WHY DID REVOLUTION TAKE PLACE IN 1917?
“AROUND 1.6 MILLION RUSSIAN SOLDIERS HAD BEEN KILLED BY DECEMBER 1916”
WORLD WAR I
World War I caused chaos and devastation across all of Europe and pitted some of the world’s biggest powers – and royal families – against each other. Russia entered World War I in late July 1914; at first, the Russian people united behind the tsar and the Russian war effort in a wave of patriotism, but enthusiasm for the conflict soon waned.
Russia suffered greatly during the war, with around 1.6 million of its soldiers killed by December 1916 and millions more wounded or taken prisoner. Communications and transport within Russia were also incredibly poor and this hindered the war effort: despite producing great numbers of artillery shells, for example, they couldn’t get them to the front.
In the summer of 1916, Russia launched its last major offensive of the war – the Brusilov Offensive – during which it was forced to retreat. The failed offensive saw a massive drop in morale with high
