Depth of War - Episode 7 (Bonus)

The Russian Revolution was a significant event that led to the creation of the USSR and shaped world history. The revolution was fueled by corruption, discontent, and military defeats. After Tsar Nicholas abdicated, a new Russian Republic was established but failed to address German invasions and make peace. The Soviets, led by Lenin, rose to power and formed the United Soviet Socialist Republic. They entered a war with Germany and lost important lands, but later regained some territories. The revolution had lasting effects on the region, with the USSR invading and incorporating independent states. often overlooked as the Russian Revolution is one of the most impactful revolutions to date. It saw the creation of the USSR, a huge beast of a nation that emerged as the world's third power after the end of the Second World War. It also gave the new inlaid some essential powers to conquer much of the Western Russian Empire. But how did it all come to be? As of the early 19th century, the call for a revolution was already high. Corruption and discontent among the lower classes played a major role in the unrest. The Tsar was getting increasingly unpopular as the Imperial Russian Army scored constant defeats along its western borders to the more stabilised German and Austro-Hungarian armies. The general population was furious with the Russian Army's inability to defend its western borders, with the superior German armies defeating the Russian 2nd Army. Not long after the defeat of the Russian 2nd Army, Germany occupied Poland and Lithuania, taking Riga not long after. The Russians were repelled out of Galicia, which is in north-east Austro-Hungary, not long after. The revolution first began after Tsar Nicholas' abdication and saw a new Russian Republic be proclaimed. The republic soon began to follow a similar fate as it was highly unpopular due to its failure to address the German invasions of the West and its refusal to make peace. A new rising political party many of you would be familiar with were the Soviets, led by Vladimir Lenin. They were anti-war and demanded the end of Russian involvement in World War I, and quickly after months of fighting, which saw much of Russia collapse and break into dozens of new countries, finally seized power. Tsar Nicholas, the last Tsar of the Russian Empire, was executed alongside his family shortly after the Soviets captured him, instead of him retaking the crown. The Soviets soon proclaimed the beginning of the Republic of the United Soviet Socialist Republic. They quickly entered the War of Germany and were forced to hand over some of its most important lands, like Ukraine, Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, and to allow the independence of Finland. The USSR would spend the next decade invading and reincorporating lost lands that declared independence, not under German leadership, of which most resided in the Caucasus and Central Asia. The Russians would regain Ukraine and Belarus after the Germans surrendered to the Allied powers in 1918, would see the creation of Finland, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia as independent republics free from Soviet control, but a few of these states would again be incorporated into the USSR near World War II.