Additionally there were developments that occurred without war, which illustrates that involvement in war was not the only cause for change. Therefore war was an important catalyst and factor to significant changes but was not the sole cause of change. The war that caused most change was Word War One due to its role in the February revolution in 1917 and the fall of the provisional government in the October revolution. The defeats of the war dwindled support from liberals and Octobrists for the Tsarist regime, which was further worsened by criticism from organisations including the Central War Industries committee and the union of Zemstva. This formed support and reason for the Progressive Bloc.
Both soldiers and civilians blame the defeats in the war and the growing crises on the home front on Tsar. Even the Tsars only army stated it wouldn’t support him if a revolution occurred. Explain the importance/significance of World War 1 to the downfall of the Tsar WWI was a very significant event on the rule of Tsar Nicholas 11. Although it initially bolstered his position, it then became a large factor that contributed to Nicholas’ downfall. The Country was ecstatic when the Tsar made the announcement that Russia was going to fight against Germany in WWI.
However, whether it was the most significant event must be evaluated against others, for example the 1905 Revolution, the February Revolution of 1917, and Lenin’s death. The October 1917 Revolution was a very significant event in changing the course of Russian history from 1855 to 1964 but I would not argue it as being the most significant event. The revolution was quite important due to the fact that it brought the Tsarist rule to an end and therefore led to the Provisional Government losing control and power to the Bolsheviks. Due to the Bolsheviks coming to power, they were able to attempt to solve their three main policies of peace; Russian people wanted to end the war, bread; there were many food shortages throughout Russia, and Land; they wanted to offer peasants land. The October revolution of 1917 in effect, led to the Russian Civil war which was the exact opposite of what the Bolsheviks wanted and this predominantly moved on to Lenin’s death and the power struggle.
What actually happened: The Schlieffen Plan was a big gamble by the Germans, and it could have well resulted in defeat for France and Russia, however the plan backfired on the Germans. The first problem that the Germans encountered was that the Belgian Army had put up a resistance, which they had not expected which in turn slowed their advances. The next big problem the Germans had not anticipated was that Britain declared war on Germany because of the pledge to protect Belgium, which they had called a ‘scrap of paper.’ Their gamble had not paid off and soon, when the Russian Army was quicker to respond the Germans had to switch troops to the eastern front however the Russians had still invaded Germany 10 days later. Explain why a Stalemate
Clemenceau resented Wilson’s generous attitude towards Germany and Lloyd George’s desire to not treat Germany too harshly. He said “if they British are so anxious to appease Germany they should look overseas and make colonial, naval or commercial concessions”. These disagreements left the big three unsatisfied and ultimately left them with a weak mere shadow of a perhaps great treaty due to their own arrogance and. It contained many faults and weaknesses. The treaty of Versailles greatly humiliated Germany forcing it to accept soul responsibility for the war.
Examining the impact of wars on the issue of who ruled Russia, its ideological basis, its level of democracy and the level of repression that accompanied it, it seems fair to say that the First World War indeed had the most significant impact, though rivaled closely by the Russian Civil War in particular. Firstly, the effect of wars on who ruled Russia is a fairly distinct matter, given that only some had any direct influence on this issue. Most notably, only the First World War resulted in an actual change in the hands of power. This can be seen firstly with the abdication of Nicholas II as a result of the protests over the war following his decision to command the army in the war and leaving Tsarina Alexandria to rule, allowing discontent to proliferate and ultimately ending his and the tsars’ hold on power. Then the Provisional Government, having only held power for a matter of months, was swept aside by the Bolsheviks, again as a direct consequence of the Provisional Government’s precarious and undefined stance over the escalating crisis of the First World War, as well as the skilled way in which the Bolsheviks harnessed this frustration to gain support from naval bases and ultimately seize power.
Russia also feared the growing German threat and sought to ally itself with Great Britain, France, and even Germany itself for protection. The British, for their part, tried hard to remain out of the conflict, but found that having the world's most powerful navy made that impossible. Rebellious provinces within the Austro-Hungarian Empire made central Europe extremely unstable, and the leaders of the Ottoman Empire in the Near East sought to expand their power. Historians have generally noted that the European powers had managed to avoid war for so long, that when it did
Schlieffen Plan 1.) It was the German war strategy for the First World War, developed by a man named Schlieffen. Since Germany had to fight a two-front war (east with Russia and west with France&others), the plan was to quickly defeat the French in the west using Germany’s superior firepower, and then turn their troops to concentrate their efforts against Russia. This eventually failed because the French turned out to be tougher than the Germans thought and the Russians mobilized their troops relatively quickly. The result was elongated two-front warfare.
Communism and capitalism was not really a big issue, the big issue was the Axis Powers. Conflicts started escalate when Germany was defeated. Germany was unified among the allies after the war but there were two distinct groups. Russia wanted control over Germany because they suffered the most out of anyone and they were the main reason the Nazis were defeated. They feared of a future German invasion.
War would rid the nation of selfishness. Spark a national re-birth based on heroism. Why did Britain Get Involved? Britain had ententes with France and Russia. Only “friendly agreements” but French and Russians given impression Britain would fight.