![]() In late 1914, Russia’s general headquarters reported that 100,000 new rifles were needed each month – but Russian factories were capable of producing less than half this number (42,000 per month). Some historical accounts suggest as many as one-third of Russian soldiers were not issued with a rifle their standing orders were to pick one up from a dead colleague when the opportunity arose. Thousands of Russian infantrymen left for the front without critical equipment, including weapons, ammunition, boots or bedding. ![]() The empire mobilised millions of troops quickly, indeed more quickly than their German enemies had expected – but many were not adequately prepared or supplied. Russia’s war effort began poorly and soon exposed critical problems in the army. The tsar’s renewed fortunes did not last long. In the months prior, he had shown little interest in the affairs of state – but the outbreak of war and the revival of public affection reinvigorated Nicholas, who threw himself into his duties. The tsar too was changed by the events of August 1914. When conscription orders were distributed in the capital, more than 95 per cent of conscripts reported willingly for duty. As one observer put it, to hate the Germans was easy but to hate the tsar became an act of national betrayal.ĭays after the Russian declaration of war, Nicholas II and Alexandra – who was herself of German birth, ironically – appeared on the balcony of the Winter Palace and were greeted by thousands of people on bended knees. The outbreak of World War I in early August 1914 revived Nicholas’ fortunes, at least temporarily. For a few weeks, the grievances of workers were doused by a rousing wave of patriotism. The Tsar, who weeks before had been jeered and despised, became the subject of nationalistic affection. Patriotism revived A postcard showing a crowd greeting the tsar outside the Winter Palace, August 1914. By August, Serbia had been invaded by Austria-Hungary and Russia had declared war in response, prompting the German Kaiser to declare war on his Russian cousin. When Austria’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot dead in Sarajevo in June 1914, it triggered a wave of threats, ultimatums and troop mobilisations. This placed Russia in a perilous position between Serbia – its Balkan ally with close ethnic and religious ties – and the hostile empires of Austria-Hungary and Germany. ![]() The Bismarckian alliance system demanded nations support their allies if one was attacked. What the Tsar did not count on was Wilhelm’s own duplicity, nor did he understand the forces of war that had been building in Europe for more than ten years. Nicholas thought it highly unlikely that the Kaiser would declare war on the kingdom of a relative. The relationship between the Tsar and the Kaiser was strained at first but in time they became friends, addressing each other in communications as ‘Nicky’ and ‘Willy’. Nicholas and the German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, were cousins, while Wilhelm and Nicholas’ wife Alexandra were both grandchildren of Queen Victoria of England. Though tensions between Russia and Germany were long-standing, Nicholas II believed family ties precluded any chance of war between the two empires. One right-wing newspaper described the situation as revolutionary, saying “We live on a volcano”. This culminated in the great general strike of July 1914, which paralysed more than four-fifths of St Petersburg’s industrial, manufacturing and commercial plants. The government’s response was to deny the incident happened. When news of this reached St Petersburg, it triggered worker unrest there the capital was hit by 118 strikes in June alone.Īt the beginning of July 1914, around 12,000 workers from the Putilov steel plant – the same factory at the heart of the ‘ Bloody Sunday‘ protests – marched in the capital, where they were fired on by tsarist soldiers. Fed up with low wages and dangerous conditions, workers at the remote Baku oil field walked out in June. Anti-government sentiment and unrest had been building since 1912 when tsarist troops gunned down hundreds of striking miners at Lena River.īy mid-1914, the number and intensity of industrial strikes were approaching 1905 levels. At the start of 1914, Tsar Nicholas II was busy enough dealing with pressing domestic concerns.
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