Working conditions in industry were appalling even by the standards of the time, with trade unions illegal, there were no organisations to push for improvements in the lot of the workers. This caused resentment amongst the industrial workers and lead to strikes in demand for better conditions.
Another section of the population that felt excluded from Russian Society was the national minorities. Russians made up only 44% of the Empire’s population. The rest comprised a wide range of assorted national groups, which included Poles, Finns, Ukrainians, White Russians and the privileges. These did not want to be a part of Tsarist Russia and wanted freedom so these pose big threat to the Tsar along with the peasants who made up 80% of the population and ran the industrial side of Russia.
The Great War caused economic dislocation, which caused major shortages in cities, on food and fuel. There was a low morale in the army after the defeat at Tannenburg by the Germans and there was a short supply of weapons for the army. Therefore, the workers were paid less, as the money was needed for the war effort. This caused strikes and protests by the protests that took up 80% of Russia’s population. An example of this is the Lena gold field in 1912were 270 strikers were killed by the brutal secret police. This didn’t help the Tsar gain any support and helped the break up of Tsarism’s traditional allies.
Demonstrations occurred over food shortages in Petrograd in St Petersburg, which were increasingly aimed at the Tsar. The radicalisation of the industrial workers and peasants, which had occurred during the war now, became significant. Worker’s councils or Soviets started to reform in the hope of taking advantage of the situation. The number of demonstrators rose to a high of nearly a quarter of a million in February when a strike at the Putilov works in Petrograd coincided with International Women’s Day, bringing thousands of women onto the streets in protest at food shortages. In this situation the attitude of the army was crucial and key elements within it, including the Cossacks, refused to obey the orders of the Tsar and fire on demonstrators. The Tsar had lost the backing of his own supporters and under pressure from the army leaders, who were sick of the lack of progress in the war, Nicholas was persuaded to abdicate. The throne was offered to his brother who declined and the Romanov dynasty came to an end.
The end of the Tsarist regime had not been brought about by actions of revolutionary groups; it had collapsed rather than it had been overthrown. The long-term weaknesses evident in the regime had made it vulnerable to the additional strains imposed by the First World War. When, in February 1917, the regime was under severe pressure it found that its won supporters were no longer willing to save a government they had lost faith in. This led to the rise of the Bolsheviks.
