Russian Military Logistical Problems

Throughout the course of the First World War and the Civil War that devastated the country after, Russia's military logistical network continually failed to provide the supplies necessary for its forces to win the colossal conflict which it found itself in from 1914 to 1920. Russia, even with its vastness and resource rich lands, struggled greatly to properly equip its armies. Yet it was not a lack of resources, or even finished war supplies which crippled the country's military logistics, but rather a constant mismanagement by Russia's bloated and inefficient bureaucracy. During these years of conflict Russia was governed by three uniquely different governments: the Tsarist Empire in its final years of existence, a weak and semi-democratic Provisional Government, and a military junta under the White Resistance against the growing power of the Bolsheviks. Although all three governments were different in their aims for the Russia they ruled, each continued a legacy of mismanagement and inefficiency of the nation's military logistics. This thesis paper examines each of these government's attempt to sustain the conflicts they waged with the necessary weapons and supplies. Throughout the time period covered, there is a continual theme of a misuse of Russia's vast resources, creating a situation where there were plenty of weapons and ammunition but where none was reaching the front lines. Instead, a combination of an inefficient bureaucracy and the monumental egos of that bureaucracy's leadership saw a mismanagement of resources and a complete breakdown of Russia's supply capabilities.