The telegram contained the statement that the Provisional Government would continue to fight against Imperial Germany, as had begun under the Czar.
Ongoing Russian draft combat losses, such as at the disastrous Battle of Tannenberg early in the war and later in the successful but incredibly costly Brusilov offensive, had aided in the collapse of military and popular support for Czar Nicholas II and ultimately helped force his abdication.
[2] Public circulation of the note on April 20, 1917, prompted violent street protests in opposition to Russian participation in the war and outrage that the new government would continue Czarist policies.
[3] It also led to condemnation by notable Marxists such as Vladimir Lenin and others who claimed the note was evidence that the Provisional Government was bowing to the interests of international capitalism and those who sought to continue the war for foreign conquest and other financial gain.
[1] The pressure that resulted accelerated the April Crisis which increased popularity of the Bolsheviks[5] and helped to further weaken and isolate the Provisional Government ahead of the October Revolution.