The Russian Provisional Government of 1917, really a series of unelected coalitions, briefly held power from March to November, that is between the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II (reign 1894 to 1917) and the Bolshevik Revolution led by Vladimir Lenin (1870 to 1924). Lacking legitimacy from the outset and without the backing of the army, the government faced a series of severe crises, not least of which was Russia's ongoing and disastrous participation in the First World War (1914 to 18). With rocketing inflation, strikes in the cities, and revolts in the countryside, the Provisional Government was pushed aside by the Bolsheviks, radical socialists who claimed to best represent worker and peasant interests and who promised both an immediate withdrawal from the war and democratic elections for a new Constituent Assembly.

Tsar Nicholas II was obliged to abdicate on 2 March 1917. Nicholas was deeply unpopular following defeats in the First World War, where he had unwisely taken upon himself the role of commander-in-chief of the Russian armed forces. The tsar had been unpopular ever since the Russian Revolution of 1905, when workers, peasants, and the middle classes all called for modernisation in industry and agriculture and a more representative form of government. Although he survived the trouble of 1905, the tsar's authoritarian rule and unwillingness to pass reforms finally caught up with him. Nicholas was unpopular, too, because of his close association with the distinctly odd and self-proclaimed holy man Grigori Rasputin (1869 to 1916), around whom swirled all kinds of unsavoury rumours concerning his conduct and just how much influence he had over the royal family. On top of all that, the cost of living had risen dramatically during the war. When demonstrations in the capital, Petrograd (formerly Saint Petersburg), against bread and fuel shortages turned violent, the army and aristocracy failed to support the tsar, and he was advised to abdicate.

The tsar's replacement was the Provisional Government, which consisted of politicians, mostly liberals and moderates, from the tsar's Duma or parliament. The new government had no electoral legitimacy. The first prime minister was Prince Georgy Lvov (1861 to 1925), who unsuccessfully attempted to install a constitutional monarchy. Alexander Kerensky (1881 to 1970) was Lvov's successor from July. In reality, the Provisional Government turned out to be a series of governments consisting of various representatives from various parties, with ministerial positions being constantly reshuffled as the government lurched from one crisis to another through 1917.

The name 'Provisional' reflected the government's and just about everyone else's hope that there would soon be a Constituent Assembly elected by the people. However, most members of the Provisional Government considered it necessary for WWI to end before such a vote could take place; after all, millions of voters were fighting at the front. Whether or when and how Russia could extricate itself from the conflict caused a split in the government. Under the terms of the 1914 Treaty of Paris with the Allies, no single nation could negotiate a separate peace. The Provisional Government (rightly as it turned out) feared Russia's withdrawal from the war would permit the more radical elements of society to wage a civil war. Russia was also dependent on Western finance both now and in the future if it was to pay for post-war reconstruction. Leaving the conflict would certainly upset the Allies and jeopardise any future financial help from them. Then, even if a peace could be negotiated with Germany, all the indications were that it would be an extremely harsh one for Russia and include losses of important territories. The war, though, was crippling the Russian economy. There was also dissension over how to deal with states within the Russian Empire, like Ukraine and Poland, which were calling for independence. In short, the Provisional Government had inherited an empire but was not at all sure what to do with it.

Before examining the rapid demise of the Provisional Government, it is necessary to note that there were some important areas of support for it and several key policy successes. The middle classes, upper classes, the Russian Orthodox Church (which benefitted from a new separation of state and church), the Jewish Russians, and other minority groups all supported the Provisional Government. There were also those, regardless of class or political persuasion, who saw it as a patriotic duty to support whatever government was in place during the war. Even some radical socialists supported the government. The Menshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) believed Russia was not economically ready for a worker revolution, and so their policy was to support this 'bourgeoisie revolution' and bide their time. The Mensheviks and other more moderate groups on the left, like the Socialist Revolutionaries, also wanted to support the government since failure to do so would compromise any chances of Russia avoiding defeat in WWI, which, in turn, would greatly reduce the possibilities of achieving lasting social change, a position known as defensism. The achievement of the revolution, which had seen off the tsar, had to be defended. A second, socialist revolution by the workers could come later.

On 2 April, the Provisional Government decreed that "all the limitations on the rights of Russian citizens imposed by hitherto existing laws on the basis of religion, creed, or nationality are hereby revoked" (Shukman, 210). The government also made efforts to modernise Russia. Women were given equal rights to men by a new law, passed on 20 March, which made all adult citizens equal. There was a new freedom of the press and speech. August saw democratic elections for local councils in towns and rural areas. The jury system was reinstated for all criminal offences, and the death penalty was abolished. An amnesty was given for all political prisoners. A new ministry was created, charged with improving social welfare. Promises were made to various nationalist movements that independence from Russia would be considered by the Constituent Assembly when it was formed.

The Provisional Government faced challenges from both workers and peasants. The working classes reformed soviets (democratic worker councils) during the crisis of the spring of 1917. The soviets called for changes such as a reduction in working hours per day (8 hours was the ideal – a limitation already granted by the government to workers in ammunition factories), freedom to form unrestricted trade unions, greater safety at work, and a minimum wage, amongst other demands. The soviets became a powerful voice of criticism against the action, or rather inaction, of the Provisional Government. Further, as the Petrograd Soviet controlled the garrison there, it was the Executive Committee of this organisation that really held the reins of power, even if the Provisional Government had formal or legal power. Indeed, Kerensky was himself vice-chairman of the Petrograd Soviet. This system has often been described as one of 'dual power', but it soon became an ineffective one. The soviets organised strikes across Russia throughout 1917, and these caused severe problems for the government, limiting industrial and arms production, and severely disrupting transport and food supplies. The soviets also created their own militia, and, after the government had disbanded the tsar's police force, these "became the only serious coercive force on the streets" (Hosking, 467).

Peasants, too, were dissatisfied with the Provisional Government because it was not doing enough to modernise agriculture and redistribute imperial land and that owned by the aristocracy. For many villagers, there was a chronic shortage of land they could work on for themselves. Other peasant grievances included the government's requisitioning of grain surpluses, the absence of any effective local administration to represent and solve peasant concerns, and the feeling that peasants were conscripted en masse to fight in the war while those citizens in cities received exemptions because of their work or social status. Peasants set up their own elected committees, which ignored the land committees set up by the government. The government's lack of effective action in rural areas led to peasant revolts through the summer of 1917, where land was seized, crops and the property of richer farmers were destroyed, and the richer farmers themselves were beaten or killed. The government seemed helpless to respond to this disruption, and both the production and distribution of foodstuffs went into decline.

One issue above all remained unresolved: Russia's role in WWI. Workers marched in protest over the continuation of the war on 23 to 24 April in Petrograd. This crisis was caused by the revelation that Minister of Defence Pavel Milyukov (1859 to 1943) had sent a telegram to the governments of Britain and France promising that Russia would continue to fight until there was a 'decisive victory'. This went against the agreement made between the government and the Petrograd Soviet that Russia would henceforth only fight a war of defence, the so-called Declaration of War Aims. Milyukov resigned, but the government lost trust over this affair.

The Provisional Government responded to the Milyukov crisis with another cabinet reshuffle, this time bringing six members of the Petrograd Soviet's Executive Committee directly into the government. These soviet members were, however, criticised for mere collusion when revolution was deemed by an increasing number of workers to be the only way forward. Radical socialists like the Bolshevik faction of the RSDLP, who were led by Vladimir Lenin, spread the message to the workers that the Provisional Government was simply the old regime in disguise and was only interested in protecting the bourgeoisie. Those more moderate socialists who had involved themselves in the Provisional Government became discredited for their inaction over issues that concerned the working classes. On the other side, the Mensheviks, who remained important in many soviets, continued to urge workers to show revolutionary restraint. One thing was obvious: the patience of the workers was wearing out, and more and more of them were turning to the more militant Bolsheviks, the only group on the left who promised an immediate withdrawal from WWI. From April, Lenin was promising 'Peace, Land, and Bread' for the masses, ideas encapsulated in his 'April Theses'.

Kerensky – described by one historian as "vain, egotistical…a consummately inept politician" (Freeze, 286) – gambled the future of the Provisional Government on one last major offensive in the war. The June Offensive, as it became known, turned into a disaster with 150,000 Russian Army soldiers killed and many units refusing to fight at all. Discipline in the army had plummeted with the increased Bolshevisation of ordinary soldiers and the abandonment of the traditional hierarchy based on officer ranks. The Provisional Government was again discredited by the lack of military success.

Through the summer of 1917, there were yet more problems to be faced, this time economic, with bread shortages and Russian paper money halving in value. A worker demonstration in Petrograd against certain capitalist ministers in the Provisional Government on 16 to 20 July ended in bloodshed and the death or injury of 400 of the demonstrators, an infamous incident known as 'the July Days'. The government blamed the Bolsheviks for the demonstrations and made many arrests. The soviets responded by greatly increasing the number of strikes. The summer of 1917 "witnessed 1,019 strikes involving 2,441,850 workers and employees" (Freeze, 284). Nevertheless, the soviets still did not call for a revolution as such, but rather change from within the government itself. Most workers, above all, feared a damaging civil war.

The Provisional Government faced another crisis in August. This was the Kornilov Affair. General Lavr Kornilov (1870 to 1918) was the head of Russia's armed forces from 18 July, and he demanded freedom of action from government interference. Kornilov attempted to stage a coup, but this fell completely flat from the lack of support. Kerensky then formed a smaller nucleus of government ministers in August, but he was damaged by the Kornilov affair in two ways: he was blamed for having appointed Kornilov in the first place, and the arming of the soviets as a countermeasure to the possible coup meant they became even more dangerous if they could be persuaded to launch an attack on the government.

In September, Kerensky made himself commander-in-chief of the army, although the government's control over the armed forces was now negligible since the radical socialists increasingly appealed to the beleaguered soldiers and sailors. At the same time, senior army officers and reactionaries on the right were hopeful they could dissolve the Provisional Government and form a military dictatorship instead. The moderate middle ground of Russian politics, already highly unstable, seemed to be shrinking fast. The Provisional Government faced increased and far more serious protests from the people themselves as the summer went on. The war was still going badly for Russia, there was still no sign of the much-promised elections for a Constituent Assembly, and the number of strikes and episodes of unrest in the countryside were more frequent and more violent than ever. Time was running out for the Provisional Government.

By the autumn, the government could no longer rely on the army or its high command for support. Even worse, with German and Austrian forces advancing (Riga was captured in early September), it looked like more Russian territory would be lost; even Petrograd was under threat. Kerensky's decision to arm the soviets as a possible government defence force now backfired spectacularly since the militant Bolsheviks, who from September had succeeded in winning majority control over the Petrograd and Moscow soviets, in this way gained the practical means to stage a revolution of their own. Lenin made his move in November.

The cruiser Aurora fired a blank shot at the Winter Palace, seat of the Provisional Government, on 7 November 1917, and this was the signal for the Bolshevik Red Guards militia to take over the government. This militia had already secured the states' communication systems, key railway stations, and the national bank. The Provisional Government attempted to call troops from the Northern Front, but this was not successful. In the end, it was an almost bloodless coup. All this activity bypassed the soviets' leadership, who were holding their Second Congress at the time. Russia had now experienced two revolutions inside a year.

Lenin became the new head of the state, negotiated a ceasefire with Germany in December 1917, and formally withdrew Russia from WWI with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, signed on 3 March 1918. Lenin held elections for a Constituent Assembly, but then dissolved it when it was shown the Bolsheviks had only a quarter of the vote. The Russian Civil War was fought against right reactionary groups supported by foreign powers, but the Bolsheviks, now calling themselves the Communist Party, eventually came out as the victors. In 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was declared.