The Russian empire began to sharply weaken in the early 1900s mostly due to the incessant protests and unrest among the lower classes who were discontent with the government.
At the time, people were tired of the autocracy of Tsar Nicholas II, of the governmental corruption, the oppression toward the lower classes, the widespread inflation and food shortages (Mainly due to Russia's involvement in the Crimean War and WWI); people were also angry for the poor living conditions for a new class of Russian industrial workers and for the Bloody Sunday (January 9, 1905), in which troops shot at a peaceful crowd that was demanding the establishment of certain civil rights to the Tsar. All of these factors caused major disturbances in the nation that led to the Russian Revolution in 1917 in which the Russian government was overthrown.