- Analyse sources A, B and C. Compare what they say about the situation in Russia. Do they support each other?
- What reasons do these sources give for the failures of the Russian army?
- List the ways that World War I helped to destroy the Tsar.
- Look at all the information in this lesson. Explain why the workers, the peasants and the middle class all became disillusioned with the Tsar.
9 responses so far ↓
1.Yes all the sources are pretty much talking about how there are more than enough men the only problem is the lack of rifles and ammunition for the men. They say how most of the men had to fight with bayonets or wait until one of their comrades who had a gun was killed and then take his and us it for himself and this would go on and on.
2. The lack of rifles and ammunition are the cause of the Russians army failing. Most of the men were fighting with bayonets but there was few men with rifles and when they were killed another Russian soldier would take his gun and use it and then when that soldier dies another takes the rifle and so on. Russia was producing fewer than 24,000 shells a day. The problems were made worse by the gross inefficiency and corruption among the tsar’s officials which led to chaos and chronic waste of materials. The transport system was a shambles and unable to supply the cities with food or the military with supplies. The leadership of the generals was incompetent.
3. World war 1 was a disaster for Russia. Many Russians blamed the tsar for the failures of the army and the government. By 1917, as in 1905, all sections of society were united in the belief that the only way to save Russia was to overthrow the tsar.
4. As trouble in Russia mounted the tsar unwisely decided to take over command of the conduct of the war. He had no military training and he was blamed for the poor showing of the army as well as the problems in the cities. People in the cities were hungry and cold and the soldiers on the battlefront lacked even basic supplies such as boots. The support of the army ebbed away and even the peasants, who made up the majority of the soldiers turned against their tsar.
All three sources talk about the dire supply situation on the Eastern Front.
The reasons that the quotes give for the failure of the Russian army are poor logistics and the army not being able to move.
-The millions of Russians that died
-The peasants still thought of the Tsar as their saviour and blamed the army generals for there losses. When Nicholas took direct control of the army the peasants had no one else to blame.
1) All these sources support each other as they all claim the situation in Russia to be very poor. They all state that the Russian army was poorly equipped and poorly organized. They all claim that the Russian army did not have enough munitions for everyone in the army. Source C reflects this, as it states “These poor devils had to wait patiently under a shower of shrapnel, until their comrades fell before their eyes and they could pick up their arms [rifles].”
2) The main reasons for the Russian armies failings was because of the lack of ammunition and rifles. The sources state that the men were fighting with bayonet’s as they had no ammunition and that only one third of the men had a rifle.
3) During WWI the Tsar made many decisions that lead to his destruction. The Russian people blamed the leaders of the army for its failure, but when the Tsar took over the leadership of the army, all the blame then fell on him. This was why WWI helped to destroy the Tsar.
4) The Russian people became disillusioned with the Tsar because of his poor abilities to run the army, let alone run the empire.
All these sources emphasise how unorganised the Russian army were. They describe the lack of resources they have in their disposal and had to wait for days just to receive a limited number of shells or rounds. Sources A and B both explain how the Germans were in control of the war and could attack the Russians while they were desperately waiting for ammunition.
The Russian army was hopelessly under prepared in WW I, their communication was poor, their arms artillery and basic resources scarce and their transport inadequate.
When Nicholas II left the country to be run by his wife in order to take control of the army the educated public considered this to be an unwise decision. He left the country wife his wife who was now unpopular because of her German heritage, and Rasputin the ‘mad monk who raped a nun, and was even more so unpopular. He was an unsatisfactory commander in chief and drew much criticism even from the peasants who normally would be in support of the tsar. Things were going badly both in the city and in the battleground, with soldiers not even having basic supplies like boots, and food and fuel prices soaring.
The tsar did not provide necessities like food to the people. There were drastic food shortages due to land lost to the Germans. This meant that the peasants working the land did not receive a substantial income due to the bad harvests and the people in the cities had to pay the price for the shortage of food because the price rose. The middle class disliked him because of his bad decision to take over the army and lead Russia into a downfall.
1. All the sources say how Russia’s situation was very poor and that their army didn’t have enough mutions for every personal in the army they were also not very well equipped and lacked organiastional traits. Souce C shows this as it states “These poor devils had to wait patiently under a shower of shrapnel, until their comrades fell before their eyes and they could pick up their arms [rifles].”
2. The main reason for the failure of the Russian army was due to the lack of arms and ammuntitions and poor organisational skills,
3. WWI helped destroy the Tsar because when he took over the leadership of the army all the russian people and army blamed the army leaders, but now all the blame fell into the tsars lap, the Tsar also made a lot of bad decisions that led to the army’s failure, these were the main reasons that WWI helped destroy the Tsar.
4. The Tsar could hardly run the empire let alone the army, so the workers, the peasants and the middle class became disillusioned with the Tsar.
Each of the three sources indicates that the economic and industrial situation in Russia was desperate. They all convey similar facts regarding the economy in Russia.
The three sources indicates that the failure of the Russian economy was due to Russia’s inability to support the military and the cities with ammunition and food. They also show that this inability stemmed from the corruption of government officials who took everything for themselves.
The failures of World War I simply accelerated the downfall of the Tsar. By taking the position of head of the military any defeats the army endured the Tsar was held accountable and soon the public turned against the him.
1. The sources all support each others views as they highlight the situation in Russia to be of a ver serious and poor nature. they all are of the opinion the Russian army was ill equipped and poorly organised. they all are of the consenses that that there wer not enough munitions for everyone in the army.
2. The main reasons for the Russian failure was because of the lack of equiptment-guns and ammo. The sources state that the men were reduced to the use of bayonets to defend themselves as only one third of the men had a rifle.
3. during wwI the Tsar made many decisions that lead to his downfall. The Russian people poeple blamed those who led them to this failure, yet when the Tsar took over the leadership theblame was rested upon him. This was why WWI helped destroy the tsar.
4. the russain people became disilluisined with the tsar as his poor abilities to run the army, let alone run the empire.
1. Every source talks about the lack of preparedness on the front, the lack of rifles and ammunition. This was a dire predicament in the war. More so, there was little to no clothes for the winter campaign and this made the Russian forces at an incredible disadvantage.
2. The Russian forces lost the war and were beaten in most of their battles because of its inability to fight a modern war. It was this inability that destroyed the Russians moral, all they wanted was peace, even the soldiers on the front wanted peace. Once an army loses its will to fight, then you have lost the war.
3. The army and the public for how badly they were going in the war blamed the Tsar. This was because the Tsar went and led the armies mid way through the war and before this the generals were blamed, by leading the armies he was now the figurehead for the success. It didn’t help that he left the German Queen and Gregory Rasputin in charge.
Through the Tsars attempts to make all the classes like him and his regime he only served to destroy firstly his reputation. And secondly whatever public respect he still had was soon eroded. Nicholas in this way was a foolish leader. Most importantly the soldiers were mostly peasants, they saw the ineptitude of their leader and his religious aura was stripped. The peasant support if his was destroyed, the seeds of revolution were laid.
WWI
1. The three sources demonstrate the inability of the Russian infrastructure that was in place during the time of war. There were more than enough men at the front but they were simply unprepared in terms of rifles and ammunition. Men were fighting with bayonets and in some cases waiting for fellow countrymen to be killed so they could use their rifles. There was also a very limited amount of food being distributed to the front line.
2. The main reason for the failure of Russia in the war is listed above. Poor infrastructure meant resources, for eg rifles, ammunition and food weren’t being delivered to the front line and consequently many Russian men died.
3. WWI proved to many how incompetent Tsar Nicholas II was. One of the most powerful countries of that time could not even produce a modern army. Many peasants also believed that the corrupt Russian generals were to blame, but when Nicholas took the position of commander in chief he was the only one left accountable for this disaster.
4. Nicholas disillusioned the workers, peasants and middle class because when he decided to attempt to lead Russia to victory they saw how incapable he was at decision-making. If he couldn’t lead the troops how would he do the same for an empire. This also proved that Nicholas perfectionist approach was simply not sufficient because he was missing the bigger picture (people freezing and starving in the cities).
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