The Whites failed to work effectively with the Greens, led by Nestor Makhno. The Green controlled a peasant’s army, and wanted to give more political and economic power to the peasants. The Red defeated Maknho’s forces in 1919. The Whites also lacked support from many Russians, who identified the Whites with former Tsarist supporters or foreign invaders. This all shows that White weaknesses were key for a Communist victory.
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.
This led to Russia being in the control of the German Alexandria, who was hated by the Russian people because of her inability to speak Russian, her reliance on Grigory Rasputin, a mystic who claimed to heal her son, her antisocial, depressed attitude and a general political incompetence to rival Nicholas’s. This was a terrible mistake because it broke the faith of the people, and setting them against their leaders, which would result in them conspiring to bring down the tsardom. This last mistake of Nicholas II turned the people against him, his dynasty, and his tsardom, and the people reacted by causing the downfall of the Romanov
People who expressed negative thoughts about Peter's decisions were often executed before they had a chance to gain followers and rebel against the Tsar. The Streltsy, bushy musketeers and pike men, Russia's first professional soldiers, were often found at the receiving end of harsh sentences[6]. Peter the Great was bad in that he was very cruel to the people of Russia. He heavily taxed everyone, so the serfs had to pay taxes for themselves and their owners. In
The Tsar made many failures as Commander in chief of the army especially at the battle of Tannenburg where the majority of the Russian second army was destroyed which forced the Russian army to retreat. This coupled with other military defeats led to mass desertions towards cities. It also led to many soldiers knowing of the Tsars failures which would have supported the claim for a revolution. The war effort also caused the Zemstva and the Congress of Representatives of Industry and Trade to grow which were used to help stimulate production and provide medical facilities. The government failed to efficiently incorporate these into the war effort which resulted in them becoming a symbol for the shortcomings in the war effort.
This unhappiness began to manifest itself in violent opposition from large numbers of peasant, particularly in the wealthier agricultural areas, as they had more to lose to the state that the poorer farmers. Rather than allow their property to go to the collective, these farmers would set fire to their land and slaughter their livestock. These oppositions were dealt with by the dekulakisation squads, who were often ruthless in the way that they eliminated peasant and kulak opposition alike . The government quickly eliminated most of the
Whereas, the White army was faced with: a divided leadership, low moral, corruption and brutality within the army and the downside of the vast geography of Russia. The White party faced many problems which caused them to be militarily and politically weak. They did not have one person in charge of the White forces. Whereas the Bolsheviks had the advantage of Lenin, the whites had Yudenich, Wrangel, Kolchak and Denikin. These men were rivals and each trying to gain control of the White party.
During 1941, Russia faced severe domestic issues. Firstly, Stalin began to lose his title as “leader, teacher and friend”, as over time, the brutal conditions faced by the people began to expose Stalin for his true colours: a totalitarian dictator, arguably no different than the Tsar himself. As people began to lose their faith in him as leader, he took drastic measures, and imposed terror amongst the people. In 1941, Stalin ordered the execution of 39,000 army officials and 3,000 naval officials. This was to prevent complacency and make his mark within the military.
In the battle of Tannenburg the loss was very drastic; 30000 men wounded or killed, 95000 captured and 500 guns. This portrays the heavy defeat that Russia and this dropped moral in the army and at home in Russia. This shows the losing of the battle created a growth in opposition against the Tsar due to the public of Russia blaming the Tsar as he commanded the troops to go to war. Peasants felt annoyed and angry and Nicholas. This strengthened the opposition against the Tsar.
During this time, Russian cities were dying because all the workers and peasants were focused on rebelling against the government and seizing the land of their landlords, instead of working in the factories and living the life of a peasant or urban worker. The Russian Revolution of 1905 only decreased the strength of the empire further but a positive outcome for the people of Russia was instituted. Sergei Witte suggested an elected legislative assembly and after the Revolution of 1905, The Duma, a parliamentary institution, was established. Although the Revolution was officially over, violence and tension continued,