The removal of the autocracy of Imperial Russia left a massive power vacuum that had to be filled. The differing goals and ideologies of the replacement governments meant that violence and disorder were tearing Russia apart. In 1917, a stage was set in Pretrograd (St. Petersburg) as disgruntled soldiers and industrial workers had finally had enough with the Russian Provisional Government. The high casualties suffered by Russian forces in The Great War meant the Russian people were losing faith in the new government, and the pains of the lose in the Russo-Japaneses War were starting to repeat themselves. The Bolsheviks, the opposition to the Provisional Government, attempted to led the protests as a means to gain political ground. Instead, their support painted a bulls-eye on their organization and forced many of their leaders, including Lenin, into either hiding or prison. “Moreover, the Provisional Government, in a desperate attempt to undermine the Bolsheviks’ credibility, decided to go public with its investigation of their receipt of German money and charges that Lenin was a German spy.” The Bolsheviks would not see another shot at this type of political takeover until October. 

The rise in revolutionary military movements alarmed government troops who knew that the protest would quickly escalate from peaceful, to violent, and then into an all out armed coup. Therefore, the troops were fully prepared to defend themselves and react violently. At the end of the four day ordeal, around 700 protesters were killed. The violent reaction by the Provisional Government created more tensions between them and the population, who saw them as mimicking the tyrannical power of the past empire. The Bolsheviks were gaining support from those who no longer wanted Russia at war, but their failed attempt at a coup led some to believe that more time was needed before another revolt could happen. October would be that time.

http://soviethistory.macalester.edu/index.php?page=subject&SubjectID=1917july&Year=1917&navi=byYear

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:19170704_Riot_on_Nevsky_prosp_Petrograd.jpg