Economic Collapse
By the early 20th century, following the 1905 rebellion and the establishment of the Duma, efforts were made to dismantle the traditional organizational structure of peasant communities, the commune. Communes organized serf communities, but remained after emancipation. These provided both social support and a sort of welfare net; the community could look after its own. While the peasants resisted, these efforts were relatively successful, but the period of economic growth that followed was brief and ended with the beginning of World War I.
By the time of the Revolution, Russia was in a state of economic collapse, driven by the costs of war and poor administration and management. As with other economic struggles, the greatest burden of this fell on the shoulders of the poor Russians, including both the peasants and the urban working poor.
The addition of the Ottoman Empire to the Central Powers of World War I in 1914 cut off essential trade routes for Russia. This led to munition shortages for the Russian army. Other countries, including Germany, were able to produce adequate munitions, so Russia’s failure was the result of inadequate organization, administration, and infrastructure.
As with the munitions shortages, food shortages were less an issue of agricultural production, and more an issue of poor management and administration. Small Russian farmers lacked modern equipment and still relied upon traditional farming techniques, with lower production output. In addition, a population explosion in the second half of the 19th century led to increased demands for food. Even so, in the early 20th century, Russia was the largest exporter of food in the world. People simply couldn’t afford to buy food, or food was not reaching the cities. This led to additional strife, and growing support for rebellion.
The Russian government had attempted to address the economic crisis by printing more money. This, of course, failed, resulting in high inflation. Inflation increased the cost of basic commodities, like food and fuel. The lack of funds for food and fuel limited access to these resources.