- The situation in Russia before the war in 1914 was not a very good one. It is clear from the source that the years leading up to the war in 1914 were of demonstrations and strikes. The situation before 1914 was that there was an industrial boom in Russia. The total industrial production increased a great deal and so Russia became the fourth largest producer of certain goods. Even though Russia was benefiting from the boom the workers were not benefiting at all from the industrial boom. Even though there were up to date mass production methods the working conditions didn’t improve and nor did the wages. The prices for everything had risen so much that the workers could only afford to buy bread that they needed. People of Russia became more and more frustrated at Tsar and the government for not changing and of their work life, i.e. wages and conditions. Strikes increased throughout Russia and in 1912, a very important strike took place in Siberia in the Lena goldfields. The protestors were striking against the demeaning working conditions and the terrible wages and the very long and grueling long hours, which usually lasted for 14 hours. They had a conflict with the Tsar’s troops and 170 of the workers were killed and 373 were wounded. The figures Source A show that the situation was not being dealt with or had not been improved and therefore results in the workers organizing more and more strikes with more and more people.
