Factors Leading to Russia’s Poor Performance in WW1
Was Russia’s poor performance in WW1 the main reason for the fall of the Tsar in the February Revolution of 1917?
Russia’s poor performance in the war was an extremely important factor because it led to the Tsar becoming more unpopular. At the beginning of the war, there was a strong sense of patriotisms in Russia due to the excellent war performance. The decline in Russia’s war performance caused morale in the army and country to decrease. The situation of the war was made worse by the fact that in September 1915 after the Russians lost battles to the Germans (Tannenburg and Masurian Lakes); the Tsar took personal control of the army and dismissed his uncle, the Grand Duke Nikolai. As a result the performance of the army could be blamed directly on the Tsar himself.
The fall of the Tsar was also due to the many mistakes he made during his rule. Although the Tsar might have seemed to be a very powerful leader, he was actually very vulnerable and inexperienced in not only the leading of the army but the leading of the Russia as well.
One mistake the Tsar made was taking over the army. By being in control of the army the Tsar Nicholas II not only was blamed for Russia’s poor performance in the war but he also left the Tsarina to run the government; this didn’t sit well with the people as she was unpopular amongst the people. The Tsarina was unpopular with the people as she was German- at that time the Germans were their enemies was accused of being in sympathy with the enemy- and her decisions were under the influence of the hated Rasputin. Rasputin was despised as he had a bad reputation for living an unorthodox lifestyle and was known for his sexual promiscuity, which was frowned upon. Rasputin was acting as Tsarina Alexandra’s confidant whilst Tsar Nicholas II was fighting in the war. As a result of this, loyalists who believed Rasputin was a danger to the regime tried to kill him, and after many attempts succeeded. However, this left Tsarina to be the
Russia’s poor performance in the war was an extremely important factor because it led to the Tsar becoming more unpopular. At the beginning of the war, there was a strong sense of patriotisms in Russia due to the excellent war performance. The decline in Russia’s war performance caused morale in the army and country to decrease. The situation of the war was made worse by the fact that in September 1915 after the Russians lost battles to the Germans (Tannenburg and Masurian Lakes); the Tsar took personal control of the army and dismissed his uncle, the Grand Duke Nikolai. As a result the performance of the army could be blamed directly on the Tsar himself.
The fall of the Tsar was also due to the many mistakes he made during his rule. Although the Tsar might have seemed to be a very powerful leader, he was actually very vulnerable and inexperienced in not only the leading of the army but the leading of the Russia as well.
One mistake the Tsar made was taking over the army. By being in control of the army the Tsar Nicholas II not only was blamed for Russia’s poor performance in the war but he also left the Tsarina to run the government; this didn’t sit well with the people as she was unpopular amongst the people. The Tsarina was unpopular with the people as she was German- at that time the Germans were their enemies was accused of being in sympathy with the enemy- and her decisions were under the influence of the hated Rasputin. Rasputin was despised as he had a bad reputation for living an unorthodox lifestyle and was known for his sexual promiscuity, which was frowned upon. Rasputin was acting as Tsarina Alexandra’s confidant whilst Tsar Nicholas II was fighting in the war. As a result of this, loyalists who believed Rasputin was a danger to the regime tried to kill him, and after many attempts succeeded. However, this left Tsarina to be the