The normal working day is eleven and a half hours of work, exclusive of meal times.I often watched the crowds of poor clad and emaciated figures of men and girls returning from the mills". As society started to change in Russia, Nicholas' autocracy government became outdated. This was due to urbanisation and industrialisation. This caused the peasant to rebel against the government and in the long term cause the abdication of the Tsar.
Tsar Nicholas II lack of leadership and poor decisions was an underlying cause of his abdication. Nicholas was unprepared to rule Russia, a country of immense population of one hundred and twenty five million. This was because Nicholas predecessor and father, Alexander III, died earlier than expected, this meant he was not trained to become the Tsar. Nicholas had very poor leadership, this was shown when in 1905, a priest called Father Gapon lead a peaceful march workers though St. Petersburg. They had a petition to show the Tsar asking for better working conditions and an end to the war against Japan. Under misguided leadership the soldiers opened fire on the protesters, killing and wounding more than 500. The soldiers lack of knowledge on what to with the situation and how it was dealt with the result of poor leadership from the Tsar. Nicholas made very bad decisions in his ruling, one of these was in 1915 he left his country to take charge of the military, leaving his German wife to rule Russia. Many Russians did not like a German leading Russia and Nicholas become more unpopular amongst his people. Although Nicholas believed in his government, when it came to fighting in world war one, it was their downfall, resulting in their loss. Tsar Nicholas II was a weak ruler, this is shown through his lack of leadership and atrocious decisions throughout his running as a Tsar and while running the military.
A long term cause of the Tsar's abdication was the rise of opposition groups, such as the Liberals, Bolsheviks, Mensheviks and Social Revolutionary Party.
