To What Extent Does the Impact of World War I Explain the Outbreak of the Two Revolutions in 1917 ?
To what extent does the impact of World War I explain the outbreak of the two revolutions in 1917 ?
To a certain extent, the First World War was a major contributing factor to the two revolutions that took place in 1917, the February and October Revolution. The war worsened the issues that already existed in Russia and also highlighted the lack of leadership shown by the Tsar and the Provisional Government set up after the February Revolution and also the Tsars military command over the army during the war. However, World War One was not the only reason for the revolutions taking place and acted as a tipping factor from the already undergoing social, political and economical problems plaguing Russia which led to the fall of the Tsar and the Provisional Government.
The war was a massive mistake for Russia, it gained success support at first from the Russian public until they started to lose battles. After defeats in 1915 the poor attempt at retreating and the number of those wounded the high command and the Tsar were blamed which led to Nicholas II making one of his biggest mistakes ever whilst in his reign, Tsar Nicholas II took the advice of Grigori Rasputin, a peasant who was friends with the royal family from trying to heal their son of haemophilia, and went and led the Russian war effort. The tsar had a slender knowledge about war which led to him putting himself in a vulnerable position as he would now have to make all correct decisions or would be blamed by the people back home for any wrong decisions. Joe Gaucci, a historian, backs up this claim and states that the Tsars decision “proved disastrous as the government became increasingly chaotic”. Over 200,000 men were lost in the war and with 15 million peasants pulled from the farms the food shortage became a larger problem. The army started to lose faith in the Tsar, this was a vital for the revolution as they stopped shooting on the rioters and leading to the revolution continuing. The war also
To a certain extent, the First World War was a major contributing factor to the two revolutions that took place in 1917, the February and October Revolution. The war worsened the issues that already existed in Russia and also highlighted the lack of leadership shown by the Tsar and the Provisional Government set up after the February Revolution and also the Tsars military command over the army during the war. However, World War One was not the only reason for the revolutions taking place and acted as a tipping factor from the already undergoing social, political and economical problems plaguing Russia which led to the fall of the Tsar and the Provisional Government.
The war was a massive mistake for Russia, it gained success support at first from the Russian public until they started to lose battles. After defeats in 1915 the poor attempt at retreating and the number of those wounded the high command and the Tsar were blamed which led to Nicholas II making one of his biggest mistakes ever whilst in his reign, Tsar Nicholas II took the advice of Grigori Rasputin, a peasant who was friends with the royal family from trying to heal their son of haemophilia, and went and led the Russian war effort. The tsar had a slender knowledge about war which led to him putting himself in a vulnerable position as he would now have to make all correct decisions or would be blamed by the people back home for any wrong decisions. Joe Gaucci, a historian, backs up this claim and states that the Tsars decision “proved disastrous as the government became increasingly chaotic”. Over 200,000 men were lost in the war and with 15 million peasants pulled from the farms the food shortage became a larger problem. The army started to lose faith in the Tsar, this was a vital for the revolution as they stopped shooting on the rioters and leading to the revolution continuing. The war also