Explain Russian involvement in WWI and its impact on Russian society and its economy.

WWI was
disastrous for Russia. The
nation initially made advances against Germany and Austria-Hungary,
but it
was soon driven back. Many who lived in the outlying regions of the Russian Empire
such
as Poles and Ukrainians viewed the advancing Germans as liberators and
their best chance for
creating an independent state. Societal pressures,
which existed before the war, combined with
Russia's failure during the war
led to the fall of the Romanov dynasty. Russia briefly was a
republic headed
by Alexander Kerensky, but the Kerensky government was overthrown near the
end
of the war by the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin.
Lenin's...