisma and extensive knowledge was unequalled, thanks to his early life, and allowed him to convince the long-standing members of radical organisations to allow him to lead them. It is therefore very clear as to how Lenin was able to influence the Russians to support him and his party. He was also iron-willed, strong and determined making him a very decisive leader, a trait that the whole Provisional Government lacked. He ensured that there were no internal conflicts within the Bolshevik party, enabling to be a ruthless fighting force against the government. His prestige within the party allowed him to force through key policies and decisions, such as his April Thesis. His thesis spelt out the future of the Bolshevik policies. Lenin insisted that the Bolsheviks were the only true revolutionary proletarian party and therefore must abide by his April Thesis: Russia must abandon all co-operation with other parties; work for a true revolution entirely by their own effects; overthrow the Provisional Government; transfer power to the workers, and have the Soviet take power. The essence of Lenin’s thesis was summed up in two provocative Bolshevik slogans, displaying Lenin’s ability of turning a country towards a new way of developing, mirroring the desires and wants of the people; ‘All power to the Soviets’ and ‘Peace, Bread and Land’. The latter was extremely effective in winning huge support from the people dissatisfied with the Provisional Government. With these two slogans alone it would have seemed that Lenin managed to captivate a nation. The leadership qualities of Lenin were unrivalled and certainly had a big part to play in the Bolshevik takeover in October. However, it must be noted that he had been exiled in Siberia during the Tsarist reign and therefore, the fall of Tsarism and, in turn, the establishment of the Provisional Government were necessary for the October revolution to happen.

Whilst Lenin was undoubtedly the great influence behind the October rising, it was Trotsky who actually organised it. The key to Trotsky’s success was in his chairmanship of the Soviet, to which he had been elected in September. Trotsky, and the Soviet, set up the Military Revolutionary Committee (MRC) to organise the defence of Petrograd against a possible German, or Kornilov type attack. It proved to be a critical decision. Realising that if the Bolsheviks had control of the MRC they would control Petrograd, Trotsky used his influence to become one of three men in charge. This meant that he had, at his disposal, the only effective military force in Petrograd. Moreover, it was a legitimate force since theoretically it acted on the authority of the Soviet. Trotsky was in a position to plan the October revolution and when Lenin gave the order, at the later date advised by Trotsky himself, it was Trotsky who directed the Red Guards in the seizure of key strategic points. Without Trotsky, the Bolsheviks would have had no force or military power within Petrograd and the October rising would not have been able to take place. It was only down to his prestige and influence that the Bolsheviks were able to amass enough willing troops to fight for their takeover of power.

In conclusion, there were many factors contributing to the fall of the Provisional Government, one of them being the incompetence of the Provisional Government. Making little changes and improvements to Russia since the February Revolution that year, the situation worsened as a result of their leader, Kerensky, who was weak and unwilling to make necessary reforms. Lenin, a very strong leader in contrast to Kerensky, played a huge part in the revolution, providing the Russian people with what they wanted, thourgh policies like the April Thesis, and as a result gained vast amount of support. The incompetence of the Provisional Government lead to many wrong decisions that provided the Bolsheviks and Lenin the situation they needed. In fact, without the Provisional Government’s establishment after the abdication of the Tsar in February, Lenin would have continued to be in exile, giving him no chance to lead the Bolsheviks to overturn them in October. As a result, it was because of this, that the strong leadership of Lenin could come into play, thus, I agree that the Bolsheviks were able to seize power in October 1917 because of the weakness of the Provisional Government, which unquestionably is the most important and underlying factor leading to the eventual revolution.