July Days

In April 1917, Lenin gave his April Theses, declaring that the proletariat should overthrow the bourgeoisie.[5] Though initially received with outrage, Lenin's idea of an armed, proletarian insurrection became increasingly popular.[6] By July, rank-and-file Bolsheviks in particular spoke of overthrowing the Provisional Government, whom they considered bourgeois.[6][7]

Shortly after Lenin's address, it was revealed by a diplomatic note that the Provisional Government supported continuing with the war, even though they publicly claimed otherwise. As a result, there were mass demonstrations of discontent by the Russian people.[8] In the aftermath of these demonstrations, the Provisional Government, at that time composed primarily of liberals, was reshuffled to include Socialist-Revolutionaries, creating a coalition government. Refusing to take part in the coalition, the Bolsheviks were the only socialist faction to emerge from these events, known as the April Crisis, without negative association with the continuation of the Russian involvement in the war.[9] As a result, Bolsheviks amassed much support from soldiers, who were increasingly frustrated with the Provisional Government.

Following the events of April, the Bolshevik Party gained support primarily among soldiers and workers, as the Bolsheviks were vocally critical of the Provisional Government.[10][11] Peasants were more likely to support the Socialist-Revolutionaries, who focused more on the question of land reform and distribution.

Also in the Kronstadt naval base which was mostly under the influence of the Bolsheviks and Anarchists, caused strong concerns for the Provisional Government. As early as May 1917, the Kronstadt Soviet became the main authority in the city. An important role in the transition of Kronstadt sailors to the side of the Bolsheviks was played, at the time, by deputy chairman of the Kronstadt Council Fyodor Raskolnikov.[12]

A common conspiracy to explain the problems Russia faced was sabotage from "counterrevolutionaries", a label whose definition changed depending on the accuser. The Bolsheviks took the socialist anti-capitalist sentiments and extended the suspicion to the British and French allies as one way to explain why the "bourgeois" government was continuing Russian involvement in the unpopular war.[13] Growing unhappiness with the Provisional Government's inaction regarding land reform, industrial reform, ceasing the war, and food shortages led to a growing demand for an all-socialist government. Demands using the popular slogan from April, "All Power to the Soviets", increased, supported by the Bolshevik Party and Lenin's April Theses.[11]

In late June 1917, in an effort to bolster support for the war effort through triumph in battle, then-War Minister Aleksandr Kerensky authorized a military offensive on the Eastern front.[14]

The offensive began 18 June 1917 and continued to 6 July 1917, coinciding with the July Days.[15] The Russian soldiers initially saw victory over the Austro-Hungarian forces, who they managed to take by surprise, but German troops soon began a counteroffensive that devastated the Russian army. The offensive was met at home with extreme disfavor and discontent, creating an opposite effect of what the government intended. Rather than creating support for the Provisional Government, disorder on the front continued and dissatisfaction with the government and its disastrous policies grew.[14]

Because of the coalition-situation created by the events of April, the only political faction that opposed the offensive was the Bolsheviks.[16]

Leading up to the July Days, the Provisional Government faced a crisis that resulted in a later reshuffling of the government makeup.

The liberal Kadet party, in the face of the failures of the government, criticised its ineffective policies and failures to take action.[7] On 2 July, four Kadet ministers walked out of the coalition government in protest, leaving the Provisional Government composed primarily of moderate left socialists.[7] To further add to the government crisis, Prime Minister Georgy Lvov announced to the government that he planned to resign on 7 July as well.[17]

The leaders of the Bolshevik during the July Days included Vladimir Lenin, in large part, along with Leon Trotsky, Grigory Zinoviev, and Lev Kamenev.[22] The leadership responsibility in the events of July Days is still debated, and the Bolsheviks and Soviets both had periods of uncertainty in their involvement.[23] The protesters, made up largely of soldiers, sailors, and factory workers,[24] on the streets during July Days, were many in number but weak in leadership from the Bolsheviks and the Soviets.[25] "All Power to the Soviets" and other slogans were put forth by the Bolsheviks, but July Days was not a gathering of power to Lenin.[26] Despite his political skill and cry for "Land, Bread, Peace," Bolshevik support was not strong enough for him to be a powerful leader immediately following July Days,[26] especially with the Provisional government trying to lessen the trust of his followers by charges of German spying.[27] Though there was controversy of Bolshevik's intentions during July Days, the seemingly inadequate leadership did not assume power, whether they desired it or not.[28]

Some Bolsheviks saw the July Days demonstrations as dangerous and feared that the actions would provoke retaliation from opposing political party members trying to counter the acts. That made the Central Committee try to prevent that by restraining support for the demonstrations.[27] Opposing the declarations of the Central Committee, when they spoke and acted in support of the demonstrations, were the Bolshevik Military Organization and the Petersburg Committee.[27] The Bolshevik newspaper Pravda did not seem to side with the Central Committee but instead published feelings of unrest.[29] These feelings were matched by Lenin, the Bolshevik Military Organization, and the Petersburg Committee; the Central Committee seemed to eventually display mixed feelings about the demonstrations at the height of the movement.[30] The decision to call off demonstrations in the streets of Petrograd was made when a 2 or 3 a.m. meeting took place involving Lenin and the Bolshevik Central Committee on July 5 with Pravda publishing the news the same day.[31]

From the perspective of Trotsky, Bolshevik and Provisional leadership tensions heightened when an incident with Bolshevik leaders, Lunacharsky and Trotsky, showed apparent support of a final group of demonstrators being sent to the front during a House of People farewell meeting.[32] Trotsky portrayed a back and forth of each party, Bolshevik and Provisional, trying to bring the other party into a negative light.[32] The Provisional government was active in trying to shut down the Bolshevik actions and lessen their power, not only making arrests of their leaders but also stopping their publicity avenue by disallowing the Pravda to run.[33] The Provisional government took advantage of popular condemnation of the Bolshevik involvement in the violence of July Days to take action in weakening the Bolshevik Party.[34]