Page:Michael Farbman - Russia & the Struggle for Peace (1918).djvu/48



HIS period of Russia's military efforts, with all its positive effects upon the immediate supply of the fighting army and its disastrous effects on the general economy of the country, was the outcome of the great crisis which took place after the retreat from Galicia in the summer of 1915. The magnitude of this crisis surpassed even that of the great crisis of 1905, and I am deeply convinced that the Tsardom received its final blow at this time. It is true that the actual Revolution was not achieved till some eighteen months later. None the less, the real beginning of the Revolution can be traced to this terrible military catastrophe and political crisis of 1915. The events of this time are of great importance, and are worth discussing more in detail, but unfortunately the scope of the present volume does not permit me so to discuss them.

From the very beginning of the war the Russian bureaucracy made it perfectly clear that, although the help and support of the entire nation was essential for victory, the direction of the war must remain exclusively in their own hands. It was their intention and their hope that the coming victory should glorify the Monarchy, and establish beyond doubt the wisdom of the Tsar and the efficacy of his Government. Victory was considered a certainty. If the people were allowed a share in the direction of the war, the Tsardom would be robbed of this unique opportunity for increasing its prestige, whereby it was hoped to consolidate its position at least for another fifty or hundred years.