For this reason, if for no other, Kerensky and his associates were entitled
to expect and to receive the loyal support of all who professed loyalty to
the working class. Instead of giving that support, however, the Bolsheviki
devoted themselves to the task of defeating every effort of the Provisional
Government to carry out its program, which, it must be borne in mind, had
been approved by the great mass of the organized workers. They availed
themselves of every means in their power to hamper Kerensky in his work and
to hinder the organization of the economic resources of the nation to
sustain the military forces.
Kerensky had promised to organize preparations for a vigorous offensive
against the Austro-German forces. That such offensive was needed was
obvious and was denied by none except the ultra-pacifists and the
Bolsheviki. The Congress of Soldiers' Delegates from the Front and the
Petrograd Soviet had specifically urged the need of such an offensive, as
had most of the well-known peasants' leaders. It was a working-class
policy. But that fact did not prevent the Bolsheviki from throwing
obstacles in the way of its fulfilment. They carried on an active
propaganda among the men in the army and the navy, urging insubordination,
fraternization, and refusal to fight.
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