nov 1, 1894 - Nicholas II

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after the death of his father, Alexander III, his son, Nicholas II, ascends to the throne

he is a shy man w/ no experience or training
he was not fit to rule Russia in these turbulent times

the issues plauging Russia at the end of the XIX. c. and beginning of the XX. c.:
- ethnic minorities:
only around 56% of the pop. were Russians,
the minorities had reason to be resentful of Moscow rule because of the chauvinistic state policy of Nationalism (Narodnost') and Russification,
additionally not all these nationalities were Orthodox Christians (e.g. Poles, Lithuanians, Jews, Turks), so some of them could also be angry at the state policy of Orthodoxy (Pravoslaviye)

- social inequalities:
the nobility comprised only 1% of the pop., but owned 25% of the land,
growing (but still small) urban middle class,
77% of the pop. were peasants living a hard life in terrible living conditions (e.g. widespread diseases, periods of starvation, lack of sanitation, etc.),
prior to 1861 they were serfs, meaning that they didn't own land themselves (they worked on the land owned by the landowner) and could not leave the landowners farm,
there were also the Kulaks, who were peasants that were better off (owning animals, hiring labourers), and though they constituted a minority they were the most productive agricultural producers,
after they were freed many peasants migrated to the cities in search of factory jobs where they became workers,
the workers' lives were also terrible:
low wages, unsafe work conditions, slept in tightly packed barracks w/ no privacy and no sanitation,
generally climbing the social ladder was difficult since the nobility was often appointed to government positions based on their social status, not merit,
nevertheless, a middle class was emerging

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