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The Provisional Government wasn't able to stop Lenin and the Bolsheviks in 1917 because of its inability to gain support from all sections of the population. Many factors contributed to the Provisional Governments downfall. Most importantly was their decision to continue the war, their failure to act upon the urgent social and economic problems, the fact that they were weakened by the actions and authority of the Petrograd Soviet, and the rising influence the Bolshevik's had …

…This so called 'Prolekult' set the Bolsheviks apart from their socialist partners. Those who could have oppressed the Bolsheviks continued to disregard them as a real threat. The October/November Revolution therefore became a coup founded on the indifference of the people towards the Kerensky government, the inability of the government to provide effective leadership and the ability of a small group of people - the Bolsheviks - to exploit a situation to their benefit.