How did the crisis of World War I help create a revolutionary situation in Russia? Essay

‘How did the crisis of World War I help create a revolutionary situation in Russia?’

Although there were many other solutions that did not involve war after August 1914 to the governments of Austro-Hungary, Russia, Germany and finally, Great Britain war was the resolution that they consciously chose. Each of these countries enjoyed a heightened sense of patriotism none so much as Russia who’s hapless Tsar had seen better times as an autocratic monarch. However it did not all go to plan for Nicholas II; the war was a disaster for Russia.

It caused massive inflation, plunged the country into a famine and ultimately cost the lives of nearly 5 million Russian soldiers and civilians as well as a series of military defeats, which as we learnt from the Russo-Japanese war, created conditions suited to Revolution. The demoralisation of the proud Russian peoples created dissent, and discredited the Tsar. In August 1915, the Tsar left Petrograd to command the Russian army. In August 1915, the Tsar left Petrograd to command the Russian army. He therefore received the blame personally for all their defeats and lost control of his troops as he left Rasputin and the Tsarina to rule Russia. His army also consisted of millions of poor, starving peasants with bad equipment, poor supplies of rifles and ammunition. In 1916, two million soldiers were killed or seriously wounded, and one third of a million taken prisoners. The Russian population was horrified. They considered the Tsar irresponsible for taking over the army and held him responsible for everything; as a result instability was growing at an alarming rate for the Tsar who had once held himself so assuredly in power.

Nicholas II took this course of action to assure himself he still had complete control of Russia. However this merely made his inadequate leadership ability abundantly clear. He refused to take advice and refused to accommodate the needs of Russians. Almost everyone in Russia was against the war, yet...