WWI Flashcards
(38 cards)
Who was the German Kaiser
Wilhelm II
Who did Russia have a long-standing tension with?
Germany
What was the Kaiser and Nicholas’s relationship?
grew closer and became friends with each other which lulled the Tsar into a false sense of security as Nicholas believed that the Kaiser would not declare war on a relative
Triple Entente
Russia, France, Britain
What was the Bismarckian alliance (Dual Alliance)
Defensive alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary created on October 7th 1879 by Otto von Bismarck with the intention to prevent or limit war and to offer support in case of attack by Russia
what was the trigger for Austria-Hungary to declare war with Serbia
Austria’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand shot dead June 1914 in Sarajevo
What had happened by August 1914?
Serbia (an Allie country) had been invaded by Austria-Hungary and Russia had declared war in response, prompting the German Kaiser to then declare war on his Russian cousin
When did the battle of Tannenberg occur?
18 August 1914
How did the Tannenberg campaign fail?
The Tannenberg campaign was riddled with tactical blunders.
Russian officers sent out battle plans uncoded over the radio, thinking the Germans would not hear them, while the Russian generals leading the offensive despised each other and refused to communicate.
Tannenberg numbers
Russia suffered 30 000 casualties and lost over 100 000 men as prisoners of war
When did the battle of Mansurian occur?
2 September 1914
Battle of Mansurian
one whole army unit was surrounded and forced to surrender
170,000 casualties
the arrival of German reinforcements in May 1915 again forced the Russians to retreat.
By the autumn of 1915..
an estimated 800,000 Russian soldiers had died, yet the Russian army had failed to gain any significant territory
The reason and year Russia pulled out of the war?
In November 1917 as a result of the revolution on the homefront
Russia statistics by the end of WWI?
In the first year of war, Russia lost over 4 million men and 16 million captured by enemy offensives
What were the 4 contributors to WWI?
Demoralisation within the army
Impact of socialist propaganda
Lack of ammunition
Poor internal organisation
Demoralisation within the army
Conscripted peasants and want to be captured rather than killed due to Russia’s embarrassing defeats
Impact of socialist propaganda
Bolshevik ideas began to spread more rapidly throughout the war and propaganda began to be spread more widely. One of the tactics suggested was for soldiers to wound themselves so they could return home as ‘wounded in action’
Lack of ammunition
lack of rifles and ammunition within Russia. General Sukhomlinov (the Minister of War) favoured using bayonets in traditional warfare. Encouraged hand-to-hand combat and storming of the enemy trenches
Poor internal organisation
poor organisation of trains resulted in troops going hungry on multiple occasions despite Ukraine and Siberia having possession of meat and grain supplies. Men normally skilled in the workplace were now fighting on the frontline which left locomotives without drivers/mechanics
WWI and public support
Remember at this time that were discontent within Russia due to the political and economic circumstances
BUT this was pushed to the side with the notion of Russia embarking on a successful war on a global scale
The war initially repaired the growing division between the Tsar and his people
Who was Pyotr Durnovo (1844-1915)
Member of the upper class and later became the Minister of the Interior under PM Witte
Warned Nicholas of the dangers involved in war
If Russia won, the only benefit would be the easy defeat of the socialist movement
On what date did Durnovo state his opinion on Russia’s involvement in the war?
In February 1914 he argued that Russia would be irreparably damaged whether it won or lost
Durnovo’s quote?
will undoubtedly spell the total disintegration of our entire national economy’
