Impact of the First World War 1914-1917

August 1st, 1914

Germany declares war on Russia, within days Russian allies France and Britain were at war with Germany

- •At first the existing divisions and discontent was put aside as people rallied in devotion to faith, tsar and country.

Mid August 1914

Russian's first army and second army invaded German occupied east Prussia

1915

Tsar made the disastrous decision to appoint himself as Commander-in- Chief which meant then all of the military defeats became his responsibility.

He had no military expertise and as he was at the Front he left his wife Tsarina Alexandra behind in Petrograd

Late 1916

Russia was facing heavy casualties and defeat with more than 2 million Russian deaths

- Russia was unable to produce adequate supplies... leading to demoralisation in the army

- army men often didn't have boots and were limited to a few bullets per day

wounded men were treated with medical equipment

- railways had collapsed and Russian export was very limited

- farming systems broke down as no one was able to run then and no transportation resulted in food shortages

- mass inflation due to government dept and money printing

- people were starving and dying - revolutionary groups were beginning to form

September 1916

- there was great government instability, ministers were randomly fired and appointed... there was 5 ministers of interior and 3 ministers of war

December 1916

Rasputin assassinated, it made little difference as the regime was doomed either way

Beginning of 1917

The Tsar had lost all support within the country

famine and riots plagued Russia with a rising demand for the tsar to abdicate

February 1917

February Revolution - fall of Tsar

the tsarist regime ended with the 304 year old Romanov rule

- General strike starts with women's rights and grows with protests about bread shortages

- could have been controlled by giving them bread but police and soldiers open fire at the crowd. Many soldiers mutiny and military power leaves the tsar for the revolution

- Tsar abdicates but people want the end of the monarchy

- provisional Government established by the Duma

March 1917

Following the abdication on the Tsar Russias political power fell to the provisional government and the soviets, these bodies of government would uncomfortably share power for the next 8 moths

the provisional government made the fatal decision to continue the war despite the protest of the Soviets

April 1917

Bolshevik leader Lenin was in exile in Switzerland, however he would travel via sealed train all throughout Europe in secret to arrive in Petrograd

- Lenin would announce the April thesis, which called for all power to the Soviets demanding an end to the war with Germany

the publication of the provisional governments war aims caused rioting... which the soviets exploited

May 1917

The provisional government was shaky and unstable even though they claimed to be the legitimate authority in Russia

- the government was unable to control the anarchy in the countryside, where peasants attacked land owners

- unable to deal with this the government announced that they would leave the resolution to a constituent assembly that would be formed at the end of the year

- as news of land seizes spread many soldiers fighting came home to grab their fair share of the land

June 1917

An artillery barrage and offensive was launched on the south western front , it had some brief success against Austrian forces

- arrival of German forces saw a massive defeat for Russia and over 170,000 men through down their weapons and gave up

- Russia lost several million kms of land and hundreds of thousands of men

July 1917

Gun companies were refusing to listen to Kerensky

- soon Petrograd was in chaos with 500,000 people protesting against the war

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August 1917

September 1917

October 1917