WW1 - Economic + Social Problems

• The prioritisation of military over civilian needs during the war led to inevitable economic and social problems for millions of ordinary Russians.
• Disruption to the railway network in order to meet the needs of the Army led to significant disruption of food distribution from the countryside to urban areas which led to serious food shortages in towns and cities.
• The urban population grew during the war as vital war industries demanded more workers.

  • This meant there was increased demand in the cities for food.
  • Urbanisation and conscription took many adult male peasants from working the land and productivity fell.
• Russia lost vital coalfields in Poland early in the war and overall coal production never reached the level it had in 1913.

  • Again, military demand took precedence, resulting in serious fuel shortages of coal in towns and cities.
• Shortages led to serious inflation.

  • Between 1913 and 1916, the price of food and fuel quadrupled.
  • Wages only doubled.
  • Inflation also reduced the incentive for peasants to grow and sell more.
• There was an influx of refugees into towns in the west of Russia such as Petrograd and Moscow.

  • The refugees were fleeing from areas taken over by the Germans.
  • These numbers only added to the problems of food and fuel supply.
• Millions of Russians were directly affected by the fighting in the war itself.

  • By the hostilities in March 1918 for Russia, 15.3 million Russians had seen military service.
  • By early 1917, 1.6 million Russians were killed, 3.9 million wounded and 2.4 million taken prisoner.
  • The military failures and the level of casualties inevitable led to many questioning the leadership of the war effort which since September 1915 had been run by the Tsar himself.