WITH THE TSARS
With the Tsars, Russia suffered horrendous casualties in the Great War. This was a result of poor logistics and shortages of equipment, as well as due to internal squabbling. Soviet estimates of the casualties put the numbers from 7 to 7.5 million. However, casualties were not the only problem.The war created food shortages, fuel shortages, and massive inflation.
HOW DID THEY FAIL?
The Bolsheviks wanted to end war at any cost. To that end, they signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, on March 3, 1918. The Russians failed in their mission to end war, however, because the Great War was replaced by a Civil War. The Russian Civil War was started because of the various groups that hated the Soviets. These groups were called the "Whites". The Whites were supported by western nations, including Britain, the US, and France. Eventually, the Whites lost the war, though not without severe consequences for Russia that resembled the conditions under the tsar. Inflation rose, so much so that the prices in 1923 increased one hundred million times from where it was in 1913. Peasants were unwilling to sell bread for what was essentially colored paper, causing food shortages. These food shortages were rectified by forcibly taking grain from peasants. Other horrible policies were implemented due to the Civil War, and those are further examined in the "Freedom" page, as that is where those policies best fit. The economic consequences are examined in "A Better Economy" page.
All civilized restraints had gone on both sides and this was civil war of the worst kind to the bitter end. Both the Reds and Whites were in the throes of a struggle in which physical force was the only deciding factor.
-(Morgan Phillips Price, 1969)