At first the people had no quarrel with the Government as to the war, but were only anxious to do everything they could to help in its prosecution. But, as time went on and the utter incompetence of the Government became more evident, they began to demand a more democratic handling of affairs. With every month of the war they became more and more conscious that a disaster was inevitable. The old corrupt bureaucracy was incapable of managing the war and of co-ordinating and turning to good account the popular energy and enthusiasm. Public opinion demanded—not even the real democracy to which the Russian people aspired—but merely a Government which should take the people into its confidence in the prosecution of the war. But the Tsarist bureaucracy was too rigid and too envious to do this. Then, as things went from bad to worse, the people began to assert themselves. The popular forces came into conflict with the bureaucracy. This period was marked by the rise of the Zemstvos and the consolidation of the Progressive Block in the Duma. And, at a still later stage, when the bankruptcy of Tsardom was complete, the popular forces demanded that the entire direction of the war should be handed over to a representative Government which enjoyed the confidence of the people.
But the Tsar and his Government rightly judged the situation when they saw that the surrender of even a small share in the direction of the war must inevitably lead to the surrender of the whole power of the State. Thus they made the most desperate efforts to exclude the popular forces from the sanctuary of war administration and to keep the entire responsibility in their own hands.
It was not until the terrible disaster in Galicia in 1915 that it became impossible for the Bureaucracy to maintain its attitude any longer. Every soldier knew that this military collapse was due to the utter incompetence of the Government. The Tsar himself now had to invite the help of the hated popular forces. In a mani-
