How important was LENIN compared with the PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT in causing the

Russian Revolution of 1917?

You must:Compare the role of the individual,

Lenin, with the role of the PG and other causes

Level 5 skills (44-50/50)

• Answer the question in 2000 words• Have a clear structure that argues to a reasoned

conclusion• Show that you understand the broad context (Russia and

its problems) and the specific people, events, concepts (e.g. Lenin, Kornilov affair, weak legitimacy)

• Give wide ranging, precise factual support• Use sources accurately to explain, give examples and

drive the analysis• Wherever possible, and definitely in the conclusion,

show how the factors are linked

How important was LENIN compared with the PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT in causing the

Russian Revolution of 1917?

• Make a list of the ways in which the PG helped cause the October Revolution

• Make a list of the ways in which Lenin helped cause the October Revolution

How important was LENIN compared with the PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT in causing the

Russian Revolution of 1917?• Make a list of the ways in which the PG helped

cause the October Revolution

• Failure of June Offensive• Failure to share out land• Failure to improve food supplies• Failed to keep the support of the

soviet• Acting repressively in the July Days• Kerensky armed the Bolsheviks to

put down the Kornilov revolt• Kerensky underestimated the threat

posed by the Bolsheviks

• Make a list of the ways in which Lenin helped cause the October Revolution

• April Theses undermined the PG’s position

• He exploited (took advantage of) the PG’s 3 failures:

• Anti-war propaganda turned the troops against the PG

• Promised the peasants that they could keep the land they had seized

• Promised ‘Peace, Bread and Freedom’

• Worked to gain Bolshevik control of the Soviet

• Persuaded the Bolsheviks that the time was right to revolt

• Quickly established a repressive government so that the Bolsheviks stayed in power.

Can you think of any factors, other than the actions of Lenin and the Provisional Government, that helped cause the

October Revolution?

Other causes of the October revolution

• The First World War. It had been going on for 3 and a 1/2 years when the PG took over and had affected every section of the population. It caused and added to the PG’s problems

• The tsars’ autocratic system of government (even after 1905). This meant that people were not used to democratic government

• The Provisional Government emerged as a temporary unelected government – it had weak legitimacy. It also had a potential rival, the Soviet.

• The people of Russia’s unrealistic expectations of what the PG could achieve . They believed that the removal of the autocratic Tsar Nicholas would lead to all of their problems being solved

• Leon Trotsky played an important role in the 1917 revolution. Could Lenin have succeeded without him?

• Your ideas: The existence of the Petrograd Soviet/ the Kornilov Revolt/ the ordinary people

Basic structure

• Intro: Explain the 1917 revolution, the Provisional Government, Lenin, how will you measure ‘more important’

• Dev’t: Explain Lenin’s contribution and the Provisional Government’s contribution. If possible, compare point for point.

• Bring in other factors - tsar, war, people’s expectations, Trotsky. (You have to decide where to fit these into the essay)

• Conclusion: Answer the q and explain why one is more important than the other.