Russia's Involvement In World War II

1914 was a devastating year for many countries of the world, as world war one began to take full effect. But as world war one shook the world; it began to question Nicholas II’s ability to rule Russia. In this essay i will discuss the extent of world war one’s responsibility in Nicholas II’s downfall, and the extent of other contributing factors. I will argue that Nicholas II’s own traits as a leader were the main reason for his downfall.

The downfall of Tsar Nicholas II was hurried by the First World War, as although it wasn’t the only factor in his downfall it did tarnish his name causing the Russian people to lose hope for their Emperor and Autocrat. Leading up to the First World War there were many issues that the Tsar had not dealt with, military, political, economic and food, which with a strong leader they would have endured during the war, but as his name became tarnished so did the peoples ideals of him. This essay will show that without the First World War the Tsar Nicholas II would still have been able to rule with a country that would have supported him, or at least seriously delayed the revolution.

The argument that the First World War led to the downfall of the Tsardom in Russia is supported by how unprepared the military were from the outset and throughout the war. Poor conditions and lack of weaponry led to low morale. Production of weapons was seriously flawed as seen in the Russian front at Gorlice, where “many soldiers had no rifles and had to wait for a comrade to be killed before taking his weapon”3. “By the end of December 1914, 6,554,000 men had been mobilized with only 4,652,000 rifles available to them”4. Furthermore the appalling conditions that were reported in the Russian trenches caused outbreaks of diseases such as typhoid and cholera creating tensions amongst Russia's “indestructible army”5. The dreadful conditions caused soldiers to turn against their

6. Hope to gain – ‘Stalin was sure that Russia could only gain from a long war in which Britain, France and Germany exhausted themselves.’

Initially, the general masses that were just days before striking and demonstrating for changes in working conditions now fell to their knees in support of their nation. What they did not know was just how woefully unprepared their country was to take action against the Central Powers. Guns and ammunition were in a vast shortage. In training, one gun was used by three recruits. More ammunition was being fired in a day than could be manufactured in a month. During battles, soldiers relied on using the guns of the killed or wounded. Combined with this lack of preparedness, the promotion system was based off of seniority or family ties, not skill. This led to many incompetent leaders that lacked the skills, training, or intelligence needed to make strategic decisions to ensure Russian victories. While the Russian army was able to secure victories against Austria-Hungary, the campaign against Germany went horribly wrong. The first real defeat was at Tannenberg, where Russian forces lost 300,000 men. Russia’s military force was far behind Germany’s, and when the Austro-Hungarian army was joined by German troops, Russia was effectively nothing more than cannon fodder to divert German forces away from the Western Front. The public support earlier mentioned was now non-existent. Public displays against war were common and usually brought down forcedly by the police. During

During World War II, Allies came up with agreements to be imposed on the defeated; however, these agreements broke down quickly after the war. Resentment among the winners became intense. Instead of settling affairs at a peace conference, as they did after World War I, the Allies worked out most of the peace terms through military negotiations right after the war in meetings that lasted until 1963. Some of these settlements included the Soviet Union expanding westward, Germany being occupied by allied forces, the four-power occupation of Berlin, and post-surrender terms of Japan. The single largest change was an agreement that the Soviet Union would keep several countries that were taken over formerly in 1939-1940. Another notable change was Italy’s 304305 surrender of the mostly Slavic jurisdiction of Istria to Yugoslavia; the western boundary of Germany was set as it already existed.

When talking about the Great War, the warfare happening on the Western Front gained overwhelmingly more attention than that on the Eastern Front. Ignorance about the Eastern Front might result from the Central Powers’ victory there or the absence of Russia from participating in the establishment of the world order in the postwar era. Nevertheless, the Eastern Front needed to be remembered not only because the Eastern Front made the same contribution to the overall Great War as its counterpart, but also it revealed a significant historical event, the collapse of the Russian Empire and the process leading to such event. As Imperial Apocalypse: the Great War and the Destruction of the Russian Empire expressed, the Great War was a war of European

The Great War began in the early days of August 1914. Russia fought alongside its allies Britain, France, Austria Hungary and the Ottoman Empire against Germany. During the initial stages of war, there was a high level of patriotism among the Russian people. The decision of the Romanov government to go to war undermined any remaining loyalty the people felt towards Nicholas. The war brought heavy casualty numbers and injuries. In addition there was also inadequate medical care, shortages of food, guns and bullets, loss of land and lost access to supplies and markets through both the Baltic and Baltic Seas. The Tsar’s poor decision making caused the Russian soldiers to suffer. The ammunition among the soldiers were rationed. Many soldiers lacked the proper clothing and equipment they required if they were to survive the bitterly cold conditions of the winter. The loss of men and animals from the villages disrupted the food production. The main priority was to supply the soldiers with food and this took precedence over food supply of the cities. This caused further disruptions within Russia, leading to the end of the Tsarist regime. Inadequate transport saw the already limited city food supplies left rotting at rural railway stations. Russia’s enemy, Germany, was a well-trained industrial nation, while the Russians were underprepared, and had inadequate equipment. As a result the war brought extreme economic strains, and hence the Tsar decided to ban alcohol during the times of War. The new restriction caused the government to lose 33 per cent of its tax revenue and by 1916, the war alone was costing nearly five times the initial 1913 budget allowance. As the war progressed the quality of the soldiers began to decrease as most of the officers were killed and replaced by conscripts with little military training. All of this contributed to low morale amongst the

‘The optimists believe that imperial Russia was ruined by the First World War. The pessimists maintain that the war provided merely the last mighty push to bring the whole rotten structure tumbling down.’ When Russia become engulfed in World War I, the Russian army mobilized 15.5 million men and suffered great casualties. This leads to the shortage of workers for the factories and farms and thus cause a widespread shortages of food and materials. As supply decreases and demand is increasing, this causes the prices of goods to increase dramatically, causing unrest among people, leading to revolt and labor riots. Soon, famine hit Russian cities. The worst of all is that Nicholas II held fast to his anachronistic political faith in unfettered

Many would eve give up their lives just because their loved ones are gone. However, their sacrifices made a big impact into the war of W.W.2. During World War II, Russia had also made sacrifices for the benefits of the cause (“Russia’s Sacrifices during World War II” 8). They had lost many soldiers while experiencing nearly three years of total war with the red army and the soviet population ( “Russia’s Sacrifices during World War II” 8). They had also encountered the Nazi invasion, the Babi Yar massacre, the 900-day Siege of Leningrad and the battles of Moscow, Kursk and Stalingrad (“Russia’s Sacrifices during World War II” 8).

In addition, the defeat of Russia to Japan in the Russo-Japanese war made the Russians eager to reassert their military power and prove that their military is still one of the best, to cite outside evidence. This circumstance again made the

The Czar advises the Kaiser to mobilize his troop, but not take any action against Russia. Both sides would seem as if they are helping their allies, but they would still remain neutral.

Using these four passages and your own knowledge, assess the view that during the Second World War the relationship between the ussr and the west was characterised more by co-operation than by disagreement.

For three centuries before the revolution, life in Russia was not peaceful. It was cold, hard, and bitter instead. “The end of serfdom was a major event in Russia; yet it just wasn 't enough.”, in 1861. Serfdom, under feudalism, is the the status of peasants in which they are bound to a lord, or master, works on their land, and can be sold like property. Despite serfs being given ‘freedom’, Russia was mostly ruled by the czar and nobles. The average person was, and stayed, poor. Therefore, World War I was not the main cause of the Russian revolution. This outdated feudal class structure, inability to modernize, lack of peace, and czars’ inept leaderships lead to the Russian Revolution.

The First World War became the Tsars worst nightmare. Russia joined the war in many ways to keep peoples minds of Russia’s backwardness and badly run government, and onto the war effort itself. But within the first year of the war people’s minds began to wander away from troop moral and toward the Tsar and his control.