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HOW DID WW1 CONTRIBUTE TO THE DOWNFALL OF THE TSAR? (Failure to make…
HOW DID WW1 CONTRIBUTE TO THE DOWNFALL OF THE TSAR?
Military
Losses
Battle pf Tannenburg, enormous defeat, 30 000 Russian men killed or wounded, 95 000 captures and the Germans suffered inly 20 000 casualties
Great losses of officers and men weakened army morale and led to desertions
Last WW1 Russian Offensive was the Brusilov Offensive in 1916. Initially successful, but by August had to retreat
The constant heavy military losses led to disillusionment with the tsar and government and anger at their incompetence
Large scale conscription: 5.3 million men mobilised in 1914, and by Christmas 1916, 15.3 million men had experienced military service
Generals from aristocratic background often held their position through favouritism rather than merit, angering the soldiers
Difficult living conditions
The war caused acute distress in large cities especially Petrograd and Moscow
Discontent
The urban workers became hostile towards the tsarist government
The peasants became increasingly angry about the conscription pf all the young men who seldom retuned from the Front
Supply
Disruption of supplies meant that foods, goods and raw materials were in short supply
100s of factories closed and and thousands were out of work
The lack of fuel meant people were cold as well as hungry
Failure to make political reform
The war led to a rise in patriotism and number of bodies ere setup to help the war effort. The union of Zemstva provided medical facilities to the army
A 'progressive Bloc' was formed who suggested to the Tsar that they could could run the government. They were essentially asking for a constitutional monarchy
However, the tsar was unwilling to make concessions to a representative government and refused to abandon autocracy.
This further angered the opposition elements who began to accuse the government of treachery rather than mere incompetence and some resorted to conspiracy
Role of Rasputin and the Tsarina
The tsar became Commander in chief. This not only made him seem more responsible for the varying catastrophes that befell his army but also left Tsarina and thereby Rasputin in charge
Ministers
Ministers were changed frequently resulting in a deteriorating situation in the cities with food and fuel in very short supply
They made a mess of running country, They dismissing able ministers in favour of friends or those who had bribed them. They performed poorly
The made the court corrupt and it made the Tsar seem weak and disrespectful as he had let this dirty peasant in and allowed him so much control
Relationship
The Tsarina became totally discredited as her relationship with Rasputin was heavily scrutinised.
They generated ridicule and odium as cartoon circulated showing them in bed together
This tainted the Tsar as he was blamed for putting them in charge. IN addition, if even his wife was disloyal to him how could the people be expected to?
Economic
Rapid inflation with prices rising
over 200%
between Aug 1914 and Dec 1916
Production
but other industries declined and non-military factories forced to close leaving many without a job
Loss of agricultural workers and horses led to food shortages
There was a massivr expansion of war production (artillery in 1916 4 times that of 1914),
There were major transport issues, partly due inadequate network, nut mainly due to poor administration
Expenditure rose and the government resorted to borrowing and and money printing