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Impact of WW1 on Russia


Russian defeats on the Eastern Front 1914 - 1916
  • Morale plummeted further with the deafeats at Tannenberg and Masurian lakes.
  • By 1914, 1 million had been killed, wounded or taken prisoner.
  • This number rose to 8 million in 1917.
  • Soldiers were told to take weapons from the dead, which resulted in even more deaths because so many were ploughed down by Germany's armies, which were better equipped.
  • Very poor leadership led to more defeats
  • Soldiers lacked weapons and boots, so many were exposed to the effects of the cold and blamed this on careless, unfeeling officers.

Economic, social and political effects of the war on Russia.

Economic

  • Shortages meant prices rose quickly
  • Long bread queues and starvation
  • Shortage in industrial materials meant that factories had to close
  • This left many people unemployed

Social

  • Tsar at the war front (1915) meant that the losses were blamed on him personally
  • People became hungry and angry
  • Tsarina was messing up the government and people blamed it on Rasputin's influence

Political

  • Tsar's support plummeted because people thought the losses were his fault
  • The Tsarina dismissed able ministers and replaced them with Rasputin's friends
  • She was making a mess of the government, making it more inefficient which led to more frequent uprisings and strikes
  • Rasputin's influence made the Tsar and Tsarina's support plummet even further

Influence of Rasputin
  • Called in to heal Alexei, the Tsar's son. He said he would get better after X days, and he did
  • He considered himself a holy man and the Tsarina, being a religious woman, thought he was great and that he was a miracle worker
  • He was invited to stay with the royal family, even though he was a peasant.
  • Many people thought Rasputin represented everything that was wrong with the royal family.
  • It was seen as disgusting that a womanizing peasant was living with the royalty
  • He convinced the Tsarina to dismiss able ministers and replace them with his friends, which made a mess of the government
  • Stolypin banished him from St Petersburg, much to the Tsarina's fury, but after his death, he returned with even greater influence.
  • Newspaper stories about him were censored, which led to an increase in (potentially untrue) gossip and rumours about him

Impact of winter 1916
  • Ruined an already poor harvest
  • Led to food shortages and famine
  • Food shortage because of the war and now because of the winter led to a 300% increase in prices (of food)
  • Army desertions increased dramatically
  • There was almost no bread, and the bread that was left was reserved for special classes, which only increased resentment between classes.
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