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Impact of the first world war (Early defeats (Two huge armies attacked…
Impact of the first world war
Over view
Russia went to war in August 1914
The news that the country was at war was very popular very fast
In Russia there were patriotic demonstrations in support of the Tsar
Nicholas renamed St Petersburgh, which he thought sounded much like a german name, Petrograd.
Early defeats
Two huge armies attacked germany at the end of August in 1914
The Russians were expecting a massive win over the german army they faced
Russian armies badly led and very badly equipped, nearly 1 million men without rifles, many without boots
In the two battles of Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes, both of the Russian armies were wiped out
250,000+ soldiers were killed, wounded or taken prisoner of war (Russian)
This is only 6 weeks after the start of the war
At the end of 1914 the Russians had lost over one million men through casualties, deaths and soldiers were taken prisoner
By the end of 1915, 300,000 Russians had been killed and 3 million were either wounded or prisoners
The collapse of the economy
Problem No.1
Lack of workers was rising
In all 15.5 million young men were taken to the army to fight, having the number of need work in the factories and the fields
Over 600 factories had to close due to lack of workers in 1915
Many farms only grew weed in empty fields where the corn had once been grown
Problem No.2
Transport was another issue
Russia, biggest country in the world, depends on railways for food and raw materials
Not enough trains to keep the armies as well as the towns-people supplied with food an materials
Tonnes of butter, meats and grain rooted on the side of the railways
Towns and soldiers went hungry fast
Coal supply and power stations halted while coal trains stood at the coal mines
As power failed, more factories closed
Problem No.3
Inflation was a massive problem
Russian money (the rubble) began to lose its value
In august 1915 the Tsar Nicholas decided to take command of his army
He left Petrograd to live in the army headquarters 500km away
This is a fatal mistake
Left Alexandra in charge of the Government
During the next 16 months Russia had four different Prime Ministers, five Ministers of the Interior, four Ministers of Agriculture, three Ministers of War and two Ministers of Foreign Affairs
Allthough the Russian armies won some important victories in 1916, the death toll still rose to over 1 million rapidly
Rumours about Alexandra and Ruputin flew around
In December 1916, three nobles loyal to the Tsar decided to kill Rasputin. They murdered him
As blizzards hit Russia of temperatures of -35 degrees, train engines froze and food, coal, wood, grain and oil dwindled into nothing