On the 23rd of February, 1917 (International Women's Day), dozens of thousands of female factory workers in Petrograd (modern Leningrad) went on strike demanding bread, an end to the war, and the abdication of Nicholas II. While he was in the front, Empress Alexandra mismanaged the Empire terribly, influenced by the mystic Rasputin (who was assassinated shortly before these events). The Tsar responded by ordering the city's garrison to open fire on the protesters as he had done in 1905, which only fuelled resentment, even causing many security forces to mutiny. He personally returned to witness Petrograd in complete anarchy. Advised to abdicate by his closest ministers, Nicholas Romanov was unable to find a willing heir to the Russian throne, and dissolved the monarchy on the 3rd of March, 1917. Soon after, the State Duma elected liberal revolutionary Alexander Kerensky as Prime Minister. By the end of the month a new constitution was established, and Kerensky proclaimed the birth of the Russian Republic. 300 years of imperial rule had ended. The republican government continued a desperate defence against the Germans, the Austro-Hungarians and the Ottomans, its people reinvigorated by the promise of liberty. But when the situation did not improve, and as the western Entente armies were pummelled down by German and Italian guns, a spectre rose over Europe.
With American reinforcements pouring in, and the German situation deteriorating, it was decided that a radical course of action should be taken. In February of 1917, 32 Russian dissidents were allowed passage through Germany, amongst them Vladimir "Lenin" Ilyich Ulyanov, former leader of the Bolshevik wing of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. Through skilled diplomacy, many Mensheviks (including his successor Leon Trotsky) were persuaded to switch camps, and the Bolsheviks gained enormous power. Throughout the existence of the Russian Republic, Lenin's Bolsheviks began preparing for a great uprising.