One country which will not be marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Great War in November 1918 is Russia.

This is because for Russia the war ended in March 1918, with the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Russia had experienced two revolutions in 1917, and by 1918 was in the throes of civil war.

But the Great War played a direct role in bringing about those revolutions, and thus represents an important, if often overshadowed, development in Russian history.

Echoes of the past

The war was over for Russia in early 1918

The changes which rocked the country, culminating in the Bolshevik Revolution of November 1917 and the subsequent four-year civil war, meant that the war which was "the Great War" for much of Europe was little more than a sideshow in Russia.

Russia's entry into the war has resonance today with its position over the crisis in former Yugoslavia. Today, Russia has been at odds with the other members of the contact group which is trying to bring about a peaceful solution to the conflict in former Yugoslavia because of its support for the Serbs. Russia's position was similar in 1914.

Tumbling into war

Tsar Nicholas II failed to deal with the problems the war created

In 1914, following the assassination in Sarajevo of the heir to the Habsburg throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Austria demanded concessions from the Serbian government.

Germany supported Austria; Russia sided with the Serbs. Austria declared war on Serbia; Russia announced a general military mobilisation. Germany then declared war on Russia. Russia had almost accidentally tumbled into something which was to lead to the downfall of tsarism; the fail