I've been thinking about this quote from Dr. Zhivago a lot over the last year -
"Gen. Yevgraf Zhivago: [narrating; on World War I] By the second winter, the boots had worn out... but the line still held. Even Comrade Lenin underestimated both the anguish of that 900-mile long front... as well our own cursed capacity for suffering. Half the men went into action without any arms... irregular rations... led by officers they didn't trust.
Officer: [to soldiers] Come on, you bastards!
Gen. Yevgraf Zhivago: And those they did trust...
Pasha: [leaps out of the trench and begins leading his men in a charge] Come on, Comrades! Forward, comrades! Earth-shakers!
[an artillery shell explodes in front of him; he falls to the ground, and the soldiers retreat to their trench]
Gen. Yevgraf Zhivago: Finally, when they could stand it no longer, they began doing what every army dreams of doing...
[the soldiers begin to leave their trenches]
Gen. Yevgraf Zhivago: They began to go home. That was the beginning of the Revolution."
That tweet about not having enough people survive to pass on lessons reminds me of what happened to the officers, like Pasha, that the men trusted in that quote.
I keep hoping the Russian soldiers will do what they did in WWI and say fuck this, kill any officers that try to stop them, and just go home.