Tsarist authority 1917 - Russia
How important was Russia’s military failure in the First World War in causing the collapse of Tsarist authority in 1917?
The Tsarist regime was put under severe pressure by the challenges imposed by the First World War. The stresses and strains evident in Russia before 1914 were deepened by the enormous demands placed on the country by its involvement. The start of the war saw a rallying of support for the Tsar but as the military defeats occurred and economic dislocation caused shortages in the cities, the survival of the regime was undermined. As disillusionment grew, even the Tsar’s own supporters turned against him. By February 1917, faced with serious unrest across the Empire, including the peasants who had increased pressure as they were highly taxed to pay for industrialisation and the working class who were working and living in poor conditions, the regime collapsed.
The military failure in the First World War certainly made the revolution likely. The Russian army was by far the largest army of all the countries that fought in the war. Its crippling weakness, which denied it the military advantage that its sheer size should have given it, was lack of equipment. The problem was not the lack of resources but poor administration and lack of liaison between the government departments responsible for supplies. In the first two years of the war the army managed to obtain its supply needs, but from 1916 serious shortages began to occur. In August 1915 Nicholas decided to take over personal command of the army which meant he was now personally associated with any failure and no longer could his supporters argue that any problems were caused by those under him. By the end of 1916 the army was very different from what it had been in August 1914, however the soldiers, made up of the peasants and workers, were beginning to question what was happening. They were being led by officers who didn't know how to build a trench or they failed to make good use of what
The Tsarist regime was put under severe pressure by the challenges imposed by the First World War. The stresses and strains evident in Russia before 1914 were deepened by the enormous demands placed on the country by its involvement. The start of the war saw a rallying of support for the Tsar but as the military defeats occurred and economic dislocation caused shortages in the cities, the survival of the regime was undermined. As disillusionment grew, even the Tsar’s own supporters turned against him. By February 1917, faced with serious unrest across the Empire, including the peasants who had increased pressure as they were highly taxed to pay for industrialisation and the working class who were working and living in poor conditions, the regime collapsed.
The military failure in the First World War certainly made the revolution likely. The Russian army was by far the largest army of all the countries that fought in the war. Its crippling weakness, which denied it the military advantage that its sheer size should have given it, was lack of equipment. The problem was not the lack of resources but poor administration and lack of liaison between the government departments responsible for supplies. In the first two years of the war the army managed to obtain its supply needs, but from 1916 serious shortages began to occur. In August 1915 Nicholas decided to take over personal command of the army which meant he was now personally associated with any failure and no longer could his supporters argue that any problems were caused by those under him. By the end of 1916 the army was very different from what it had been in August 1914, however the soldiers, made up of the peasants and workers, were beginning to question what was happening. They were being led by officers who didn't know how to build a trench or they failed to make good use of what