peror, and the Government, and its incompetence and corruption
gave plenty of material for the propagandists. Loyalty to the dynasty
was undermined and as soon as one prop was removed, as soon as one
company of soldiers went over, the others followed and the whole edifice
came tumbling down.

Still another factor was the large number of new recruits that were
stationed in the capital; they were as yet not well disciplined,
obedience had not yet become a second nature to them. Many of them had
come from the factories, some of them were personally acquainted with
the men and women who were in the demonstrations and therefore would not
fire on them. Had there been at the time in the city three or four old
and well-disciplined regiments, or had the Cossacks who were on hand not
interfered with the police, the uprising would have been crushed quickly
and effectively as similar affairs had been before.

Yet one other factor contributed to the success of the revolution and
that was the over-confidence of the Government. The soldiers had been
loyal until now and it never occurred to those in power that they might
not always be so. They made no special preparations other than placing
machine guns on roofs. They did not even make use of the armored cars.
When they realized that the army in the city could not be trusted, they
called for troops from the front but they came too late.

From the point of view of the monarchy it was unfortunate that
Protopopov sent the Emperor to the front after having secured from him
a signed blank to dismiss the Duma; for if the Tsar had been at Tsarskoe
Selo, he might have been prevailed upon to make some concessions and
saved the dynasty for a time at least.

By Tuesday morning, March 13, the revolution was generally accepted as
a _fait accompli_; it was believed that the old despotism was gone never
to return. This was followed by an outburst of idealism and patriotism
such as comes but once or twice in the life of a nation. Every Russian
was bubbling over with enthusiasm over the glorious future of his
country. Liberty so greatly desired, so long worked for, so much
suffered for had at last come. The intelligent and persecuted Russians,
they who had spent years under the shadow of the police, in prison,
in exile, and in Siberia, had their day at last and they were eager
to realize their Utopia. Their first demand was that all prison doors
should be opened and that the oppressed the world over