The government of Alexander III passed several measures to try to
correct these problems. The government land payments were cut by
27%, the poll tax was abolished and a land bank was set up so that
peasants could buy land on credit. However, this did not prove
sufficient to correct the poverty.
Nicholas II continued the harsh autocracy implemented by his father, but political dissent was reaching a boiling point and Nicholas would suffer the brunt of it. Thanks to the liberal reforms of Alexander II as well as the plight of the peasants, the oppositions ranks had swollen and they were much better organized. In the late 1890's, the ideas of Karl Marx were gaining acceptance with the working class of Russia. Marx states in his Communist Manifesto that the workers of the world shall unite, overthrow their oppressors and put in place a government-free utopia.
Another idea of the communists, that all land should go to the peasants, was met with welcome ears by the land-starved peasants. The unpopular autocratic rule of the tsars was overthrown and a provisional government was instituted. From there, it was just a hop, skip and a jump to the Communist Revolution.
Imperialist Russia failed for the same reasons that communist Russia would fail. They were both totalitarian regimes that greatly restricted their people. The governments were inefficient. Imperial Russia had troubles dealing with transportation and communication across her expansive borders. The economies were backward. Finally, the anachronistic government could not compete with the more liberal governments of the West.
