I know that the Russian revolution happened near the end of World War One but I was wondering if it was directly caused by Russia fighting in the war (strain on economy/resources/etc.) or the war just diminished the tsarist families ability ability to quell any rebellions?
From what I understand, Nicholas the II was a weak ruler of a totally incompetent regime, and like you said the strain on the economy and the defeats of the Russian armies were causing serious unrest among the lower class. The revolution itself has been given an air of inevitability by some, but the overthrow of the Czar was by no means guaranteed. It was only after Nicholas ordered troops to fire into a crowd of protesters, and the soldiers refused and revolted against their officers that it became a shooting revolution.
I find the Russian revolution and World War One incredibly interesting subjects and was curious if or how much they were interconnected.