VCE History: Unit 3World at War

Why were Russia involved?

• Germany, under the leadership of Nicholas’ cousin Kaiser Wilhelm II, was seeking to expand its political power to match its industrial strength.

• Austria wanted to restrict Serbia’s power. Russia supported Serbia in order to become the leader of the Slav people.

• The assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian student, Gavrilo Princip on June 28 1914 escalated into a war of alliances. Russia sent troops to Serbia, Germany declared war on Russia and it all spread from there.

Nicky and Willy’s telegrams

http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/willynicky.htm

Russia’s response to war

Response 1: Public Support• Declaration of war initially helped people to forget their

discontent with politics and the economy, with a growth in national pride ‘Long Live Russia’.

• A wave of support for the Tsar and against Germany (changing St Petersburg to Petrograd – too German) meant that many believed that ‘revolution was not even a distant possibility’ (Lockhart, 1914).

Russia’s response to war

Response 2: Durnovo’s Warnings• Pyotr Durnovo warned Nicholas that Russia was not

prepared for war and that, win or lose, Russia would be ‘irreparably damaged’.

• He believed that the only positive of a win would be to weaken the socialist movement, though still at great economic cost.

• If Russia lost, Durnovo argued, it would be ‘flung into hopeless anarchy’.

How could you fail to listento a man with a beard like that?

Russia’s response to war

Lenin’s Condemnation• Lenin declared the war to be another example of the upper

classes manipulating the toiling masses for their gain.• He argued that Russians should destroy their enemies on

the ‘home front’. He called for socialist groups to go to the front and ‘win over’ fellow German workers with the eventual confiscation of land for the working classes.

• This approach received little support with patriotism strong at the time.

Russian army defeats

• Russia had the largest army in the world, with more soldiers than Germany and Austria-Hungary combined.

• Most of these were peasants, often with very little training.

• Most defeats were the result of poor leadership and a lack of ammunition and supplies.

Russian army defeats

• Russian armies broke through the Austrians in Galicia to the south, capturing 100,000 POWs and 400 artillery guns.

• However, they had two major defeats in the north, with the Battle of Tannenburg on 18 August (130,000 casualties and 100,000 POWs) and Battle of Masurian Lakes on 2 September.

• In the first 12 months of the war, the Russian’s lost over four million men with 16 million people captured by enemy offensives.

Russia’s army defeats

• Russia had a lack of rifles and ammunition. Added to this, their Minister for War General Sukhomlinov, favoured using bayonets in traditional warfare (not smart).

• Although Russia had a railway system, organisation of its trains was poor and the troops often went hungry.

• Skilled men were sent to fight in the war, leaving locomotives without drivers and mechanics.

• This led to a demoralised Russian army with the increasing POW ratio revealing the Russian soldiers preference to be captured, rather than fighting to the death.

Impact of Socialist Propaganda

• General Ruzski reported in December 1916 that ‘the influence of Bolshevik ideas’ was spreading rapidly.

• Desertion in war had been considered cowardly, but now soldiers were purposely shooting themselves in the finger or cheek or surrendering to the enemy.

• Images of a weak Russia succumbing to the enemy German warrior, with a frail Tsar incapable of reacting were starting to symbolise Russian destruction.

Mistakes, mistakes…

Mistake 1: Nicholas becomes Commander of army• Nicholas replaced the popular and experienced Grand

Duke Nickolai Nikolaevich in August 1915.• While there he exchanged letters with his wife Alexandra,

who fed the Tsar affirmation about the need for him to prove himself as an ‘Autocrat’.

• The Chairman of the Fourth Duma, Mikhail Rodzianko, warned against these decisions but was ignored.

• The decision was disastrous as the Tsar was ill-equipped to lead the military and had abandoned the Russian people by leaving Petrograd.

Mistakes, mistakes…

Mistake 2: Leaving Alexandra in charge• Nicholas’s decision to leave for war left the Tsarina in

charge of political affairs.• Encouraged by the advice of Rasputin, she relished the

opportunity to maintain an autocratic rule.• She was politically inexperienced, distrusted as a German

and implemented Rasputin’s decisions through the government.

Impact on the home front

Economic Impact• By 1916 the war was costing nearly 5 times what had

been budgeted for in 1913. The same problems of a lack of supplies and poor organisations felt at war were experienced by the Russian people at home.

• To pay for the war the government was forced to borrow from allied countries and printed more money. The result was food and fuel shortages, inflation and unemployment.

Impact on the home front

Social Impact• Military defeat, distant leadership and economic disaster

caused significant social depression and tension. • Women in Azerbaijan lay on train tracks to stop new

recruits being transported to the front and socialist agitation began to grow again among the industrial workers.

• Sir George Buchanan, advised the Tsar that he need to regain the confidence of his people, but he never did.

Rasputin is wierd

• Grigorii Effimovich Rasputin was a semi-literate peasant, previously a monk who used his ‘mystic powers’ to gain the trust of the Tsarina (and therefore the Tsar).

• Alexandra believed that Rasputin had the powers to heal their only son Alexi’s haemophilia (a genetic condition that prevents blood clotting). As this condition is passed on through the female, he helped to ease her guilt.

• Rasputin had a growing popularity with ‘high society’ prior to the war but his questionable character (particularly in relation to his sexual escapades) came under review as the war continued.

Rasputin is weird

Political Influence• In 1915 and 1916 Rasputin exerted considerable influence

on Alexandra as she controlled the government.• Men were promoted to high positions if they respected

Rasputin and his advice, rather than their expertise. This led to a revolving door of Prime Ministers, Foreign Secretaries, Ministers of War and Interior Wars.

• It was a joke (Elliott, 2012)• After many attempts, Rasputin was eventually assassinated

on 16th of December 1916.