The “Great War” and Its Consequences Essay

People from all nations entered the war believing that it would be short and sweet. They did not expect a long brutal war that would be known for the severe amount of bloodshed and suffering. People held a romanticised view of the war and at the beginning of the war instead of fear and anger the people celebrated. “There were parades in the street...young recruits were marching triumphantly...thousands and hundreds of thousands felt what they should have felt in peacetime” (Document 2). The excessive exuberance regarding the Great War’s infant stages resulted in horrific realization and anger in citizens once they realized the truth about World War I. Rationing resulted in unbearable hunger for many people, especially in Russia. The destruction of land and the murder of people shocked the people of these warring nations. Most people suffered the complete destruction of their pre-war way of life and jubilant outlook. Fear lead to blame and anger that in the case of Russia bubbled over into a series of rebellions. The Russian Council of Ministers described the disorder when he wrote, “ There were disturbances in Moscow which ended in bloodshed...it was necessary to fire on the crowd with the result that sixteen were killed and thirty wounded” (Document 5). This disorder and anger was fueled by the disappointment of the war and the embarrassing losses that Russia suffered. It was also fueled by Russian discontempt with decisions made by their government like rationing and continuing war efforts. The Great War ultimately weaken Russia and allowed for Vladimir Lenin to swoop in and take over the Russian government, transforming the nation into a communist state and killing the Russian Czar Nicholas II. Not only was Russia transformed by the war but the nation of Germany also experienced great changes due to the war. The Treaty of Versailles left Germany

Bolshevik soldiers were already succeeding, before even people from Petrograd city realized they were going through a civil war. On the 25th , the soldiers had gotten to the Winter Palace. People were confused, not knowing what was going on. Red Guards occupied the place. The Bolsheviks arrested the Provisional Government whom left and formed a new government, lead by the chairman Vladimir Lenin.

Another view considering the cause of the 1905 and 1917 revolution in Russia is rather than being due to one solid event it is rather the general life of Russians, who revolted due to being dissatisfied. An extract from Witte’s Diary’ states ‘a general feeling of profound discontent with the existing

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.

The revolution in Russia started spontaneously in February 1917 when the Bolsheviks leader Vladimir Lenin plotted to overthrow the government and take power. The Tsar in Russia Nicholas II was abdicated in March 1917 and the provisional committee of the Duma formed the provisional government. The “duel power” interrupted the government authority and the soviets were in control. Now the provisional government decided to continue with the war because western allies were needed. That was a mistake along other major mistakes such as putting off the promised reforms which of course did upset the peasants and the government also postponed the election. After the fail of the February revolution Lenin returned to Russia in April and he released his new thesis that stated that the Bolsheviks supports the Soviets. With the Bolsheviks representing only 10% Lenin attempt to advocate a break with the provisional government failed. The July days between the 3rd and the 6th

This event also occurred in Petrograd and consisted of many workers, sailors, and soldiers gaining key positioning in Petrograd in an attempt to overthrow the provisional government. This time, the Bolsheviks were successful in their efforts and now controlled Russia's government and were the new political power. Counter revolutionaries, known as the “Whites”, resisted the revolution but failed in their attempts and the revolution was now officially completed.

This revolution appeared to break out spontaneously, without any real leadership or formal planning. Russia had been suffering from a number of economic and social problems, which were compounded by the impact of World War I. Bread rioters and industrial strikers were

The Russian Revolution of 1917 swept the country into an entirely new epoch, changing a monarch-led country into the Soviet Union and spreading the red of communism in waves through generations. A powerful team of Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky organized the Bolsheviks, or Red Army, in political and military strategy against the Menshevik White Army. Part of their success came from the lack of unification of the Mensheviks. While the White Army banded together under a simply ‘anti-Bolshevik’ policy, the Red Army was spurred on by one philosophy: communism. However, only the broader-picture ideals of the Communist Manifesto directly influenced the Bolsheviks. Instead they modified Marx’s teachings, because Lenin believed Marx’s plans were created specifically for Germany, and because Russia had not achieved the high level of industrialization needed for a full proletariat revolution. As a result, the literal teachings of the Communist Manifesto were lost in the whirl of Lenin’s socialist dictatorship and Bolshevik propaganda, but in the end, Russia was still moving towards communist goals.

Leading up to the outbreak of World War I in 1914, tensions in Russia were already starting to rise as Tsar Nicholas II proved he was inexperienced and ruinous at most every turn. 1894 saw the wholly unprepared 26 year old Nicholas rise to the position of Tsar of Russia after the death of his father, though he wrote to his brother-in-law that he was “not prepared to be a Tsar. I never wanted to become one. I know nothing of the business of ruling.” Under the autocratic rule of Nicholas’ father, Russia had seen famine in the hands of the all-powerful Tsar and had placed their hopes on Nicholas for the reinstatement of the liberalization that his father had revoked. These hopes were quickly dashed when Nicholas made it very clear that he wished to wield the same power that his father had, and that he had every intention of continuing the autocratic rule of Russia. While Nicholas “indulged in a fantasy of absolute power” his poorest people grew

After the winning the Civil War against the Whites, the Russia economy was left in ruins. The Bolshevik Party faced many problems; the Kronstadt rising, political opposition and economic crisis this meant that Lenin had to remove ‘War Communism’ to avoid disaster. Lenin thought that the collapse of Russian economy was mainly due to the introduction of 'War Communism' during the Civil War. The majority of resources were allocated to the civil war fronts. In Russia, land was seized and redistributed to be worked using limited resources and equipment. Any surplus in production was seized by the

The Russian Revolution of 1917 consisted of two revolutions, first in February, which overthrew the imperial Tsarist Government. The second one, in October, between the Reds and the Whites, which placed the Reds (Bolsheviks) in power. As result, Russia was removed from the war and its traditional monarchy was replaced to turn it into the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics.

The Russian Revolution of 1917 was one of the most explosive events in terms of politics, that Russia has ever come in contact with. It happened during the 20th century and was the rise of communism and the rise of the Soviet Union. The Russian revolution was a pair of two revolutions during the years of 1905 and 1917, that were the result of Russia’s poor conditions at the time. A few of the terrible conditions were food shortages and overcrowding populations that became brutal and uncontrollable. Overtime, the people became enraged with Russia’s ruler, Tsar Nicholas ll, because he continuously led Russia into wars and violence, which added to the problems they already had. This irritated workers so much that they formed a protest in the year of 1905 in hopes to put a stop his foolery. The protest later ended up resulting in the loss of several people and would be known as the Bloody Sunday Massacre, which was the final straw for many. The working class, conducted by Vladimir Lenin, alongside the Bolsheviks, attacked the government and eventually “dethroned” Tsar Nicholas ll. The Bolsheviks then took over Russia’s government and converted the communist party into the “red party.” After three years of attacking and resisting, Vladimir and his Red party won the Russian Revolution of 1917 and received the win they so strongly desired.

Russia was in war with Germany and their allies. Nicholas ll thought that with the war people would become more together, the nationalist feeling would grow and he would be the great leader again. Unfortunately, what happened was that people were more angry with him, because the people's suffering increased and a lot of people were dying, food shortage made the food prices became really expensive. Although the Russian Army had a large number of them, they were not trained for war, they were the working social class without fighting experience. Sometimes the soldiers were sent to battle without food, shoes and even weapons. Nearly two million people died and five million were injured. The people blamed Nicholas ll for the deaths of young people, they thought that the Tsar had to take Russia out of World War I but he did

The events leading up to the Revolution of February 1917 were crucial in laying the grounds for an uprising that would eradicate the Tsarist regime. The various causes, together, ultimately worked hand in hand in causing the revolution, yet it can be argued that it was due to certain occurrences that tipped the scale. The outbreak of the First World War was an extremely important factor, so much so that it lost Nicholas II the support of the army. Other important factors to consider include the Tsar’s perpetual commitment to Autocratic rule, and the shortages in food and fuel, which, combined with the long term discontentment, all equated to the uprising that began on the 23rd February in 1917.

In February 1917, Russia was plunged into a Revolution that would shape the future of the country in unbelievable ways. It has been argued over the years that it was the weak leadership of Tsar Nicholas II that was the main cause of the outbreak of the revolution that took place in February and March of 1917. However, there are differing opinions on that statement. Many say that it was due the military defeats experienced by the country over the years that caused the citizens to revolt. Others say it was because of poverty and the difference in the standards of living of the upper class and the lower classes. One thing is certain: the 1917 Revolution influenced Russia’s history to a massive extent.