2. Causes of the March revolution Flashcards
How did WW1 lead to the March revolution?
Heavy defeats
Economic problems
Food shortages
Transport problems
A. Heavy defeats during WW1
Masurian Lake
Tannenberg
Failure of Brusilov Offensive
A. Why did heavy defeats lead to a revolution?
People saw the military command as useless / poor strategically
Lowered morale
A. What year did the Tsar take personal control of the army?
1915
B. What economic problems did the war create?
Increased inflation
Industry + agriculture couldn’t meet demands of war- backlog
B. How did the failing economy impact Russia’s situation?
Had to increase money supply by:
Increasing taxes,
Heavy borrowing.
Took currency off gold standard - lead to inflation
Wages doubled, prices quadrupled.
C. What was the food sitch in Russia during the war?
Requisitioning of food
Lack of fertilisers
Army controlled the transport - food couldn’t reach the cities
Inflation made trading unprofitable so peasants stopped selling.
C. Why did the food sitch impact the Russian people?
Eating less food:
Residents of Petrograd during war ate 1/4 of 1914 diet.