Why did the Provisional Government fail to hold power?
The PG tried to continue the war and to keep the peasants from taking the land while trying to avoid methods of dictatorship. In so doing they were trying to impose a policy that ran counter to the wishes of the mass of peasants and soldiers and workers. Half hearted attempts to impose this policy by force just further undermined their position. The workers were alienated because the PG failed to provide an adequate supply of bread to the cities. Further many workers were facing redundancy as a side effect of the war. Perhaps most militant were the soldiers who were bitter from seeing many comrades die as a result of their generals incompetence. They began to see no sense in giving their lives to fight for a government who could not even provide adequate supplies. The PG were facing a widespread popular movement and, as this included the soldiers, by October the PG could not even resort to force to keep power.
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