The Russian Revolution were a series of revolts that happened in Russia is 1917 (Allen, 2003 p. 10). The revolution ultimately caused the Czar Nicolas to be removed from power and his family to be executed. This would lead to the beginning of the Soviet Union. The first revolution happened in March 1917 and was focused on what is now St. Petersburg. The Imperial Parliament took control of the country and formed the Russian Provisional Government Allen, 2003). Czar Nicholas soon stepped down as ruler because he did not think that he had an army large enough to stop the revolution (Lieven, 2015).
The Provisional Government was allowed by the Soviets to rule at first, but they wanted to be able to influence the government and to have control over the militia (Allen, 2003). For a time in Russia the country was ruled by both the Provisional Government which was in charge of the leadership of the country and the Soviets, who were headed by Socialists and had the respect of the lower class as well as the political left (Lieven, 2015). However, this was not a time of calm as there were a number of mutinies, and protests.
The Bolsheviks protested against Russia’s involvement in WWI after the Provisional Government decided to continue fighting (Allen, 2003). The reason that the Bolsheviks wanted to end the country’s participation in the war was because of the number of defeats that it had incurred, In the Battle of Tannenberg in 1914 which resulted in the deaths or capture of 120,000 Russians (Wood, 1993). This led to Czar Nicholas taking personal control of the Russian military in 1915 Wood, 1993). During this time his wife Alexandra, who was left in charge of the country began to be accused of corruption (Wood 1993). This was in part because of the influence that Rasputin had on her and the Imperial family (Wood 1993).
In 1915 the Germans would decide to attack Russia’s Eastern front. The Germans would proceed to force that Russians from Galicia, and Poland by the end of October 1916 the Russians lost nearly 5,000,000 men either to death, prisoners of war or who had just gone missing. This caused a great amount of discontent amongst the people of Russia. It was due to this discontent that the Bolsheviks and other Socialist groups were able to rise to power (Lieven, 2015).
The war not only affected the soldiers who were near starving and had inadequate clothing.it also had a profound effect on the populace. There were food shortages because it became difficult to obtain food due to transportation issues. This demand led to inflation which meant that people had difficulty being able to purchase food (Lieven, 2015). This caused crime to escalate as some people resorted to robbery and prostitution in order to survive (Lieven, 2015). However, most people just spent their days in food lines, or begging. The people blamed Nicholas for the country’s misfortune and he was told by the Duma in November 1916 that a constitutional government would need to be implemented in order to prevent the country from completely collapsing (Allen, 2003). Nicholas ignored the recommendation and his regime was destroyed and he and his family killed a few months later.
The Bolsheviks would turn the peasant/ worker militias that they were leading into the Red Guards over which they would exert complete control. The tensions between the Bolsheviks and the Provisional Party would come to a head in October 1917 during another Revolution. The Bolsheviks who were led by Vladimir Lenin overthrew the Provisional Government. They subsequently created the Russian SFSR and appointed themselves as leaders of the new government and seized control over the country in order to ensure that there would be no opposition to their rule.
The Bolsheviks would then sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany in 1918 in order to formally put an end to Russia’s involvement in World War I. In the Treaty Russia had agreed to give up a significant amount of land in the Western territories to the Germans. This would lead to Russia fighting a number of civil wars for the next few years, until the Bolsheviks were ultimately victorious.
Lenin removing Russia from the war had a profound effect on World War I because the Germans were able to concentrate on the Western Allies. Instead of having their military fighting on two fronts. The Germans were able to send large amounts of troops to the Western Front in order to put in place a large offensive against the Allies. This helped the Germans to shift the war to their benefit for a while. Nonetheless, this shift would not result in a victory for Germany and Austria because the United States had joined the war on the side of the Allies (Great Britain and France).
The United States decided to send an Expeditionary Force into France which caused the Germans to realize that they needed to end the war soon in order not to have to fight the United States. The Germans decided to focus and assault on France by trying to take Paris. This was unsuccessful due to Great Britain countering them and forcing them out of France. The United States soon joined Great Britain and France and helped to quickly defeat the Germans. This meant that Russia’s decision to remove itself from the War and their agreeance to give up the Western Territories to the Germans did very little to benefit the Germans in the long run. This was because the German military was not as large or as strong as Great Britain’s or France’s. Then having the United States join the war on the side of the Allied Forces was a sign to the Germans that their defeat was imminent. It also did not help that the morale of the German soldier was deteriorating due to the number or losses that they had suffered In fact, their Treaty with Russia did not really do anything to change the outcome of the war for the Germans besides just extending their defeat for a few months.
In conclusion The Bolsheviks pulled Russia out of World War I because the war had not only resulted in millions of deaths it had also destroyed the Russian economy. The Russian populace had no interest in continuing to fight the Germans and their allies, especially when they needed to focus on improving their situation within their own country. Despite the Russians giving their Western Territories to Germany in their Treaty and Germany no longer having to fight the war on two fronts. The Russian Revolution did not have much of an effect on the outcome of the war. This was mainly because Germany was not able to utilize any of the advantages they were given. This was because their forces were weakened and the morale of their men was greatly damaged. On top of this the United States had joined the war and not only did they have a superior military, they had not been effected by the war yet. This gave the Allies an even stronger advantage then before. Nevertheless, the Russians leaving the war probably did help the Allies win. This is because had they remained in the war, the Germans would have most likely defeated them. This would have brought Russia in as one of Germany’s partners and while the Russian Army was probably too weak to give the Germans a victory. Had they been forced to join the Germans the war may have went on a lot longer than it did, resulting in many more casualties.
References
Allan, T. (2003). The Russian Revolution. Chicago, IL: Heinemann Library.
Lieven, D. C. (2015). The end of tsarist Russia: The march to World War I and revolution.
Wood, A. (1993). The origins of the Russian Revolution, 1861-1917. London: Routledge.
