From August 1915 Rasputin became Alexandra's chief adviser. Messages to Tsar Nicholas from Alexandra suggest how Rasputin helped choose ministers, and played a part in planning battles. (Polivanov was an outstanding military organiser, but he fell from power on 25th March 1916).
By December 1916 the Duma members and many jobless were certain that Rasputin was a German agent and that he had wrecked the Russian government on purpose. On 30th December Prince Yusupov murdered Rasputin. He fed him poisoned cakes and wines, which failed so he shot him but he still lived and finally he was shoved through a hole in the ice.
Rasputin’s body was found and was said to have drowned.
There was a collapse of the government. In August 1915 the cabinet of ministers told the Tsar that they could not back his plan to take over command of the army and leave the running of the government to the Empress. With Alexandra and Rasputin in charge of ministers at St Petersburg, from August 1915 to February 1917, Russia had four prime ministers, five ministers of the interior, four ministers of agriculture and three ministers of war.
Bribery and corruption were rampant. The government was in a state of chaos. Food, guns, ammunition and clothing failed to reach the army. Food was scarce in the towns. In March 1916, Rodzianko tells us:
In Petrograd there was a shortage of meat, but those passing through the city could see a string of carts, loaded with rotting carcasses. This meat was intended for the army, but there was no place to keep it.
In December 1917 General Ruzski, commented: 'The Northern Front does not receive even its meat allowance.... We lack internal organisation.'
In 1915 Russia was a poor country (the economy was terrible) when compared to Germany or Britain. Relative to their size, for each mile of Russian railway there were ten German miles. For every Russian factory Britain had 150. Prices rose sharply during the war due to lack of food, which was due to poor transport systems: Prices rose about 600% over about 5 years. Riots broke out due to lack of bread and fuel. The growth of the army had placed a great strain on the economy. By 1916 strikes were widespread in the factories of Moscow and Petrograd. The army expanded from 6.5 to 16.1 million men between 1914 and 1917. Also the % on men of working age rose from 15% to 37%.
During the war the Russian economy grew very quickly. In 1916 it made enough guns and ammunition for the Russian army to be fully equipped:
'There was 2000 per cent growth in output of shells, 1000 per cent in artillery. The army's 10,000 telephones became 50,000 in 1916. Artillery showed the advance best and Russia made about twice the amount as Britain.
In December 1916 there was a collapse of support for the war. Bruce Lockhart was in St Petersburg and officers that should have been at the front were in top hotels such as the Europe.
Bruce Lockhart thought that the March 1917 revolution broke out because: 'the patience of the Russian people broke down’.
The Russian army of 1914 was in a bad state. The soldiers had been mainly trained to fight using limited, old-fashioned weaponry in comparison with the Germans who were using heavy artillery. German troops had full supplies of ammunition and rifles; Russian forces were short of both. The Russians were dug in in shallow trenches while the German had deep and solid fortifications.
In May 1915 the German attack in Poland smashed the Russian armies; half the army was destroyed. 1,400,000 fell in battle or were wounded, 76,000 became prisoners. 'The German heavy guns swept away whole lines of trenches and their defenders with them.
By December 1916 the failure of the Russian army caused major concern.
In February 1917 an army report gave some reasons why the soldiers might rebel: 'Among these are the long stay in the trenches...alarming news from home about the high cost of living and the decline in the village economy, the misbehaviour of wives at home, and live talks about peace.'
There was a Duma and Zemstvos (local councils) in Russia at this time. 'Again that fat-bellied Rodzianko has written a lot of nonsense which I won’t even bother to answer' wrote Tsar Nicholas on the eve of the March 1917 revolution. Rodzianko was president of the Duma. In August 1914 the Duma gave full support to the Tsar's government - support that the Tsar had lost by 1917. The Tsar refused to accept the advice of the Duma. The Duma warned him about the dangers arising from being in command of the army, the hatred of the Empress and Rasputin, despair at the inefficient and corrupt government and the shortage of food at St Petersburg. In his memoirs Rodzianko wrote: '20 January 1917: A meeting with the Tsar.... Russia as one demands a change in Government.... It is vital to work in agreement with the Duma and Zemstvos in order to organise the rear and conquer the enemy. To our great shame in these war times, everything is in disorder. People believe that you have sacked all ministers who had the backing of the Duma and Zemstvos, and put in their place people we cannot trust.'
By March 1917 the Tsar had lost the support of the Russians who had backed the war in 1914. On 7 March a food riot began in St Petersburg, which led quickly to the fall of the Tsar's regime.
