before the February/March revolution

How did WW1 break out?

June 28th 1914: Franz Ferdinand assassination in Sarajevo

July 28th 1914: Austria Hungary declares war on Serbia - Russia’s ally

July 30th 1914: Russia mobilises, tries to scare Germany off but thanks to the Schlieffen plan, it actually forced Germany into declaring war

(Nicholas II does try to avoid war by sending telegram to his cousin, Kaiser Wilhelm)

Was the economy of the Russia Empire ready for war?

• Russia on the gold standard

• Encourage private enterprise in the extraction of raw materials

• Saving accounts significantly increased from 1905 to 1913

BUT

• Backwards economy

• Military interference in plans (e.g. railways)

• Too dependent on foreign loans

• Too much focus on heavy industry

• People out money in their saving accounts and not spending it back to the economy

How did local government help in WW1?

Local government (Zemstva) joined with a union of towns and became Zemgor

• Zemgor helped supply the army

• Became more significant as the war progressed as the central government was disorganised, so Zemgor took on more responsibilities

However, the Tsar didn’t recognised their efforts and didn’t give up away central power, causing some influential local politicians to be upset and started to question how competent the Tsar was

How did non-government organisations help during WW1?

The War Industry Committee (set up by Russian industrial elites)

• Helped to make the munitions needed (obvious by 1915 that the government didn’t have enough weapons - munition crisis)

Also didn’t get recognised by the Tsar

How was politics a problem during WW1?

Forward thinking politicians in the duma formed the Progressive Bloc to pressure the government into making changes -half of the duma joined (236/442)

• The Tsar responded by dissolving the duma in Sep 1915

• When it was allowed back in Nov 1916, Milyukov gave a critical speech ‘stupidity or treason’, expressing discontent to the government

The Tsar was absent!

• The Tsar made himself become Commander in Chief of the armed forces in Sep 1915

• He had left the Tsarina (German) and Rasputin in charge

• Ministerial leapfrog: the 2 of them sacked so many ministers that the government lost many of its experienced men

What was the impact of WW1 on the economy?

War was longer than expected and was a total war

• Spending grew from 4 billion Rubles in 1914 to 30 billion rubles in 1917

• Funding came from : increasing taxes, borrowing money from aboard, scrapped the gold standard, printed more money

• Coming off the gold standard caused the Rouble to lose 2/3 of its pre war value

= Inflation occurred

• Wages went up 100%, but prices went up 300%

• Rationing was soon brought it in Feb 1917 (rumours spread and sparked revolution)

= widespread support for the autocracy ebbed away with the impact of growing economic hardship caused by inflation

What was the impact of WW1 on society?

Death tolls

• 2 million from military and 1.5 million civilians

• Led to pessimism and lack of trust in the Tsar

Food and fuel shortages

• Grain yield was low - horses and fertiliser requisitioned, peasants had no incentive to grow grain, army produced grain

• Problems with logistics:

1. 44000 miles of railway - mainly taken over by the military

2. Signalling failures

3. Trains broke down

4. Lack of coal for fuel

= trucks ended up in sidings with food rotting

• Close to famine - by 1916, Petrograd and Moscow have only 1/3 food and ½ fuel needed

= brought down morale (shortages led to harsh rationing, inflation and a ban on alcohol)

Refugees came East

• brought up the stories of the horror of war

How can you tell Patriotism waned after the impact on society?

There was a rise in:

• socialist groups

• Anti government agitation - no more conscription, against being cannon fodder

• Trade unions

• Strikes

• Unrest in peasant battalions in the military - front line and garrisons

What was the impact of WW1 on the military?

Lacked equipment

• 6.5 million men mobilised, but only 4.5 million guns

• Shortages of boots, ammunition, bandages

• Command in Chief, Nicholaievitch, said at times that they had to stop fighting due to a lack of ammo and boots

• Poor organisation - regional specialisms were not linked

Human tolls

• 2 million killed

• 3 million wounded

• 3 million prisoners of war

• 1915, the Russian arm retreated out of Poland at a cost of over a million men during the German offensive in Galicia

= replacement soldiers are less experienced and less loyal - peasants in uniform

What were some of the key battles of WW1 for Russia?

1. Gumbinnen Aug 1914

• Defeated Germany and gained East Prussia

2. Tannenberg Aug 1914

• Lost to Germany - 40000 Russians dead

• Start of a series of devastating defeats

3. Masurian lakes Sep 1914

• Lost to Germany again: 125000 casualties (40000 German casualties)

4. Brusilov Offensive June 1916

• Severely weakened the Austro-Hungarian Empire

• Used specialised units to attack weak points

• Initially successful, but the arrival of German reinforcements signalled the end of any advance

• Failed to take their take their objectives of Kovel or Lemberg

• Pyrrhic victory - lost 1.5 million casualties and thus further offensives were impossible = contributed to the collapse in 1917 (showed the failure of the Tsar)

What were the political impacts of WW1?

The Tsar became the Commander in Chief on Sep 1915 = left the government at the mercy of Empress Alexandra (Tsarina)

• Her German nationality, obvious hostility to the Duma and her fascination for the monk, Rasputin, brought the government into considerable disrepute

• Rasputin’s influence over the Empress and the royal family as a result of his ‘healing powers’ caused much unrest

• Nov 1916, the Duma met and the leaders attacked the ‘dark forces’ in the government

• Opposition groups within the Duma pressed for reform and Rasputin was murdered in Dec 1916

Why did WW1 contribute to the end of Tsardom? (Political)

• The Tsar becoming CIC caused him to be blamed for mistakes

• Political problems exacerbated by the Tsarina and Rasputin sacking ministers during the ministerial leapfrog

• Highlighted poor administration and planning by the government - went to war before the Great Military Programme had been completed and only planned for a war that would last 6 months (M)

• Progressive Bloc put pressure on the Tsar for legislative reform which was refused and lost the Tsar political support from his Duma

• Rasputin was not trusted and Tsarina was German - their role in leading the country undermined the position of the Tsar

• Zemstva and Zemgor felt frustrated that the Tsar wouldn’t allow them the power to deal with supply and medical issues created by war- instead the Tsar used expensive imports (M)(E)

Why did WW1 contribute to end of Tsardom? (Military)

• Supply problems- showed up deficiencies in the economy

• High casualties meant officers and foot soldiers who were loyal had been killed injured or captured - a total of 8 million of the 15 million in he army were wounded, dead or captured

• War continued for too long, putting pressure on the home front till it collapsed

• Only 100,000 hospital beds in Russia to deal with the total of nearly 4 million wounded during the war

• Military defeats like Tannenberg and the Masurian lakes caused huge casualties and loss of morale (S)

• Did not have a NCO rank and so discontent between the officer class and the regular soldiers grew

Why did WW1 contribute to end of Tsardom? (Social)

• Logistical problems on the railways highlighted Russia’s lack of modern infrastructure (P)

• Supplies into the major cities of Petrograd and Moscow were heavily limited

• Rationing (Feb 917) exacerbated problems rather than easing them

• Military retreats lead to a scratched earth policy so the general population had their homes destroyed

• Supply problems lead to the procurement of grain through government requisitioning - peasants unhappy as they felt underpaid for their produce

Why did WW1 contribute to end of Tsardom? (Economical)

• Supply problems led to the decision to print more money - inflation

• Factories including Putilov factory closed due to supply problems with caused unemployment leaving industrial worked discontent and those left in work willing to strike over conditions