<P> The Provisional Government was formed in Petrograd by the Provisional Committee of the State Duma and was led first by Prince Georgy Lvov and then by Alexander Kerensky . It replaced the institution of the Council of Ministers of Russia , members of which after the February Revolution presided in the Chief Office of Admiralty . At the same time the Russian Emperor Nicholas II abdicated in favor of the Grand Duke Michael who agreed that he would accept after the decision of Russian Constituent Assembly . The Provisional Government was unable to make decisive policy decisions due to political factionalism and a breakdown of state structures . This weakness left the government open to strong challenges from both the right and the left . The Provisional Government 's chief adversary on the left was the Petrograd Soviet , which tentatively cooperated with the government at first , but then gradually gained control of the army , factories , and railways . The period of competition for authority ended in late October 1917 , when Bolsheviks routed the ministers of the Provisional Government in the events known as the October Revolution , and placed power in the hands of the soviets , or `` workers ' councils , '' which had given their support to the Bolsheviks . The weakness of the Provisional Government is perhaps best reflected in the derisive nickname given to Kerensky : `` persuader - in - chief . '' </P>
who led russia 's provisional government in early 1917
Prince Georgy Lvov and then by Alexander Kerensky