The Russian Provisional Government (Russian: Временное правительство России, Vremennoye pravitel'stvo Rossii) was the short-lived administrative body which sought to govern Russia immediately following the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II in February 1917. In September 14, the State Duma of the Russian Empire officially dissolved the newly created Directorate, and the country was officially renamed the Russian Republic (Russian: Российская республика, Rossiyskaya respublika). It is also sometimes known as the "Kerensky Government" after its most prominent leader. It lasted approximately eight months, and ceased to exist after power in Russia was seized by the Bolsheviks in October of 1917.
The Provisional Government was formed in Petrograd, and was led first by Prince Georgy L'vov and then by socialist Alexander Kerensky, a prominent member of the Duma and a leader of the movement to unseat the Tsar. Instead of ending Russia's involvement in World War I, the new government launched a fresh offensive against the German and Austro-Hungarian army in July 1917, thereby weakening its popularity among Russia's war-weary people. This Kerensky Offensive, as it was called, was a failure which further eroded support for the government. The Provisional Government was unable to make decisive policy decisions due to political factionalism and a breakdown of state structures. This weakness left the government open to strong challenges from both the right and the left. The Provisional Government's chief adversary on the left was the Petrograd Soviet, which tentatively cooperated with the government at first, but then gradually gained control of the army, factories, and railways.The period of competition for authority ended in late October 1917, when Bolsheviks routed the ministers of the Provisional Government in the events known as the October Revolution, and placed power in the hands of the soviets, or "workers' councils," which they largely controlled.
The weakness of the Provisional Government is perhaps best reflected in the derisive nickname given to Prime Minister Alexander Kerensky: "persuader-in-chief."
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