Why did Russia leave the war
russia was called the "weak giant"
importance of the eastern front
saved Britain and France
the germans had concentrated on smashing France, however the attack of the russians made germany transfer troops to the western front
TWO FRONT WAR
the early defeats
in 1914 they were defeated at tannenberg and the masurian lakes, leaving them with almost 200,000 men killed
this defeat meant that they would start fighting in the russian sold instead of the german soil
the russians were incompetent and used out of date tactics
they believed the "russian stream rollers" would roll the enemy by sheer weight in numbers
they didn't take in account the power of the machine gun, which the germans had a lot
were using 20 year old maps
poor communication system
lacked weapons, 1 riffle between 3
1915 retreat
in may 1915 the germans and the austrians launched an offensive hoping to knock russia out of the war
the russian troops were in continual retreat
luckily for the russians the harsh winter conditions saved them from
the retreat meant that the Russian were now close to the supply and the germans and Austrians further away
additionally the British and french were supplying them with military equipment
they were better equipped than in the start of the war
the brussilov offensive
in 1916 the french were in a difficult position and asked the russians to attack on the eastern front to relieve pressure
the commander Brussilov launched an offensive and made them capture again what they lost in 1915
the german forces were forced to move 35 divisions to the east and it relieved pressure from france
severe consequences for russia
effects of war on russia
the Russian railway system was breaking down
trains were used to get the soldiers to the warfront, so food wasn't getting to the cities
shortages on food and fuel meant that the people were starving and freezing
less food was produced as the horses and the peasants were taken to war
people were unhappy with war, ideas of revolution
in 1917 the tsar was overthrown, and a provisional government was led
they decided to continue with war, which led to the communism group "the Bolsheviks" seek for the power