Russia and The War Effort +Economic and Social state Flashcards
What battles in WW1 exposed the weaknesses of the Russian army?
Initial victories = short-lived.
Russian defeat at Battle of Tannenberg in 1914 let to ‘Great Retreat’ of 1915.
Attempts to regain initiative through ‘Brusilov Offensive’ in 1916 also ended in failure
What was the key economic problem in WW1?
Inflation - by 1917 it had reached 200%
Price of flour rose by 500%
What was the grain problem?
By Jan 1917 Petrograd only getting 48% of it’s grain requirements = army forced to reduce rations from 4000 calories a day to 2000
How much did the population of Petrograd rise by and why?
Petrograd = 2.1 million in 1914 but 2.7 million by 1917 because growth of war economy meant more workers were employed in factories in cities
What two other key supply problems did the army face?
Munitions crisis - By 1915 artillery units limited to 3 shells a day = military setbacks
Russia’s transport stuggled to cope with need to transport troops, munitions and food = exacerbated food shortages in cities and munition shortages on the front line
What were Rasputin and the Tsarina accused of doing during the 1916 ‘ministerial leapfrog’?
Giving jobs to their favourites as they replaced:
four prime ministers,
three foreign secretaries,
three ministers of defence,
six interior ministers.
Was the decision to go to war popular?
Initially popular, supported by anti-German sentiment.
Social and political disorder from throughout Nicholas’s reign ceased and having voted for war credits the duma dissolved itself not wanting to be a political burden in war time.
Capital changed name to Petrograd
What was the spirit of national solidarity dampened by?
When initial victories gave way to defeat at the hands of Germany in the battle of Tannenburg in East Prussia 1914, leaving 300,000 dead or wounded and thousands were taken prisoner.
Defeat at the Mansurian lakes in September forced the Russian army into a temporary retreat from East Prussia.
What was Russian weapon supply like (especially early on)?
In 1914 the infantry had only two rifles per two soldiers.
In 1915 it wasn’t unusual for Russian artillery to be limited to two to three shells per day
In early years the, the soldiers had to rely on the weapons of fallen comrades in order to fight at all.
What was the Brusilov offensive?
An attempt to push westwards from Ukraine and break through the Austro-Hungarian lines in June 1916)
By the time the Brusilov offensive happened, what was the economic and political situation like in Russia?
How did this affect soldiers?
Economic and political situation in Russia led to a fall in morale and 1.5 million desertions by the end of that war
1914-1917 what was a major dispute over the organisation of the war effort?
The Tsarist government had set up ‘military zones’ in which all civilian authority was suspended and the military assumed command.
What economic problems did war create?
To pay for it government increased taxes.
The damage done to industry and grain exports produced massive inflation.
Money was virtually worthless by 1917 and prices rose much more steeply than wages.
What were the problems with conscription?
The millions conscripted left a shortage of men in the countryside.
Supplied of food to the towns feel due to a shortage of workers in the fields (as well as peasants hoarding it and inadequate transport systems)
What damaged Russian trade?
Poland and other parts of western Russia were overrun by the Germans.
Loss of overland routes to Europe damaging Russian trade.
Rationing scarcely helped and the war years were of acute hunger if not famine.
