The Russian Revolutions in 1917 ended Russian involvement in WWI, but precipitated a civil war that dragged in outside powers and lasted for years as the Bolshevik forces sought to enforce control over all the former territories of the Russian Empire. The chaos allowed all manner of smaller movements and independent warlords to flourish for a time, and among them was the brutal so called “Bloody” or “Mad” Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg.
During the civil war, the manufacture of powder and explosives was often handled by the most vulnerable, young women and children, whose labor was needed when so many men had been sent off to war. On March 13, 1863, the confederacy experienced a munitions disaster, in the confederate capitol of Richmond.