An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 29 ministers resigned or were dismissed on a daily basis, leaving the country in a state of chaos. The scarcity of food and fuel, rampant inflation, rising crime and strike after strike were combining to cre- ate an explosive, revolutionary situation. On March 8th (February 23rd by the old Russian calendar) a march by women in honour of International Women's Day joined striking workers in the then Russian capital, Petrograd (now St Petersburg), and turned into a mass demonstration against the continuation of the war and Russia's autocratic government. The military was called out to restore law and order but sided with the protesters instead. The February Revolution united the workers, military and citizenry. A provisional government was formed and an eight-point programme was drawn up calling for the appointment of elected representatives for local governments, the replacement of impe- rial state policy, and military units were encouraged to elect soviets (councils) to represent them. In the face of these events the Tsar, who had returned from the Front, was compelled to abdicate. Alexander Kerensky was appointed war minister in the provisional govern- ment and he planned a 'revolutionary' offensive against the Germans. However, no plan could remain secret in Russia at this time and the Germans soon knew about the planned offensive, giving them time to reinforce their positions and plan for defence in depth. Secondly, the Rus- sian preparations for the offensive were inadequate: there was little or no co- operation between artillery and infantry units, reserves were kept to far from the Front, supply lines were congested and staff and divisional commanders changed constantly, with arguments and personal opinions affecting military decisions. A two-day preliminary bombardment was followed by infantry attacks on 1st July. The Germans initially fell back but the Russians stalled at the Germans' third de- fensive line and after fierce hand-to-hand combat around Bereshany and Lyonia, the two strongest German positions, the exhausted Russian forces were compelled to fall back. The Russians had some suc- cess against Austro-Hungarian positions along the Dniester but by 12th July, with little progress made and with casualties mounting, the offensive ended in failure. A counter-offensive by eight German divisions retook territory lost during the initial assaults and the Russian army was routed in many areas. In order to reconstitute their defences, senior Rus- sian commanders attempted to instil discipline in their forces using draco- nian methods, resulting in thousands of executions. Further German attacks throughout the summer caused the Russian lines to collapse. At that point, the Germans abandoned their plans to penetrate further into Russia and take Petrograd as it became increas- ingly clear that the Russian govern- ment, now led by Kerensky as prime minister, was on the verge of collapse. The Provisional Government had con- tinued the Tsar's fiscal and taxation poli- cies, resulting in falling wages and con- tinuing food shortages. Their continued participation in the war, their losses, and the failure to improve morale within the army resulted in a number of attempted coups. However, there was one group, the Bolsheviks, that had quietly watched and waited for the right moment to strike. In early October Vladimir Lenin, know- ing the time was right for a Bolshevik coup, seized control. Key buildings, including the Winter Palace, were taken in Petrograd and roadblocks were set up controlling routes in and out of the city. Apart from a few minor skirmishes, power was wrested from the provi- sional government with little resistance and within days a Bolshevik-controlled government had been established. On 26th November the Bolshevik government requested negotiations with Germany for an armistice. Within weeks peace talks had begun and Rus- sia ceased to be a military factor in the war, allowing the German High Com- mand to reassign some 80 divisions from the east to the Western Front. For the next three years, Rus- sia would be devastated by a civil war between Reds (Bolsheviks) and Whites (anti-Bolsheviks) that would cost more Russian lives than all the Eastern Front battles combined. Vladimir Lenin

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