History
The Russian Army was a very large force meant to defend a huge land. It was mostly made up of peasant soldiers who served for a long time. The leaders of Russia used this army to expand their borders and protect their interests in Europe and Asia during the 1800s and early 1900s.
When World War I began, the army sent millions of soldiers to fight against Germany and Austria-Hungary. The soldiers showed great bravery in many battles, but they suffered from a lack of food, weapons, and good leadership. Millions of men were killed or captured, which made the people at home very upset with the government.
This sadness and anger caused the Russian Revolution to start in 1917. The army started to fall apart as soldiers left the front lines to go home or join the new revolts. By the time the Soviet Union took over, the old Imperial Army had stopped existing. Many of its soldiers joined either the Red Army or the White Army to fight in the civil war that followed.
