Russia was unprepared for war in 1914. It was thought that the "Russian Steamroller-- Russia had the largest army in the world - would quickly defeat the Germans and Austrians and that the war would be over by Christmas.
When war was declared there was a great upsurge of patriotism and support for the Tsar. This is known as the August the 4th Spirit, which seemed to unite the Russian people in a sense of Nationalism.
The events of World War One on the Eastern Front.
August 1914 - Battle of Tannenburg - The Russian Armies initially met great success because of the German Schlieffen Plan. However, by the end of August they were defeated and lost over 100,000 men.
September 1914 - Battle of Masurian Lakes - Another major defeat fro the Russians. After this the Russians were always on the defensive, or being driven back by the Germans.
August 1915 - Germans enter Warsaw and Russians forced to withdraw from Poland.
August 1915 - Tsar assumes command of the army - After a series of defeats Tsar takes over as Head of the Army hoping that this would rally the troop and help secure victory.
June 1916 - Brusilov offensive - To help the Allies at the time of Verdun and the Somme, the Russians launched this offensive against the Austro-Hungarian army in Galicia. It was initially successful as it caused sever casualties the Austro-Hungarian army, but as soon as they received help from the Germans, the Russians were again pushed back.
February 1917 - Russian Revolution - After this revolution, the Provisional Government continued fighting the war, which leads to their increasing unpopularity.
October 1917 - Bolshevik seizure of power - Their priority was peace.
December 1917 - Armistice between Germany and Russia .
March 1918 - Treaty of Brest-Litovsk - The Bolsheviks signed a separate peace treaty with the Germans. This was very one sided with the Russians losing nearly half of Russian's European land, but this was the price Lenin was willing to pay to secure the future of the Bolsheviks.