Outline the main reasons why the Kerensky government fell in 1917 in Russia

It is clear that the fall of the Kerensky government was multi-faceted, with many factors causing destabalisation of the provisional government. However, the most substantial reason for the fall of the government remains the continuation of Russia's participation in World War 1, which not only exacerbated the economic and social woes of Russia but further alienated the government from the people. Prior to 1917, Russia had suffered huge losses at the likes of Tannenburg and the Marusian lakes which saw devastating casualties and proved that the technologically advanced German military could decisively outperform Russia's dated form of warfare. Therefore, the war effort proved a devastating blow to morale and was deeply unpopular with the people, many of whom were conscripted or faced food shortages as a direct result of the war. Therefore, the provisional government's decision to continue the war and indeed, to escalate it with Austria was deeply unpopular and alienated the people, who believed that Kerensky and his government were simply part of the same elite who had betrayed them for 3 years. This fundementally destroyed the legitimacy of the provisional government, who seemed to be implacably oppossed to the liberal democratic values that they preached of. Indeed, Lenin's promise of "Peace, Bread, Land" was an accurate assesment of public sentiment at the time, and a reflection of the fact that Russian society had gained a fundementally anti-war tone.However, whilst the war effort and the government's policy failures were clearly the main reason for the destabalisation of the Kerensky government, it is clear that there were other features, such as the strengths of the Bolsheviks, which worked against them.Indeed, the growing support and popularity of the Bolsheviks worked to undermine the legitimacy of the provisional government and meant that there was now an effective opposition with genuine support. This is most clearly seen in the Petrograd Soviet, the largest workers' council in Russia, which Trotsky had assumed effective control of and was totally aligned with the Bolsheviks. Most notably, the publishing of "Order Number 1" which was an inflamatory document which encouraged workers to arm themselves, disobey the provisional government and effectively allied themselves with the Bolsheviks, fundementally undermined the provisional government and proved that Kerensky had lost the trust of the workers. Crucially, the rise of the Bolsheviks is about a growth in working class support which destabalised the legitimacy of the provisional government.Moreover, in addition to the urban workers, the Bolsheviks had attracted generalised public support from much of the general public. This came not firslt as a result of Lenin's populist message, which promised to redress many systemic problems in Russia that the provisional government had neglected, most notably the land inequalities which saw a huge concentration of economic power in less than 2% of the population. Additionally, specific event such as the July Day Riots which saw Kerensky's government open fire on Bolshevik protestors brought public sympathy to the Bolsheviks and turned the supporters into martyrs. Couple this with Kerensky's decision to arm the Bolsheviks in order to put down an uprising from general Kornilov, thus raising their profile, and it seemed that Bolsheviks, in the eyes of the public were seen as a credible and effective opposition. This unity of an opposition, along with broad popular support from the Russian proleteriat additionally proved a destabalising influence to Kerensky's government.Therefore, it is clear that the fall of Kerenky's governement in 1917 took place for a plethora of reasons, be they government weaknesses which undermined legitiacy or opposition strengths which unified the Bolsheviks. However, it is clear that the main reason for the fall of provisional government was the continuation of Russia's participation in World War 1 which alienated the government from the people and made Kerensky a deeply unpopular figure.