How far do you agree that the impact of the First World War led to the abdication of the Tsar in 1917?

The First World War led to the Tsar’s abdication as, to begin with, Russia was vastly unprepared for conflict. In 1915, only one in three men had access to a rifle, and the army suffered a serious shortage of ammunition. Some artillery units were instructed to fire three shells per day. Moreover, generals were only picked because of their aristocratic status rather than merit leading to serious battlefield blunders. As a result, the Russian Army suffered devastating military defeats against Germany in the Mansurian Lakes and the Battle of Tannenburg in 1914, followed by a retreat from Russian Poland in 1915. Although this did make the Tsar unpopular, confidence in Nicholas II was shattered when he appointed himself as Commander-In-Chief of the armed forces in August 1915. Much like many of his generals, the Tsar was vastly underqualified to command a seven-million strong army. Moreover, the Tsar was now held personally responsible for any future military defeats, including the disastrous Brusilov Offensive of August 1916. Due to poor leadership and shortages, by December 1916, around 1.6 million were dead and 3.9 million wounded leaving the Russian Army demoralised, yet the Tsar continued the conflict regardless. With the Tsar away on the Front, political influence was transferred into the hands of the unpopular German Tsarina Alexandria. This left Nicholas II vulnerable to criticism and unable to revolve tensions in Petrograd during a critical period between January to March 1917. Alexandria failed to effectively work with the Duma and only appointed ministers who would not criticise her. Instead, she took advice from the hugely the unpopular Gregory Rasputin, leading to a string of ministerial changes between September 1915 and December 1916, including the dismissal of Minister of War Alexei Polivanov. Such moves only worked to heighten the Tsar’s unpopularity.The First World War also had massive social and economic implications. To work the factories, there was a large-scale movement of people from rural to urban cities, which saw massive population growth between 1914 and 1917. However, this was accompanied by severe food shortages and rationing, as supplies were diverted to feed to armed forces. Moreover, conscription meant there were less people to manufacture food. Consequently, in January 1917, Petrograd only received 48% of its total grain requirement- a story repeated across Russia’s cities. The cost of fighting also led to increased spending in the National Budget. To cope, the government printed more money resulting in hyperinflation, with prices rising over 200% between August 1914 and December 1916. All of this only fed discontent towards the war and the Tsar