Was Military Defeat A Cause For The Russian Revolution Essay

To what extent was military defeat a cause for the Russian revolution?
The First World War was truly massive war. It had rather complex origins, it was vast in terms of scale, its human and material costs were enormous, and its results were profound. The First World War resulted in the end of four empires; the German, the Russian, the Austro-Hungarian and the Ottoman empires all ceased to exist by the end of the First World, either as a result of the economic demands of war - like Russia, which had a revolution half way through the war - or as a result of losing. The revolutions in Russia during 1917, particularly the February Revolution, 'grew out of prewar political and economic instability, technological backwardness, and fundamental social divisions, coupled with gross mismanagement of the war effort, continuing military defeats' and the inadequacy of the Tsar and his government. However, whilst it was these factors combined that resulted in the Russian Revolution, the primary factor …show more content…
The tsarist regime essentially broke its own economy in order to supply its military so it could fight in the in the First World War. Though there were certain sectors of the Tsarist Russian economy that were relatively well developed, or beginning to develop (particularly industry), just prior to the outbreak of the First World War, 'the system into which they fitted was still archaic.' The pre-war economy was underdeveloped and the transportation network was in no way prepared to deal with the strain of supplying the army on the front lines. In fact, 'the scarcity of means of transportation paralyzed all attempts to modernize the economy' as the train lines were miniscule, especially in comparison to the other nations Russia would either be allied with or fighting in the coming