Tsar Nicolas II -||- Rasputin -||- Discontent and the lure of Communism -||- World War I -||- Lenin and the Bolsheviks
Discontent and the lure of Communism
Imperial Russia held no distinctive 'middle class'. There was only the elite rich and the poor. Even some of the elite and intellectuals were disturbed by the situation and were attracted to the ideas of Karl Marx. Marxism was a predicted cycle of events in history where the proletariat would become tired of being exploited by the elite rich and take over.
The father of this was Georgy Plekhanov who inspired the Menshevik party. From the Mensheviks, the Bolsheviks were born from a split in the party. Lenin would eventually make this party famous by taking over Russia.
World War I for Russia was (in Lenin's words) "a mighty accelerator of events". It was the last straw for the poor and cold people of Russia, and so the Tsar was forced to abdicate.
Communism was considered a final and last path to turn to in desperation. The Russian people did not know the trials that were to come.