Page "Russian Revolution" Paragraph 11

The Liberals were now better placed to voice their complaints, since they were participating more fully through a variety of voluntary organizations.

Local industrial committees proliferated.

In July 1915 a Central War Industries Committee, established under the chairmanship of a prominent Octobrist Guchkov, included ten workers ' representatives-in which the Petrograd Mensheviks agreed to join despite the objections of their leaders abroad.

All this activity gave renewed encouragement to political ambitions and in September 1915 a combination of Octobrists and Kadets in the Duma demanded the forming of a responsible government.

The Tsar rejected these proposals.

He had now taken over the position of commander-in-chief of the armed forces and during his absence at his headquarters at Mogilev, he had left most of the day-to-day government in the hands of the Empress who was intensely unpopular, owing to her German origin and the influence that Rasputin, an unsavoury monk, was thought to exercise over her.