This strike is joined by more and more workers throughout Petrograd, and over the day we see a snowball striking effect.
[hubbub] Workers are turning to revolution as the only way to change their fate.
There aredozens of political groups and factions, all with different agendas and varying levels of extremism.
And at the radical edge of the revolutionary parties are the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin.
Lenin's vision of the rule of the working class means the utter annihilation of the royal family, headed by the Czar himself.
[gunfire] [man shouting] [gunfire] [Dr de Orellana] Nicholas returns to a catastrophic situation at the front.
Not only is the Russian army losing everywhere but the Russian army is also falling apart.
- [gunfire] - [shouting] The Czar's reputation amongst the military has completely collapsed.
[gunfire] It was the revolutionaries that were much more popular amongst the military rank and file.
[gun shot] [Montefiore] Men like Yakov Yurovsky, whose hatred of the Czarist regime has turned him into a fervent Bolshevik.
[man shouting] Up! Up! [boom] - [gun fires] - Get up! Get up! [gun fires] Get rid of that corpse.
- [gun fires] - Fucking peasants.
Rife with disease.
He was under your command, sir.
Doesn't he deserve some respect? [gunfire] - [thwack] - [thud] So, that's what we get for serving Mother Russia? [commander] No! Keep up your Bolshevik bullshit and you'll get the bullet.
[gunfire] Up! [gunfire continues] [Montefiore] Across the Russian empire, resentment of the Czar is building.
[Dr de Orellana] And in February 1917, this resentment is displayed in Saint Petersburg by one of the most unlikely groups.
[Dr Alexandrova] It's International Women's day.
A hundred thousand women flood the streets of Petersburg, protesting the shortages of bread.
[hubbub] [Dr Antonova] As they go into the street, factory workers join them.
More strikes spread from factory to factory.
It begins to spread even to Moscow and becomes huge in scale.
How many? But I was told these protests were small.
Perhaps your Interior Minister is holding back bad news, sir.
Then my wife will deal with him, General Ruzsky.
[Montefiore] In Saint Petersburg you have this crazy situation where Alexandra, who all her life had isolated herself and disdained politicians, now she found herself running the Russian Government.
Sorry, Your Highness.
The children were asking where you were.
I'm in mourning.
Also, the ministers are still waiting inside for you.
They have some urgent news from the city.
Tell them to come back tomorrow.
[Dr de Orellana] Nicholas and Alexandra are completely unable to understand what's happening in the streets of Petrograd.
They do not understand the discontent.
Their mentality has become so isolated that they really believe that the central link between the Czar and the Russian people remains unbroken.
This is a major mistake.
[Prof Fedyashin] What begins with a female bread riot, begins to acquire a political context.
[sounds of an angry crowd] [Montefiore] The streets are filled with protesters and revolutionaries who are no longer just demonstrating.
They're calling for the overthrow of the regime.
[cheering] 200,000? My report says nothing like that.
Your Interior Minister, sir, is not only incompetent, he is a liar.
[faint sounds of military marching] Send out the Petrograd garrison to disperse the crowds.
We need to put this down.
Now.
[marching feet] [Montefiore] It's chaos in the streets.
The soldiers obey the orders.
They fire into the crowds.
Hundreds of people are killed.
- [gunfire] - [shouting] [Dr de Orellana] This is a horrible atrocity.
There is a child that is poignantly crucified by bullets on a fence near the Winter Palace.
Some soldiers at this point are even joining the protesters.
This is a make or break moment for the Czarist regime.
[angry shouts] [Montefiore] Despite the massacre the people won't back down.
The next day, a group marches to the palace itself.
[screams and shouts from the crowd] [sniffs] [sighs, sniffs] Apologies, Your Highness.
But the doctor wants you to see something.
Measles.
What about the Czarevich? He's got it, but not so badly.
Right, come on everyone, to bed.
- [man] Your Highness.
- [Alix] Come on.
Maybe now is a good time to leave the palace.
The girls would benefit from a warmer climate.
There are protesters atthe gates.
Well, the children are far too sick to be moved.
The people will come to their senses.
As Father Grigori used to say, "No fear.
No hate.
Only love.
" [screaming, shouting] [Montefiore] Alexandra is oblivious, she believes that this revolution is just a few hooligans, that the army is totally loyal to them.
In fact, morale is very low at the front.
The war is going very badly.
And nothing drives revolution like political and military defeat.
[whistle blows] Get up! You have your orders.
On your fucking feet! [gunfire in background] - [commander] Up that ladder! - [soldier] You don't have to.
 Stand firm.
You do know the penalty for mutiny? Same as if he climbs that ladder.
You will follow my orders.
[cocks gun] [several guns are cocked] That time is gone.
[Dr de Orellana] The Russian army is, at this point, dissolving.
We've got mass desertions, entire battalions simply deciding to walk away from the battlefield.
[angry shouting from crowd] [Montefiore] Even more worryingly for Nicholas, those battalions are heading home to cities in the grip of rising revolutionary fury.
Russia is ready to explode.
[screams from crowd] [flicks lighter] [bang] This morning, sir, thousands more soldiers deserted to join the uprising.
Where are my family? Are they safe? Your wife refuses to leave the palace, sir.
The children are too sick.
Deploy the entire Marine Guard to the palace.
I want loyal soldiers guarding the imperial family.
Get me home, General.
Sir.
[door shuts] [sniffs] [train whistle sounds] [steam hisses] [wheels rattle over sleepers] Sir.
We have to take the route east, via Malaya Vishera.
How much time will that add to the journey? Look, I need to be home now.
Sir, it is the troops you dispatched to reinforce Petrograd, we need to keep the main line open for them.
Alright.
Let them through.
- [whistle blows] - [sighs] [hubbub] [Prof McMeekin] Before long, a number of soldiers have taken to the streets, some of them begin waving red flags, they commandeer vehicles.
And by evening, it is clear that the government has lost control of public order in Petrograd.
[Montefiore] The strange thing is that there's no leadership in this revolution.
Nicholas's secret police have been incredibly effective.
They've arrested or exiled all the leaders of the revolutionary parties.
Stalin is in Siberia.
Lenin is in Switzerland.
This is that rare thing, a truly spontaneous revolution.
[click] No one can contact Nicky.
Telegrams aren't getting through.
Petrograd is falling to the mob, and the Ministry have no idea where my son is.
[sighs] [screams and shouts from the crowd] [distant sounds of unrest continue] [Alix, sighing] Don't worry, my darlings.
It's nothing the guards can't handle.
[door clicks] Your Highness.
We have to leave.
We are in a fortress, Monsieur Gilliard.
And you are scaring the children.
- [screaming and shouting] - [rattling of gates] [Prof Fedyashin] It's very important to understand how many deserters from the front lines have made their way back to the city.
It was a situation that was pregnant with disaster because never before had so many people been armed in the streets of the Russian capital.