Guvernul a fost condus mai întâi de Prințul Gheorghi Evghenievici Lvov, iar mai apoi de socialistul Alexandr Kerenski.
Guvernul provizoriu nu a scos Rusia din luptele primului război mondial fapt care i-a scăzut popularitatea printre oamenii epuizați de război.
Kerenski, pentru a pune schimbările democratice pe o bază legală, a planificat pentru luna noiembrie 1917 alegeri generale prin care urmau să fie aleși membrii Adunării Constituționale. Aceasta urma să întocmească noua constituție a republicii ruse. Noua democrație rusă a fost însă înlocuită prin forță de către bolșevici, al căror program era în acel moment mult mai aproape de interesele populației în general decât era programul guvernului provizoriu[1], prin Revoluția din Octombrie[2][3] .
The first phase of the Russian Revolution occurred in February 1917, when the last czar, Nicholas II, abdicated the throne, marking the end of the Romanov dynasty that had governed Russia for almost three centuries. […] As the only major socialist party that had not affiliated with the provisional government, it alone was untainted by the failures of that government. Thus, the Bolsheviks grew rapidly in popularity and in numbers of party members, especially in the large cities and among workers and soldiers. Their program, drawn up by Lenin, was far closer to the mood of the masses than that of the provisional government. It called for immediate peace, confiscation of land-owners’ estates, workers’ control in the factories, self-determination for non-Russian nationalities, and “all power to the soviets,” which meant the overthrow of the provisional government. Lenin insisted that the Bolsheviks seize formal state power from the increasingly unpopular provisional government. On the night of 24-25 October, Bolshevik-led armed forces took control of major centers in St. Petersburg, but they did so in the name of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, which was then assembling in the city. Thus, the Bolsheviks presented their takeover as a defense of the revolution and as a way of bringing a government of the soviets to power. - “Revolution - Russia”, Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History, Robert W. Strayer (State University of New York, Brockport), Ed. William H. McNeill, Jerry H. Bentley, David Christian, Ralph C. Croizier, J. R. McNeill, Heidi Roupp,, et al. Vol. 5. 2nd ed. Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing, 2010. p2166-2168.
Russian Revolution of 1917, two revolutions, the first of which, in February (March, New Style), overthrew the imperial government and the second of which, in October (November), placed the Bolsheviks in power. - Encyclopaedia Britannica online
The Russian Revolution of 1917 actually consists of two distinct political revolutions that occurred that year, the February (March) Revolution and the October (November) Revolution (according to the Old Julian calendar). Both revolutions involved relatively minor outbreaks of violence but were nonetheless characterized by social upheaval and radical changes in government, foreign policy, and ideological imperatives by all parties involved. - The Russian Revolution (1917), World History Encyclopedia, Abraham O. Mendoza, Ed. Alfred J. Andrea and Carolyn Neel. Vol. 17: Era 8: Crisis and Achievement, 1900-1945. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2011. p354-356.
