In what ways were the lives of Russian people affected by the First World War?

The first effect of the War on the lives of Russian people was upon the soldiers and sailors, and their families.  Russia suffered approximately 1.8 million military deaths and 3.9 million wounded, overwhelming the military medical system; in 1915, the Russian army had only 17,000 doctors for over five million wounded soldiers.  Many hospitals lacked even basic antiseptics, leading to an amputation rate twice as high as in Germany, and overcrowding meant soldiers were often left to die outside the field hospitals.  The defeats and poor medical care contributed to plummeting morale, reflected in the 365,000 desertions recorded in the first six months of 1917.  Mutiny also became increasingly common.  In October 1915, the crew of the battleship Gangut in the Baltic Fleet mutinied over poor conditions and brutal discipline, and rising discontent culminated in the garrison troops’ mutiny in Petrograd during the February Revolution of 1917.  Meanwhile, soldiers’ families at home endured worry, grief and financial hardship.  Widows were promised state pensions of ten roubles per month, but runaway inflation meant this bought barely two loaves of bread by 1917, and delays in payments forced many widows into destitution or begging. 

In the countryside, the Russian peasants faced immense disruption to their lives and livelihoods.  Farmers came under intense strain as the government demanded a 40% increase in grain deliveries by 1916.  Mass conscription into the Army exacerbated the crisis, as 15 million men – half of the rural male workforce – were drafted, leaving farms to be run by women and the elderly; it is almost impossible to imagine the effect this had on their lives’ and communities.  The war effort drained essential resources, with livestock numbers falling by 26% and draft animals being requisitioned, while agricultural machinery production collapsed as factories were repurposed for armaments.  To secure food for the cities and army, the Tsarist regime introduced grain requisitioning (Prodrazvyorstka) in 1916, provoking deep resentment.  The result was that law and order collapsed as villagers retaliated.  In April 1916 peasants in Tambov province launched a mass uprising, attacking landowners and seizing grain stores before the army suppressed the revolt, executing over 80 peasants.  In late 1916, peasants in Kursk and Samara provinces refused to pay rent and took landlords’ land by force, leading to violent reprisals.  The so-called ‘Red Cockerel’ year of 1917 saw thousands of estates seized in a wave of rural rebellion. 

For industrial workers, the effect of the war imposed equally severe hardships in a different way.  Demand for war production drove rapid industrial expansion, with the number of workers increasing by 60% in Petrograd and 35% in Moscow.  Shell production rose 2,000%...  but at the cost of working conditions.  Factory workers in Petrograd were forced to accept 12- to 14-hour shifts, leading to a 150% rise in industrial accidents 1914-17 – at the Putilov munitions factory, accidents reportedly doubled 1915-16 due to the relentless pace of production and the inexperience of the rapidly-expanded workforce.  Yet, beside these harsh conditions, real wages were falling; money wages rose only 50%, while food prices soared four- to five-fold, drastically reducing buying power.  As in the countryside, the response was unrest, as workers turned to strikes and protests.  At the Nikolayev naval yard, waves of strikes reflected this growing discontent and, in February 1917, 240,000 workers in Petrograd walked out, playing the decisive role in the revolution. 

In the countryside, peasants could hide their produce and grow their own vegetables; town dwellers had no such recourse, and the effect of the war upon them was acute shortages and deteriorating living conditions.  The war placed overwhelming pressure on transport networks, with railway activity falling by half by 1916.  The Trans-Siberian Railway especially, crucial for food shipments, suffered frequent severe breakdowns, so that thousands of tonnes of grain rotted while urban populations went hungry.  Food and fuel shortages worsened dramatically, especially during the severe winter of 1916-17, when Petrograd and Moscow received barely half their needed supplies.  The bread ration fell from 1.2 kg to 0.8 kg 1916-17, pushing many to the brink of starvation.  Rising prices compounded their woes, as government spending rose eightfold, primarily funded by printing money, prompting inflation of 500% by 1917, making even basic necessities unaffordable for most.  Poverty, and the influx of the expanded workforce into the towns, led to overcrowding in urban housing, with multiple ‘corner-dweller’ families crammed into single rooms, while some workers ended up sleeping in their factories. 

As is often the case, the inflation, the shortages and the housing problems impacted most upon women, especially mothers, who were not only expected to care for their families, but were now mobilised into the workforce.  By 1917, 43% of industrial workers in Petrograd were women, often employed in hazardous conditions in munitions and heavy industry.  The effect was to push Russian women into political activism.  They played key roles in organizing strikes and forming workers' councils (soviets), and Bolshevik women were heavily involved in the organisations supporting soldiers’ widows, spreading the message while they distributed aid.  As food shortages became unbearable, it was the women who led the protests and riots.  In August 1915, hundreds of women in Petrograd looted bakeries after bread prices doubled, prompting the government to deploy troops who fired on rioters; and in May 1916, more than 1,000 factory workers in Moscow staged violent protests over food shortages, smashing shop windows and attacking officials.  The most significant protest, of course, occurred on 23 February 1917, when female textile workers in Petrograd initiated mass demonstrations over bread shortages, drawing in 90,000 workers and starting the February Revolution which deposed the Tsar. 

Another group of people who suffered during the War were the ethnic minorities, who faced persecution, repression, and violent reprisals.  The government deported 500,000 Volga Germans and other minorities to Siberia under suspicion of disloyalty, often without evidence.  Meanwhile, nationalist uprisings erupted in response to harsh conscription policies and economic exploitation.  In 1916, the Central Asian Revolt, particularly among Kazakhs, led to a brutal crackdown in which over 100,000 people were killed in reprisals.  Thus, in the nations too, one effect of the War was growing anti-Tsarist sentiment. 

A final effect of the War on the lives of Russian people was that large number of people became politically active.  Political discontent amongst the intelligentsia escalated as the war exposed government incompetence – for example, the 1915 ‘shell scandal,’ which saw Russian troops limited to just three shells per day, and Rasputin’s immorality and malign influence over the Tsarina’s decisions.  The middle class gentlemen of the Duma also increasingly lost faith in Nicholas II, while the government’s vicious repression fuelled revolutionary sentiment amongst the workers and peasants – in January 1916, Cossacks attacked striking workers at the Putilov arms factory, killing at least 30 people, while in 1915 alone, the Okhrana sent over 20,000 political prisoners to Siberia.  By 1917, soldiers, workers, and peasants had become radicalized, leading, given the opportunity, to the greatest effect of all upon their lives … the March revolution and the fall of the Tsar.