To what extent does the impact of the First World War explain the outbreak of two revolutions in Russia in 1917?
To an extent, the First World War contributed greatly in the outcome of two revolutions in Russia. This is a result of the war worsening already evident issues in Russia such social, economic and political factors as well as losing support from the peasants and army. It can also be argued that revolution was inevitable as social, economic and political factors throughout the years were bound to end in revolution; the war was just the tipping point. Nonetheless, all these factors link back to a single factor: The weakness of the government. If the government had been stronger, the peasants wouldn’t need to, or be able to, revolt.

Primarily, the First World War was arguably a large factor in the outbreak of two revolutions as it lost large amounts of support from Russian civilians. It made already crucial factors worse as the Russian peasants and working class which made up 80% of the population worked longer and harder and yet struggled to find food due to transport being taken over by the military and little food entered the cities, as well as high inflation on food available. This led to large amounts of hostility towards the Russian government and losing large amounts of support. Nonetheless, it can be argued that Russia had experienced many failures before, such as the 1914 Russo-Japanese war; therefore, bad leadership or war failure was not significant enough to cause two revolutions afterwards, it was a result poor leadership faced by Russian people for years through events such as Bloody Sunday which was only exacerbated by the war. However, it can be argued that all revolutions prior to the First World War did not succeed, such as the 1905 revolution, meaning that it played a significant impact on the outbreak of two revolutions. Nonetheless, the fact there were revolutions in the past suggests the bad leadership and weakness from the government was always present, therefore many people were always against the government and it had to change, the war only provided an excuse to begin a revolution.

In addition, the weakness of the government may be considered the main causation of the revolutions as the constant losses at front lines lead to the people question Russia’s Government’s abilities, as Nicholas II made himself Commanding Chief of the army which he had little knowledge of, resulting in all failures in the front lines linking back to him as he is responsible. Lenin comments on Nicholas II’s leadership ability claiming “he is not fit to run a village post-office” exemplifying his incompetence during the World War and he also writes in his diary “I never wanted to be Tsar” showing he’s unfit and incompetent for the role of leader. Furthermore, the Provisional Government not pulling out the war due to aid from Europe and America shows its dependency on other countries and outlines its own weakness and as they were never elected, they were never liked by the people. In addition, the Tsar left Tsarina Alexandra and Rasputin in charge, a woman and a former peasant. As the Tsarina was German many people believed her to be a spy, and placing a woman in charge illustrated to the people the lack of regard the Tsar has for them, building hostility amongst the Russian people and enviably leading to an outbreak in revolution. However, if the war never happened, then the people wouldn’t have been able to rebel since the Tsar kept them under his tight reign. The war allowed civilians to communicate amongst each other and build Anti-Tsar organisations. So if the war never happened, neither would the revolution. Nonetheless, if the people were always so hostile towards the government then there was always likely to be a revolution, it was simply a matter of time. The First World War only acted as a catalyst speeding up revolution, where it was inevitable.

On the other hand, one of the most significant factors in the cause of the outbreak of two revolutions was the social, economic and political problems that the Russian people faced. The constant hunger and starvation from the poor food rationing as they lined up all night for a slice of bread lead to massive hostility. This was further exacerbated through all food going to the army, along with farmers being conscribed leading to poor harvests. Whatever food was available had large inflation and most of it was left to rot due to trains transporting military goods rather than food into cities, causing millions of deaths from famine. As this was a war by the peasants, those who were directly affected by these problems, this is said to be the most significant factor of the outbreak of war. However, this can be seen as the governments fault; it is the government’s job to keep their people fed and provide them reasonable living conditions. If the Tsar and Provisional Government didn’t disregard the people at home, and their opinions to end the war, this may not have ended in revolutions. Nonetheless, there was famine for many years prior to the war without leading to the outbreak of revolutions; therefore it was not the fault of the war that lead to revolution but other factors such as the weakness of the government.

Overall, it’s evident that the government’s failings prior to the war led to a wide-spread hostility and demand for a revolution, but could not be achieved until Russia was at a critical state such as World War I. Regardless, the revolution was eminent whether the war happened or not; the people demanded a change of government.