A Day That Shook The World: Tsar Nikolas abdicates

(Hulton Archive/Getty)

On 15 March 1917, the supreme ruler of Russia, the autocratic Tsar Nikolas II, was forced to abdicate in the face of revolution.

Discontent, cold, hunger and war weariness had all fed in to a huge popular revolt across Russia - especially in the army - which meant Nikolas was no longer able to control his people.

The return from exile of Vladimir Lenin would set the stage for 70 years of Communist rule.

Watch original footage from the last days of Tsar Nikolas' reign in this British Pathé video, above.