Provisional Government and the Soviets

The demand for tougher government is needed and the provisional government makes a deal with the Soviets for protection, but on the way to fight, the Soviets are persuaded with words, not bullets. Kerensky makes a deal with the Soviets for protection, but the plan backfires, leaving his position weakened on all sides.

Provisional government fires on protestors, and turns it to their advantage, claiming Lenin was a German spy.

Lenin believed at that point, the Revolution was over and goes into hiding beyond the reach of the provisional government.

In Petrograd there is a new mood for tougher government. The former minister of war, Alexander Kerensky is appointed Prime Minister.

But within weeks he is in trouble when his newly appointed Commander-in-Chief General Lavr Kornilov appeared to turn against Kerensky and sent troops toward the city.

Suddenly Kerensky needed to defend the capitol, but as his government had lost the trust of the army there was only one place he could turn to for help.

At the last minute, Kerensky chose to arm the Soviet but the Soviet made the demand they would not assist unless Kerensky released imprisoned Soviets. But not a shot was fired.

Soviet agitators stopped the troop train before it reached Petrograd. They confronted the soldiers with words, not bullets, persuading the soldiers not to fight. The army revolt was over, leaving Kerensky's position fatally weakened, having lost support from all sides, even worse having armed his opponents in the Petrograd Soviet he could not take their weapons back from them.

References

Russian Revolution in Color (DVD)
The Russian Revolution and Civil War, this bloodsoaked time from the battlefields, testimonies, and colorized archives help unfold the dramatic story of the Communist rise and seizure of power in 1917.