'Not an overthrow from without, but a collapse from within' Consider this verdict on the February Revolution of 1917 The revolution began with a strike of industrial workers in St Petersburg, inflamed by rumours of food-shortages. The protesters ignored the police, the military forces were sent in, and these mutinied, joining the workers. The Tsar ordered the duma to close, it defied him, and met with the Soviet. Respected army commanders persuaded the Tsar to abdicate, …showed first 75 words of 1638 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1638 total…badly by the Tsar, was not what caused the revolution, it merely accelerated it by highlighting Russia's inadequacies. The makers of the revolution were the Russian people, whose problems the Tsar was responsible for. The Tsar could have stopped the revolution but he had lost the will to continue because he knew that even if he stopped the revolution at this time, there would be future revolutions which he would be unable to deal with.