Final Years of World War I

Final Years of World War I — page 3 — In March 1917 the Russian government ﬁnally fell apart Russia’s leader Czar Nicholas II was forced to give up power on March 15 This was the ﬁrst part of what is called the Russian Revolution A loose collection of political parties then set up a temporary Provisional Government It was led by Alexander Kerensky He wanted to keep Russia in the war Russia’s Nicholas II was forced to give up his throne in March 1917 In July 1918 he and his entire family were murdered so he could not reclaim power Although the government tried to keep ﬁghting things got worse for Russia Because of the war supplies of food and fuel were scarce There were massive shortages in major cities Russians began rioting in the streets People became desperate all over the country The Bolshevik Party the Reds was a political party led by Vladimir Lenin In November October in the old-style Russian calendar the Bolsheviks seized control of the country and overthrew the Provisional Government After this October Revolution the second part of the Russian Revolution the Bolsheviks set up a communist government Their goal was to give power to workers peasants and soldiers instead of royalty and other elites

Final Years of World War I — page 4 — Although the new government was supposed to represent the Russian people it often behaved like a harsh dictatorship People who disagreed with the government and resisted were often executed The communists did not want Nicholas II to reclaim power They murdered the czar and his family on July 17 1918 After the October Revolution the Imperial Russian Army collapsed Many soldiers deserted or refused to follow orders By the end of 1917 almost four million Russian soldiers had surrendered to the Germans or Austrians This further drained Russia of much-needed manpower Lenin said that the soldiers voted for peace with their feet Russian leader Vladimir Lenin speaks in Moscow in November 1918

Final Years of World War I — page 5 — The new Bolshevik government of Russia wanted to get out of the war After seizing power Vladimir Lenin issued a Decree On Peace on November 8 1917 It proposed that Russia immediately pull out of the ﬁghting Lenin did this without consulting with the other Allied powers This was referred to as Russia’s separate peace Within months Russia had withdrawn from World War I It began organizing its armed forces for the internal struggle to come Russia would be engulfed in civil war for the next several years Lenin’s forces the Red Russians fought soldiers still loyal to the old Provisional Government the White Russians Eventually the United States would even send thousands of combat troops along with troops from several other countries to ﬁght on Russian soil against the Bolsheviks Lenin and his new Red Army would prevail but the civil war caused more deaths than the Russians suﬀered on the Eastern Front in all of World War I The Russian Civil War pitted the old government’s White Russians at right against Lenin’s Red Russians Although the U S and other countries sent troops to help the White Russians Lenin’s forces won

Final Years of World War I — page 6 — German and Russian troops pose together after the ceaseﬁre on the Eastern Front in 1917 The peace agreement with Russia resulted in thousands of experienced German soldiers moving to ﬁght on the Western Front Because it was no longer ﬁghting Russia on the Eastern Front Germany found itself with hundreds of thousands of battle-hardened troops that could now ﬁght the French and British on the Western Front The Germans could launch a last massive attack that might win the war once and for all Things looked very bad for the Allies But just when the war seemed lost another event brought fresh hope Across the Atlantic Ocean the United States was preparing for battle If America could send enough troops in time the tide of World War I might yet turn in favor of the Allies

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