While their officers enjoyed the ritual pleasures of tea drinking, Russian soldiers turned to the communal soup pot for sustenance. Most of the eighteen million men who served in the Russian army during the war came from the peasantry. The perils of combat and the hardships of military life radicalized the political views of many soldiers, leading them to support revolutionary parties such as the Bolsheviks.
Question to Consider
What does the photo suggest about the hardships facing ordinary soldiers on the Russian front?
