the Russian armies were very badly defeated by the German army. Millions of Russian soldiers were captured or killed.Russian industry could not produce enough war materials. Soldiers went into battle without weapons and were told to pick up rifles from their comrades who were killed.the Russian railway network was very poor and it could not get food to the cities. Prices rose and people began to starve in the big cities of Petrograd and Moscow.To make matters worse the Tsar dismissed the commander-in-chief of the army in 1915 and took command himself. This was a terrible mistake. Now he got the blame for everything that went wrong.When Nicholas left Petrograd for the front, he relied on information about the situation in the capital from his wife. She often did not tell the truth and made out that everything was fine. In fact by late 1916 the situation was desperate.In December 1916 Rasputin was murdered by Russian nobles, and in February 1917 workers in Petrograd began to go on strike. Soldiers sent to deal with the strikers refused to obey orders.the Tsar tried to return to Petrograd, but his train was stopped. He was forced to abdicate and a Provisional Government took over