The effect of WW1 on Russia

Question 1

when did Russia join Britain and France and what was the alliance called

Answer 1

• joined in 1917
• in a triple entente

Question 2

what was the initial response of Russia going to war

Answer 2

• greeted with enthusiasm by patriotic crowds
• internal disputes were sidelined and strikes almost completely ceased
• Duma was in support of the war effort

Question 3

what was the reaction of the Bolsheviks to the war

Answer 3

united in their opposition to the war

Question 4

what was the reaction of the Mensheviks to the war

Answer 4

divided on the issue, as were the SRs

Question 5

what parties supported the war and what did they hope for

Answer 5

• middle-class parties were in support of the war
• hoped for a partnership between the government and the Duma

Question 6

what was the first significant Russian defeat at the beginning of WW1

Answer 6

in Tannenberg in September 1914

Question 7

what was the significance of the Russian defeat at Tannenberg

Answer 7

• 30,000 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded
• nearly 100,000 were captured
• commanding Russian general killed himself rather than report the defeat to the Tsar

Question 8

what were the losses during the second six months of the war

Answer 8

• Germans defeated Russians at Lodz in December 1914
• Germans pushed the Russian army back, capturing Poland, Lithuania, and parts of Ukraine
• nearly 4 million Russians were either dead, wounded, captured or missing

Question 9

what was a huge disadvantage of the Russian army and what did it lead too

Answer 9

• Russian army was a severely undersupplied, lacking rifles and shells
• caused a political crisis which was fuelled by negative press reports

Question 10

what were the drawbacks to the largest army in the world in 1914

Answer 10

• poor state of the Russian roads and railway systems made it difficult to deploy troops effectively
• Russian army consisted of approx 7 million soldiers but only had 5 million rifles (30% of Russian soldiers didn’t have rifles)

Question 11

what did the assumption of WW1 not lasting that far lead to

Answer 11

• no steps were taken to stockpile vast quantities of munitions
• no steps to build up Russians armaments-making capacity

Question 12

why did Russia placing huge orders with Britain and the US arm manufacturers fail

Answer 12

in many cases, the arm manufacturers proved unable to meet the deadline

Question 13

why did the Tsar decide to go to the front

Answer 13

• many of the soldiers were peasants
• and these peasant soldiers still held the Tsar in high esteem
• so it was hoped that his presence at the front would have a stabilising influence

Question 14

when did the Tsar take command of the army himself

Answer 14

in September 1915

Question 15

what were the consequences of the Tsar taking command of the army himself

Answer 15

• although he had been a cavalry officer, he had no military command experience
• now as commander-in-chief, he would be held personally responsible for future military defeats
• left the Tsarina to the running of the government

Question 16

why was Tsarina Alexandra already unpopular

Answer 16

due to her German background

Question 17

why did the publics suspicion and hostility towards the Tsarina increase

Answer 17

due to her close relationship with Rasputin, orthodox monk and mystic.

Question 18

what was believed about Rasputin’s relationship with the Tsarina

Answer 18

• that Rasputin had a very powerful influence over the Tsarina
• Rasputin encouraged the tsar to replace ministers to whom she or Rasputin had taken a dislike

Question 19

what were the consequences of the Tsarinas relationship with Rasputin

Answer 19

• weakened both the government and the Tsar’s prestige amongst the people
• December 1916, Rasputin was murdered by a group of nobles who hoped his death would aid Russia’s war effort
• but Russia’s fortunes continued to deteriorate and the only people left to blame were the Tsarina and Tsar

Question 20

what did the Tsar have an opportunity to do in September 1915 and what did he do

Answer 20

• Tsar had the opportunity to form a government with broad support
• under mounting pressure, the Tsar agreed to recall the Duma which had been adjourned shortly after the war began

Question 21

what did the Progressive Bloc consist of and who supported it

Answer 21

• consisted of members of the Duma, mainly Kadets, Octoberists and Progressives
• had the support of government ministers, the press, and the union of the Zemstva

Question 22

what did the Progressive Bloc draw up and what did it aim for

Answer 22

• a programme that proposed a partnership between it and the Tsar, through which government ministers would be responsive to the Duma
• hoped that such a government would enjoy the confidence of the people and deflect criticism away from the Tsar

Question 23

what was the Tsars reaction to the programme proposed by the progressive bloc

Answer 23

• he refused to surrender any power
• to the disbelief of the liberals and many conservatives, the Tsar suspended the duma

Question 24

what was the last major offensive of the Russians and when was it

Answer 24

The Brusilov offence against the Germans in the summer of 1916

Question 25

how was the Brusilov initially a success

Answer 25

it prompted Romania to join the war on Russias side

Question 26

what occurred by August 1916 with the Brusilov offence

Answer 26

• the offensive stalled
• Russian troops were forced to retreat back to the Black sea
• desertion increased
• by the end of the year, the Russian army was facing major shortages
• collapsing morale among the troops at the front was increasing

Question 27

how many russian soliders were dead by Christmas 1916

Answer 27

1.6 million

Question 28

how was pressure built on the Tsar in winter 1916/1917 and what was his reaction

Answer 28

• pressure built on the tsar to concede the role of government to an administration drawn from the Duma
• but Nicholas refused to budge, even though former supporters of his too supported the calls for a Duma based government

Question 29

how many men did Russia mobilise in 1914

Answer 29

5.3million men

Question 30

by the end of 1916, how many men experienced military service

Answer 30

over 15million

Question 31

how much did the national budget increase by between 1913-1916 and why

Answer 31

• national budget rose eightfold
• due to higher tax and borrowing from France and Britain

Question 32

what did paying for the war lead to

Answer 32

the government printing more money which resulted in inflation

Question 33

how did the agricultural sector struggle during the war

Answer 33

• important food-production areas were occupied by the Germans
• loss of agricultural workers and horses to the war led to a huge strain on food production

Question 34

how much did the urban population increase by between 1914-1916

Answer 34

increased by approx 6 million

Question 35

how did military needs which took priority on the railways have a massive impact on life in the cities

Answer 35

• Moscow had received 2,200 railway wagons of food per month in 1914
• end of 1916, Moscow was only receiving 300 wagons per month
• railway was collapsing under the strain of the war

Question 36

how did inflation and shortages of food and fuel become acute

Answer 36

• by October 1916, prices had risen by 300% over two years
• but wages only increased by 100%

Question 37

why did peasants begin to hoard grain

Answer 37

• there was no incentive to trade
• few tools or consumer goods were being produced in the cities due to the priority given to the war effort

Question 38

how did the Tsarina see the world and how did the impact the government

Answer 38

• she saw the world in terms of friends and enemies of the ‘hidden cause’ waged by Rasputin and herself
• ministers, commanders of the armed forces and members of the court all rose or fell in her favour according to where they stood in relation to the ‘cause’

Question 39

what was the name given to Tsarinas way of governing during WW1

Answer 39

‘ministerial leapfrog’

Question 40

how many prime ministers did Russia have during the 17month rule of the tsarina

Answer 40

four prime ministers

Question 41

how many ministers of the interior did Russia have during the 17month rule of the tsarina

Answer 41

five ministers of the interior

Question 42

how many war ministers did Russia have during the 17month rule of the tsarina

Answer 42

three war ministers

Question 43

what was the consequence of the ‘ministerial leapfrog’

Answer 43

• removed competent men from power
• disorganised the work of the government as no one remained long enough in office to master their responsibilities
• bureaucratic anarchy developed with competing chains of authority

Question 44

what was the reaction to the Tsar to the ministerial leapfrog

Answer 44

• never seemed to know what he stood for
• never dared to oppose his wife