Desertion

"VOTING WITH THEIR FEET"

//**An Unwanted War **// At the beginning of the war one of Russia’s key advantages was their large population and therefore large army. However, once the war effort began to take a turn for the worse, the army quickly fell apart. The soldiers felt they had no chance of winning and hated the horrible conditions as they often lacked food and proper equipment. They soon turned against all those in authority positions. A number of //mutinies// took place near the end of 1916 during which soldier refused to take order and attack. In some groups officers were wounded or killed.



The new Provisional Government of 1917 seemed good at first. It gave the people the right to strike, released all political prisoners, legalized political parties, and introduced the eight hour working day. It also had an election of a Constituent Assembly to decide the new Constitution, and all the Tsar’s land was taken away. However, due to the high amount of wealthy landowners supporting the government, the peasants were not given any other land. From then on, things only got worse for the provisional government. They decided to continue the war against Germany, one of the provisional government’s worst decisions ever. They believed that the people would fight for a free Russia now that the Tsar was gone. The government also thought that Russia had a good chance of surviving as a democracy if they kept on fighting with democratic countries like Britain and France. However, the people of Russia weren’t interested in fighting, and wanted only to live peacefully. Many soldiers just abandoned the war without causing uproar. The expression “**voting with their feet**” is used to describe the situation of the thousands of Russians who **deserted** the Great War. The expression indicates the action of demonstrating your dissatisfaction or dislike of something by leaving. The Russian soldiers were sending a clear message to their leader that they wanted no part in the war. Not only were the conditions terrible and the economy being negatively affected, but it was a losing battle. As well, it was a time of great social and political change so a war only added confusion and chaos. The country wanted peace and would support whoever offered it to them. Much of the Russian army was killed or wounded, but of the remaining men it was estimated that at one point 40 000 men were deserting the army each month. Below is a picture of Russian soldiers crowding onto a train in order to desert the army:
 * //"Voting with their Feet" //**



//**Peace **// Eventually, Russians were granted peace. However it took some time. It was not until after the November Revolution of 1917 that **Lenin**’s government quickly called for peace and started negotiating the end of the war. At this point it was not only a desire of the Russian people, but it was necessary for survival as the blockade had made it impossible to receive more supplies. In March, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed and peace was established; however the terms were very harsh. It forced Russia to give up over a quarter of their population and farm land, as well as almost three quarters of their iron ore and coal. However, when the Allies won (about eight months later) the treaty was renounced.