WWI and the revolutions of 1917

• Negative
• Huge manpower, but didn't perform well - bad troop morale
• Uniforms, rifles and shells were in short supply (did improve in 1916)
• Lacked coherent command structure
• Industry and agriculture could not meet military and civilian needs (1917 -food shortages in main towns)
• Government unable to cope, 4 prime ministers and 3 ministers of war, Duma was critical, income tax introduced too late
• September 1915 Nicholas II made himself commander and chief of the army - he was now identified directly with all failures and he left Alexandra his German wife (and Rasputin) in control

Positive

• Not completely overwhelmed by Germans - stood their ground - 1916 Brusilov Offensive
• Managed to mobilize >14 mil. men
• More Democracy in Russia during war (Nicholas didn't really have a choice)

• Lenin demanded that-
• power should be transferred to soviets
• the war should end immediately
• all land should be taken over by the state and re-allocated to the peasants

Reaction was mixed-

• Bolsheviks only had 26,000 members
• Bolsheviks didn't know whether to co-operate with provisional government
• Some Bolsheviks started to doubt Lenin
• Mensheviks feared Lenin would undermine them and provoke a right-winf reaction

However Lenin gradually won support with his speeches-

• Lenin claimed credit for peasants seizing land

• Impact of first World War
• Soldiers became increasingly reluctant to fight - Desertion because of casualties, No prospect of winning - Low morale, Discontent at tsar making himself commander and chief of army
• Rasputin & Alexandra - possible affair, German in charge, bad reputation
• Nicholas' government incompitent- Joined the war, Military defeats, Bread rations
• Tired of autocracy- Duma turned on WW1 formed 'Progressive Bloc.'

Institutional Crisis

• Talk of abdication -Duma refusial to dissolve, Petrograd ground to halt, Economy failing
• Generals no longer support tsar- Troops joined crowds, 40,000 troops desert in Petrograd

February Revolution

• Putilov workers, people in bread queues, women on march, troops defy orders and join crowds, 240,000 people on streets
• Nicholas forced to abdicate

• Kornilov Affair- Attempt to occupy Petrograd and dissolve the Soviet, Kerensky pulled out and declared Kornilov a rebel, Bolsheviks were given a boost because of the affair,Kerensky was left personally discredited
• 9 September - Bolshevik majority in Petrograd Soviet
• 15 September- Lenin, 'History will not forgive us if we do not assume power now' - rejected
• 7 October- Lenin returns to Petrograd and by 10th Bolsheviks are ready to seize power
• 24-25 October- Red Guard seized key points in city
• 25-26 October- Provisional Government ministers arrested: Bolsheviks seized power

26-27 October- Sovnarkom decrees-

• Maximum eight-hour day for workers
• Social Insurance introduced
• Opposition press banned
• Decree on Peace
• Decree on Land