Given below are Assertion and Reason. Read them carefully and choose the correct answer with the help of given options.
Assertion (A): When the Bolsheviks ordered land redistribution, the Russian army began to break up.
Reason (R): Soldiers were mostly peasants. They wished to go home for the redistribution and deserted.

Correct option is D

Correct Answer: (D) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
Explanation:
→ Assertion (A): When the Bolsheviks ordered land redistribution, the Russian army began to break up. This is historically accurate. In 1917, during the Russian Revolution, the Bolshevik government, under Lenin's leadership, announced the redistribution of land to the peasants. This was a significant measure to gain the support of the rural population and ensure their participation in the revolution.
→ Reason (R): Soldiers were mostly peasants, and they wished to go home for the redistribution and deserted. This explanation is also true. Many soldiers in the Russian army were peasants who had been conscripted. They were more interested in securing their share of land than continuing to fight in the war. As a result, the announcement of land redistribution caused many soldiers to desert the army and return home, weakening the Russian military.
Information Booster:
→ The Bolshevik policy of land redistribution was a key factor in gaining peasant support, as it fulfilled one of their major demands: the right to own the land they worked on.
→ The Russian army, composed largely of peasants, faced significant desertion during World War I, and the promise of land led to further breakdowns in military discipline.
→ The peasants' support was crucial for the Bolsheviks as they needed the backing of the majority of the population to maintain power. The land reforms were a key aspect of this support.
→ This desertion was also indicative of the broader social unrest and dissatisfaction with the war, which played a central role in the Russian Revolution of 1917.