Economic Problems:
The living and working conditions for peasants and workers was very bad. But the government (Duma) made things worse with its own policies. Russia needed to develop its industries, and remain and important military power, so the government invested enormous amount of money in improving Russia's industries. Although money was borrowed from other countries, the main source was the Russian people. The peasants had to pay heavy taxes on grain. Prices increased for ordinary goods. However, wages did not. At first, things went well, as industry grew rapidly. However, in 1902 there was an industrial slump, and thousands of workers lost their jobs. Strikes and demonstrations broke out. As well as this, there were poor harvests between 1900 and 1902, and the peasants could barely survive. There were outbreaks of violence and landlord's houses were burned. The government used force to crush the disturbances, but this only made things worse!
Russo-Japanese War:
Russia went to war with Japan in 1904. The Tsar wanted to gain support of the Russian people. However, instead it caused food shortages, poorer conditions, rising prices, and shortages of goods. Even worse, the Japanese defeated the Russians, which was humiliating.
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