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Chapter three-From war to revlution - Coggle Diagram
Chapter three-From war to revlution
war
Russias entrance into the war
On the 19th of July Fran Ferdinand was assassinated by Serbian nationalists. On the 28th July 1914 a month after Austrian Hungaria declared war on Serbia with encouragement from Germany.. Russian believed they could force them to withdraw as despite there defeat by Japan they were still seen as a formidable force.Nicholas 11 made attempts to personally avoid wars. In July he sent a personal telegram to Kaiser Wilhelm regretting the growing crisis in Russo-Germany, however there was a sense it was already out of there control.
Mobilisation plans
Russia had two types of mobilisation plans full and partial. The partial were based on plans for a limited campaign in the Balkans against Austrian Hungaryy. Full plans were based on a full scale war against Germany and Austria Hungaria. On July 1914 Nicholas 11 made the decision to sign full mobilisation orders. There was fears that a pertial mobilisation would leave them defenceless against Germany however full mobilisation was direct provacation. Germany warned Savanoz if they fully mobilised Germany also would and they would have to go to war.
German mobilisation plans were based on the Scheitfen plsn and it aimed to avoid fighting two fronts against both France and Germany. On 31st July Germany demanded Russia would withdraw mobilisation orders and on the 1st of August Germany declared war on Russia.
problems
inflation
Prior to the war, Russia had been on the gold standard and had the largest reserves of any country, the war destroyed this. Between 1914-17 there was a massive increase in spending from 4 million to 30 million roubles. The government abandoned the gold standard and decided to put more notes in circulation. This was a policy known as quantitative easing which allowed wages to be paid however long term it made Russian money worthless. There was also an increase in taxes and borrowing from abroad, this was only partially successful in getting the necessary funds. As a result there was high inflation in 1914-16 earnings doubled but prices of food and fuel quadrupled.
food and transport
At the beginning of the war many peasants befitted agriculturally, there was a higher demand so peasants were able to charge higher rates. During the first to years the grain yield was higher than it had been in both 1912 and 1914. However from 1916 it began to decrease as s result of inflation, the requisition of horses and fertiliser by the militiary and the fact the military had priority on transport and the amount of foreboding produced. This meant peasants began hoarding stock.
The growth of railways that occurred between 1881 to 1914 was not enough to meet the demands of war, as millions of troupes needed to be transported. The signalling system of the railway broke down and steam trains broke down because of engine failure and lack of coal. By 1916, 575 stations were no longer capable. This has detrimental consequences on the transportation of food pre war Moscow received 2200 wagons of grain each year but from 1912 this dropped below 700. In 1917 Petrograd received a quarter of the bread they relieved in 1914. Some of the good were available just undistributed, for example in Achangelthe Northern Port there was such a weight of undistributed goods they sank, there was also reports of food rotting.
living conditions
Living conditions at the time were very difficult and there was increase in disease and malnutrition as a result.
prohibition
Alcohol consumption was a big part of Russian tradition and taxes on it were a major form of Russian revenue around a third. The aim of prohibition was to remove distraction however it ended up leading to social disruption. It was repealed in 1916 however the damage had already been done e.g people had begun making through illegal means. Samagon was an illegal vodka and it had become a nation wide industry.
army
For the first two years of the war the army managed to get supplies but from 1916 it went downhill. There was poor administration and ineffective liaison between the government and officials responsible for the supplies. This meant there were shortages on food, ammunition and supplies. In 1916 Rodzianko spoke on behalf of the Dumas and spoke on the widespread disruption prevalent in the army, he described the lack of organicsation as a great evil.
Modern Research from Evan Maudsley shows the army was on the brink of collapse in 1917 and strains meant many were mutinying. Mutinies did also occur in Britain and France. However historian Stone argues Russia were an important ally for Britain and France and in 1916 they produced more shells than Germany.
Nicholas 11
The war needed a strong leader which Nicholas 11 did not provide. 1915- took over as leader of Russian armed services. He was not a natural commander so had to rely heavily on generals, he did not know about military matters or fighting. Treated the headquarters in Mogilev as an escape from politics rather than a place to lead, it is said he had an air of detachment. He appointed people because of there social standing rather than military ability, he did make some useful appointments such as General Alenski Brusilove but did not always support him and let personal rivalries destroy morale. His wife also said Nicholas was rarely told truth by those he appointed.
morale
Factors such as food shortages, transport dislocation and a lack of success in the war meant morale was very low. By 1916 the attitude of soldiers was pessimistic and the army were deserting in increasing numbers.
Rasputsin
Rasputin as a self ordained holy man known for sexual depravity, all fashionable suitors wanted to sleep with him. He did not wash or change in order to add to his allure. Men at the imperial court hated him. He was invited to the Tsars to heal his son Alexi who had Haemophilia. Tsars wife struggled as she was thought by many as a German agent despite her transition to the Orthodox church. She asked Rasputin for support in maintaining the court. He reorganised the army's medical supply system and showed administrative skill, howevere it was to late to start the tsardom.
In 1916 he was murdered by a group of aristocrat. First he was poisoned, then he was shot at point blank range, he was also beat with a steal bar. Finally, they killed him by trapping him in a curtain and drowning him.
politics
The Bolsheviks
At the beginning of the war the parties demanded there policies and instead put them-self forward to the war effort. Lenin was bitter about this. He was vilified as a traitor and German agent and was forced to go into hiding in Poland.
the progressive block
The union of Zemstov and municipal of councils joined forming the Zemgor. They were devoted to helping Russia's wounded heal but the Tsar would not acknowledge there existence. The Tsar rejected a Dumas proposal to replace ministry with ministry of national council the tsar refused. 236 out of 422 member formed the progressive bloc. They did not challenge tsar but encouraged him to make certain concessions, he did not listen. During 115 there were 8 prime ministers and 3 ministers of defence.
Recall of the Duma
In August 1914 the Duma was recalled. For ayear they had put there full support behind the Tsar however in 1914 it demanded its own recall. In 1915 Nicholas 11 allowed it to reassemble. The Tsar and ministers refused to fully co-operate with the non government organisations such as union of Zemstous and the union of Municipal councils.
duma
Dumas in 1914 fully supported the Tsar but within a year demanded its own recall. Nicholas allowed it to reassemble in 1915, however Tsar and ministers refused to fully co-operate with on-governmental organisations for example the union of Zemstovs.
Revolution
How did it start?
There were a number of issues, the kadets in Duma were demanding the removal of unwanted ministers and there were rumours of widespread arrests in Petrograd from the government. The Okhrana report highlighted the dire situation in Russia for example there were hunger riots and hostility towards authority. The duma president Rodzianko warned the Tsar everyone had deserted him.
who joined the protest?
23rd Feb-internationals women's day, they joined the streets and demanded food and the ending of the war. 25th Feb-Patriograd brought to a stand still. Factories were occupied by authorities in attempt to disperse workers, the authorities were confused and lacked direction.
Khabalov
Tsar was 400 miles away when this occurred in Mogilev and he was getting information from letters from Tsania. Khabolov said the situation was uncontrollable with police and militia fighting each other and joining the protesters. His own garrison troupes were disobeying orders. Khabolv told the gov to declare martial law which would allow him to use unlimited force on the demonstrators howvever there was such disarray it could not even be printed. 26th Feb- only a few thousand of a hundred thousand had not desserted.
The PC and the PS
Riodzianko told the tsar on behalf of the Duma many concessions were needed if he wanted to keep imperial power. In response tsar dissolved the duma. A group of twelve remained and formed the provisional committee. Kerenski ordered the tsar to stand down or be disposed. On the same day the provisional committee formed so did the petrograd soviet which was for workers, soldiers and sailors. A menshevik was a leading force in setting this up. Lenin called for both groups to be a dual authority. 25th Feb- soviet newspaper declared it was throwing out old system and was going to create a constituent Assembly that would be elected.
Tsars abdication
The tsars remaining ministers left and Rodzianko called for Nicholas to abdicate in order to save the monarchy. 28th Feb- tsar returned to Petrograd to calm issues, however royal train was intercepted and he was taken to Pzkov which was 190 miles away from Petrograd. Stavka and the old Duma met and advised him to abdicate. Eventually Nicholas accepted this and abdicated he put his brother forward but he refused. 3rd March- PG informed world revolution had taken place.
The Bolsheviks involvement
The Bolsheviks did little in the February revolution, all leaders were in exle including Lenin who had not been in Russia for ten years. He said he did not expect a proletariat revolution in his lifetime even though he was only 46.