Why did the Provisional Government fail?
One of the main reasons that Russia's provisional government failed and why the Bolsheviks were able to gain power is the First World War. The war was a disaster for Russia- people were already very discontent at the failure of the war and the shortages it caused- it was a major cause of the March revolution to overthrow the Tsar. The war was already going badly when the June-July Russian offensive was a complete disaster. This was a huge blemish on the provisional government and for the first time the Bolshevik policy of ending the war became popular. There was mass-desertion in the army and discontent among the workers and peasants putting the provisional government in a very weak position. The party most interested in a quick overthrow of the provisional government (due to Lenin, see below), the Bolsheviks, especially benefited from this as by this time the other radical parties had joined the provisional government. This allowed a very strong radical party to take advantage of the Provisional government's dire situation.
…
