World War I made a devastating impact on Russian empire. At the break of the war, August 1914, Russia responded by patriotically rallying around Nicholas II. Some of the effects included: overthrowing the Romanovs who had ruled Russia for over 300 years and weakening of the Russian military that relied on its poor infrastructure. In 1917, the Germans had gained full control over Russia. The realization of this impact made the Russian army to rebel orders given by the German military. Exaggeration on small events led to the Russian army’s interest to attack Germany. The results were devastating as German’s general counter attacked the hesitant Russian troops. This brought forth an open civil war which swept like a wave across Russia.
In 1917, two revolutions occurred in Russia; the first one which occurred in February withdrew the Imperial government while the second one, which happened in October, placed the Bolsheviks in power. The revolution was not exactly worth it as the government formed was a coalition of Bolsheviks and Kerensky and neither of them was able to cope adequately with the major problems afflicting the country (Carr, 23). Issues such as; decreased morale among the army, seizures in the peasant land and nationalists independence movements in non-Russian areas were not handled properly.
It took longer for Russians to make a success with the revolution. This happened when Lenin became the virtual dictator of the first Marxist state in the world. The anti-Bolshevik white army was defeated by his government and he was able to make peace with Germany. He also distributed land and nationalized industry. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was formed in 1922 which marked the success or the Russian fight success (Lynch, 31).
Work Cited
Carr, E. H. The Bolshevik Revolution, 1917-1923. New York: Macmillan, 1951.
Lynch, M. Reaction and revolution: Russia 1894-1924. London: Hodder Murray, 2005.
