Why Did Russia Lose The First World War
A person can take cuts scraps and even slashes and survive after a little blood loss, but if the wounds are not treated and dressed properly then infection will set in and kill them. In World War I Russia did not die from her wounds but died of infection. Yes Russia faced many problems during the First World War but so did everyone else and yet some of them, like the French, not only survived the war but ended up winning it. Even saying that Russia lost the war is not the best statement that can be made. A more accurate representation of what happened is that Russians lost parts of the war. This better reflects the inability of Russians to work together to overcome problems and to make decisions that could have helped lead Russia to overall
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success. People in Russia were too absorbed by their own interest to work together and win the war. By examining the problems the French faced and how they were able to persevere past them and keep going to the end of the war, one can see what Russia could have been and even surpassed. The French faced many problems. One issue the French army had was a class separation between the officers and the infantrymen. After a successful attack French commanders felt like their responsibility for their troops were over and would leave them laying out in the destroyed enemies territory without relieving them (Horne 63).
The officers had no relationship with the men that fought under their command. They believed that there men where beneath them, but that belief did not show on the battlefield. In fact on the battlefield the officers were top notch leaders and displayed a selfless example (Horne 63). Winning the war was more important than class lines for the French. French commanders might have treated their soldiers horribly, but they did not let that come on to the battlefield they worked with their soldiers and each other to accomplish their mission. Class lines existed in French society and could have been a problem for the French military but winning the war took president and so French officers kept the problems of status in society off the battlefield. They did not let class be a wound that weakened France in the war. In Russia on the other hand, class separation occurred between commanders themselves and they were not willing to forget about their differing backgrounds and work together. The class lines were extremely rigid. Two Fifths of officers in the Russian army were of the peasant class, but if Sukhomlinov, the Chief of the
General Staff, would have tried to promote one of them to the rank of General he would have been dismissed (Stone 25). This division that was created within the Russian Army went so far as Commanders refusing to talk to one another and even refusing to talk to their Chiefs of Staff (Stone 27). Without a constant communication of cooperation going back and forth between Commanders, and Commanders refusing to work with their staffs lead to the Russian Army’s inability to effectively fight the war. This class separation also effected the relationship between the artillery and the infantry. If Russia was losing an attack then the artillery would pull out to protect their equipment and they did not want to waste shells on the infantry who they saw as inferior (Stone 23). This lead to the loss of Russian soldiers whose lives could have easily been saved. People were more willing to protect their position within Russian society then to protect their fellow Russians or to work with them to do what was in the best interest of the country. Another problem the French faced was the could-have-been fatal ideology they believed to be true: Giving up land is cowardly and the French are not cowards, therefore any lost land most be gained back immediately without hesitation (Horne 83). This lead to French often fighting when they should not have and lead to the loss of many French soldiers, but at the same time this ideology created a cohesion within the French military. As far as planning went everyone was on the same page because they all believed in this ideology. The ideology lead to a massive loss of lives, but kept the French from creating massive strategic holes by different units carrying undergoing maneuvers that would hurt other units in the army. The same could not be said about the Russians. Since Commanders would not coordinate efforts together sometimes one army would advance when another would retreat. During the first winter of the war Ivanov and Ruzski could not work together in order to help the Russian military overall advance against their enemy. Ruzski needed to maintain his location so that Ivanov could advance into western Galicia, but Ruzski was set on retreating (Stone 108). Germany and Austria-Hungry were able to make gains off of this blunder made by the Russians. Ruzski was too busy looking out for his own self-interest to see what best overall for Russia was. The interior problems that Russia refused to fix was worse than the faulty ideological mindset of the French because a military cannot win when it tries to be several different militaries fighting under the same flag. An issue that really illustrates Russia’s demise was the transportation of goods and reserve units. During the war Russia refused to give up on the outdated idea of having a mounted cavalry. This lead to trains being full of resources that had to be used on the horses instead of being full of something useful like reserve troops (Stone 134). It did not help that most people working in railway battalions were illiterate and the officers had no technical training, or the fact that the railway battalions did not work together to coordinate the movement of resources (Stone 134). Russia had all the resources it need to win the war but it could not get things were it needed to go because it refused to fix any of the problems relating to the railroad. It allowed an infection to set in. An infection of much needed reserves being transported to slow to get to where they needed to be on time. This infection was caused by the wound that was the dysfunctional railway system that no one tried to fix. Even if the Russians had tried to fix this problem it would have needed to fix the problems of communication between commanders and commanders would have had to change the way they viewed reserves. Since commanders did not communicate with one another reserves where just snatched up by whomever instead of being dispersed where they are most needed. Once they finally arrived at a destination, reserves were not takin seriously as soldiers. Officers did not trust reserves and thus would keep all commands simple even when the situation at hand required something more complex. During the war Russia left way too many wounds untreated and it eventually caught up with them. A body even as large and strong as Russia will become septic from infection eventually. Russia’s problems cannot be excused by the idea that corporation was impossible in Russia. It was possible and could be effectively carried out. This can be seen in the one instance that anyone in Russia really worked together to benefit the war effort. Russia like all countries in the war faced a shell shortage. Going into the war no one thought that they would have needed as many shells as they did because all the major nations were expecting a short war. In Russia, the government and large firms co-operated and the Russians were able to fix their shell shortage to the point that by 1916 the Russian army was superior in men and materials (Stone 211). The government and industry was able to work together at a time when it seemed impossible for anyone in Russia to work together and was able to fix a problem that plagued all the countries involved on the war. Everything they needed to win was at Russia’s fingertips, but they just refused to reconcile their difference or even just put them aside until the war was over. France survived the war because they could survive one another. Russia even before the war was stabbing itself in the back. No one in Russia got along well enough before, during, and even after Russia’s involvement in the war in order for them to be effective in their war efforts. Russia was not Russia but instead was groups of people that called themselves Russians. It was falling apart internally. The elite aristocracy tried throughout the war to keep themselves in power and never decided to work with peasants. The peasants outnumbering the elites and gaining military power killed off a weak Mother Russia that refused to doctor its wounds during the First World War The peasants established the Soviet Union and was only successful in their coup because of the infections in the untended wounds of Old Mother Russia that weakend her on the inside.
success. People in Russia were too absorbed by their own interest to work together and win the war. By examining the problems the French faced and how they were able to persevere past them and keep going to the end of the war, one can see what Russia could have been and even surpassed. The French faced many problems. One issue the French army had was a class separation between the officers and the infantrymen. After a successful attack French commanders felt like their responsibility for their troops were over and would leave them laying out in the destroyed enemies territory without relieving them (Horne 63).
The officers had no relationship with the men that fought under their command. They believed that there men where beneath them, but that belief did not show on the battlefield. In fact on the battlefield the officers were top notch leaders and displayed a selfless example (Horne 63). Winning the war was more important than class lines for the French. French commanders might have treated their soldiers horribly, but they did not let that come on to the battlefield they worked with their soldiers and each other to accomplish their mission. Class lines existed in French society and could have been a problem for the French military but winning the war took president and so French officers kept the problems of status in society off the battlefield. They did not let class be a wound that weakened France in the war. In Russia on the other hand, class separation occurred between commanders themselves and they were not willing to forget about their differing backgrounds and work together. The class lines were extremely rigid. Two Fifths of officers in the Russian army were of the peasant class, but if Sukhomlinov, the Chief of the
General Staff, would have tried to promote one of them to the rank of General he would have been dismissed (Stone 25). This division that was created within the Russian Army went so far as Commanders refusing to talk to one another and even refusing to talk to their Chiefs of Staff (Stone 27). Without a constant communication of cooperation going back and forth between Commanders, and Commanders refusing to work with their staffs lead to the Russian Army’s inability to effectively fight the war. This class separation also effected the relationship between the artillery and the infantry. If Russia was losing an attack then the artillery would pull out to protect their equipment and they did not want to waste shells on the infantry who they saw as inferior (Stone 23). This lead to the loss of Russian soldiers whose lives could have easily been saved. People were more willing to protect their position within Russian society then to protect their fellow Russians or to work with them to do what was in the best interest of the country. Another problem the French faced was the could-have-been fatal ideology they believed to be true: Giving up land is cowardly and the French are not cowards, therefore any lost land most be gained back immediately without hesitation (Horne 83). This lead to French often fighting when they should not have and lead to the loss of many French soldiers, but at the same time this ideology created a cohesion within the French military. As far as planning went everyone was on the same page because they all believed in this ideology. The ideology lead to a massive loss of lives, but kept the French from creating massive strategic holes by different units carrying undergoing maneuvers that would hurt other units in the army. The same could not be said about the Russians. Since Commanders would not coordinate efforts together sometimes one army would advance when another would retreat. During the first winter of the war Ivanov and Ruzski could not work together in order to help the Russian military overall advance against their enemy. Ruzski needed to maintain his location so that Ivanov could advance into western Galicia, but Ruzski was set on retreating (Stone 108). Germany and Austria-Hungry were able to make gains off of this blunder made by the Russians. Ruzski was too busy looking out for his own self-interest to see what best overall for Russia was. The interior problems that Russia refused to fix was worse than the faulty ideological mindset of the French because a military cannot win when it tries to be several different militaries fighting under the same flag. An issue that really illustrates Russia’s demise was the transportation of goods and reserve units. During the war Russia refused to give up on the outdated idea of having a mounted cavalry. This lead to trains being full of resources that had to be used on the horses instead of being full of something useful like reserve troops (Stone 134). It did not help that most people working in railway battalions were illiterate and the officers had no technical training, or the fact that the railway battalions did not work together to coordinate the movement of resources (Stone 134). Russia had all the resources it need to win the war but it could not get things were it needed to go because it refused to fix any of the problems relating to the railroad. It allowed an infection to set in. An infection of much needed reserves being transported to slow to get to where they needed to be on time. This infection was caused by the wound that was the dysfunctional railway system that no one tried to fix. Even if the Russians had tried to fix this problem it would have needed to fix the problems of communication between commanders and commanders would have had to change the way they viewed reserves. Since commanders did not communicate with one another reserves where just snatched up by whomever instead of being dispersed where they are most needed. Once they finally arrived at a destination, reserves were not takin seriously as soldiers. Officers did not trust reserves and thus would keep all commands simple even when the situation at hand required something more complex. During the war Russia left way too many wounds untreated and it eventually caught up with them. A body even as large and strong as Russia will become septic from infection eventually. Russia’s problems cannot be excused by the idea that corporation was impossible in Russia. It was possible and could be effectively carried out. This can be seen in the one instance that anyone in Russia really worked together to benefit the war effort. Russia like all countries in the war faced a shell shortage. Going into the war no one thought that they would have needed as many shells as they did because all the major nations were expecting a short war. In Russia, the government and large firms co-operated and the Russians were able to fix their shell shortage to the point that by 1916 the Russian army was superior in men and materials (Stone 211). The government and industry was able to work together at a time when it seemed impossible for anyone in Russia to work together and was able to fix a problem that plagued all the countries involved on the war. Everything they needed to win was at Russia’s fingertips, but they just refused to reconcile their difference or even just put them aside until the war was over. France survived the war because they could survive one another. Russia even before the war was stabbing itself in the back. No one in Russia got along well enough before, during, and even after Russia’s involvement in the war in order for them to be effective in their war efforts. Russia was not Russia but instead was groups of people that called themselves Russians. It was falling apart internally. The elite aristocracy tried throughout the war to keep themselves in power and never decided to work with peasants. The peasants outnumbering the elites and gaining military power killed off a weak Mother Russia that refused to doctor its wounds during the First World War The peasants established the Soviet Union and was only successful in their coup because of the infections in the untended wounds of Old Mother Russia that weakend her on the inside.