Page "Russian Revolution" Paragraph 13

All these factors had given rise to a sharp loss of confidence in the regime by 1916.

Early in that year, Guchkov had been taking soundings among senior army officers and members of the Central War Industries Committee about a possible coup to force the abdication of the Tsar.

In November Pavel Milyukov in the Duma openly accused the government of contemplating peace negotiations with Germany.

In December, a small group of nobles assassinated Rasputin and in January 1917 the Tsar's uncle, Grand Duke Nicholas, was asked indirectly by Prince Lvov whether he would be prepared to take over the throne from his nephew, Tsar Nicholas II.

None of these incidents were in themselves the immediate cause of the February revolution, but they do help to explain why the monarchy survived only a few days after it had broken out.