There were many underlying tensions which stemmed back before 1914, such as the secret formation of the Bolsheviks and the obvious segregation of certain classes within Russia. As a result of this there were two major revolutions in 1917. The March revolution meant, the Tsar, Nicolas II abdicated mainly because of his alienation of classes, from aristocracy to proletariat. Then the November revolution, where Lenin preached of a new Russia, an equal Russia, which is something the people of Russia wanted after having to queue for bread in minus twelve and a half degrees centigrade. Lenin’s plans were formulated in three words; ‘Peace, Land and Bread’. The order of these words suggests his priorities.
In addition to the revolutions and riots there were strikes, protests and shortages, that which was most memorable was in Petrograd, October 1916, where rail workers went on strike and the army were sent to settle them down, but instead the soldiers joined in. This shows the attitudes of a multitude of people towards the ever diminishing government.
While Russia was suffering at home they were still fighting a war. There were some early warning signs in battles early on. The battles which took place at The Masurian Lakes and Tannenburg in August 1914, totalled up nine and a half million casualties out of the thirteen million mobilised troops, to make matters worse the Tsar took personal command in September 1915, which would pin even more blame on him and make people have another reason to dislike him. In turn the Germans were firing machine guns while the Tsar planned to lead his army on horseback, this gives us an idea of the diversity between the countries’ progression.
In the end by late 1917 Russia finally left the war. A short term reason for this could have been that troops wanted to desert their battlefield and exchange it for a field of their own; this is because there was a massive land grab at this time. People wanted to grow their own food as there was very little that they could buy or it was too expensive. Over the period of the war food prices had risen in Russia by 700% and wages had only risen by 200%, this means that there was a case of super hyper inflation. Russia could not possibly cope with so much at one time. To rub salt in the wounds of Russia the Germans developed a treaty, called the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, whereby Russia would lose a third of its population and agricultural land, over half of its industrial land and nearly 90% of its coalmines as well as a 300 million rouble fine, all for Germany to profit on.
To summarise, Russia had many reasons to leave the war, or in fact never get involved. But instead, they dragged out any remaining supplies for as long as possible because no-one had a decisive mind. Unfortunately for the Russians, neither their government nor military were able to cope with the pressures of a modern war; moreover they lost both battles the one against their enemy and the one against themselves.
