When the Serbian terrorist Gavrilo Princip assassinated Franz Ferdinand, Serbia’s first inclination was to formally apologize to Austria but was persuaded by Russia not to do so. Obviously there were proto-Communists already in positions of power driving an agenda for war. Russia hoped to obtain more territory and extensive seaports but I believe they wanted a conflict to weary the populace and promoted it so that the Russian citizens would be a soft target for the Bolshevik revolution.