“German defeat in the Great War is predominantly attributable to the mistakes of the Prussian-German military elite.” Explain why you agree or disagree with this statement. The Great War was supposed to be a short, victorious war for Germany, one that would be over by Christmas but despite Germany’s early successes in the First World War she eventually suffered defeat in 1918. It is a popular argument that this defeat was due to the weaknesses and incompetence of the German military elite and there is much to support this. However there are other factors such as weaknesses shown by Germany’s allies, the strength of the Entente and the growing discontent of the Germans at home, that can also be attributable to Germany’s failure. German defeat in the Great War was largely down to the incompetence and mistakes of the German Military Elite.
These events highlighted the weakness of the military and caused national humiliation, thus contributing to the outbreak of the 1905 Revolution. The crushing of Russian’s military added impetus to the 1905 Revolution, as it made the people of Russia aware of the weakness of their military and ashamed to be Russian. They were losing to a nation very few had heard of and it was embarrassing to the nation. The Russo-Japanese War produced economic
His reform included different aspect; such as political, social and economic. He also appointed Peter Stolypin as the prime minister to stabilize the country. Nicholas II had tried his best to regain people’s support and stop the revolution tide through the reforms however resentment of his wife and her involvement with the mystical Rasputin was widespread and did little to regain the peoples trust. Also the state of the country during World War One left a lot to be desired and created a lot of dissatisfaction amongst the Russian people. The personality of Nicholas II contributed to his downfall in 1917.
The lack of unity especially in the high command of the white army was the reason why many of the generals such as Denikin and Yudenich refused to combine their forces for an all-out assault, and this then resulted in the total defeat of the white forces. Although the lack of unity in the whites was an important aspect for the Bolsheviks victory, we cannot forget about several other factors which were also important to the success of the reds. The most significant advantage that the Bolsheviks had during the civil war was Trotsky’s role as war commissar, without a doubt if it wasn't for Trotsky the reds might have lost the civil war. Trotsky had good management and organisation skills which he put to good use trying to turn the red army from a gang of inexperienced men into an effective fighting machine. The main he done this was using 50,000 ex tsarist officers to train and lead the red army, this proved unpopular with many Bolsheviks party members however.
The crushing of Russian’s military added movement to the 1905 Revolution, as it made the people of Russia aware of the weakness of their military, making many people become un-patriotic. They were losing to a nation very few had heard of and it was humiliating. However, many of the defeats to the Russian military occurred after the Revolution had started, not causing its outbreak, but merely adding to the opposition to autocratic rule by the Tsar and prolonging the Revolution. The Russo-Japanese War also brought about economic problems for Russia, and this therefore meant there was a significant lack of money to solve any other problems present Russia, hence partly being responsible for
These losses sparked off political unrest and left the floodgates open for criticism on the incompetence of the Tsar’s government ministers. The Minister of War Vladimir Sukhomlinov and the Grand Duke Nicholas Nicolaievich ,who commanded the army, mutual contempt of each other greatly weakened Russian command. The lack of supply caused political crisis’s which were fuelled by the press. The Middle-classes were filled with criticism. The Tsar responded to this criticism
In Russia, these defeats caused many of the people to question the role of the Tsar and the support in which he gives. Also the government were made to look weak as the people knew that the Russian military was in fact strong, yet again making them question the Tsars power. This outbreak would have been the final straw for the people of Russia because at the time the revolution was happening but the humiliation of the war gave the people another reason to continue with the revolution, prolonging it. Also with the people losing trust in the government and the Tsar they would turn to other political parties such as the revolutionaries for support. The revolutionaries were against the Tsar so this would allow them to gain more support which would contribute to the outbreak of the revolution and help
Nicholas II may have believed that, by taking charge, his army would be inspired and would fight with renewed vigour. Unfortunately, the Tsar knew little about the command and organisation of large military forces, and the series of defeats and humiliations continued. The organisation of the Russian army deteriorated and there were massive shortages of ammunition, equipment, and medical supplies. Nicholas II's decision to take charge meant that he was increasingly seen by the Russian people as having personal responsibility for the military disasters inflicted on Russia. Therefore it can be argued that it was not the protesters on the streets of Petrograd but the poor leadership
This therefore caused the Russo-Japanese War to be partly responsible for the outbreak of the 1905 Revolution. Huge military defeats were caused by the Russo-Japanese War, which highlighted the weakness of the military and caused national humiliation, which contributed to the 1905 Revolution. The Russian Baltic fleet consisting of the 35 warships had sailed from northern Europe to the Far East, only to lose 25 warships in a defeat by the Japanese navy. The crushing of Russian’s military added impetus to the 1905 Revolution, as it made the people of Russia aware of the weakness of their military and ashamed to be Russian. They were losing to a nation very few had heard of and it was humiliating.
This proves the political instability of Germany in this period as they were the largest party in the Reichstag but still refused to cooperate. This need for the parties to agree cause germanys politics to become unstable yet again because they were unable to agree of unemployment benefits and foreign policy. This led the voter moving to more extremist parties like the KPD who had 10.6% of the vote in 1923. The election of president Hindenburg did not have a positive effect as he was very anti socialists, resulting in him excluding the SPD from the coalition despite their majority and including the DNVP to limit the coverage of the political spectrum in the hope his policies would pass quicker. In terms of economic development, the Dawes and the Young plan definitely helped develop and rebuild Germany’s economy, however there are other factors which counteracted them, making them less effective.