Montoffsky was a senior engineer at a certain machinery factory in Saint Petersburg, earning twice the salary of ordinary factory workers and enjoying various subsidies and vacations. Before the war, he was undoubtedly part of the middle-upper class.
But the good tis were only before the war. After the outbreak of the war, the prices in Russia rose at an astonishing rate, and Montoffsky's proud salary could barely maintain the livelihood of himself and his family.
Keep in mind, this was only possible because Montoffsky's wife also worked at the machinery factory.
If there was only one inco in the family, Montoffsky's living standard would probably fall further down another level.
On a not-so-sunny morning, Montoffsky arrived early at the factory and went to his workstation.
As a senior engineer of the machinery factory, Montoffsky's status was a bit higher than that of ordinary workers, but only slightly higher.
His status would only be higher in situations when factory machinery had problems or when new equipnt was being installed. In other situations, there was not much difference between him and ordinary workers.
Lasticens were still required to continuallywork overti, still had to work on the production line, and were subject to wage deductions for a variety of reasons, even major ones.
However, Montoffsky needed to make a living. He could not give up a job that paid several tis the average salary.
Just after arriving at his workstation, factory managent issued a notice: the factory would need to work two more hours tonight.
Overti in this era was different from later generations. There was no overti compensation, and overti itself was unpaid.
But there was no choice. No one dared to refuse the overti proposed by factory managent unless they wanted to lose their job.
What's even worse is that these capitalists who run factories had so power and connections in local governnts.
If they seriously offended their bosses, they would not only be unable to find work in the entire region, but they would also be targeted by capitalists. The consequences could range from their families breaking apart to their entire family dying without a place to be buried, becoming another lost soul in Russia's chaos.
In this cannibalistic era, money and power were the most important things. With money ca power, and with power ca money.
Whether they were capitalists or high-ranking aristocrats, they wielded unparalleled power in Russia. Ordinary people were like lambs waiting to be slaughtered. Aside from enduring the exploitation of the governnt and capitalists, they faced constant danger to their lives.
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Particularly when capitalists colluded with local officials during warti, they could easily fra anyone for deliberately sabotaging the production of warti supplies.
For ordinary people, this charge was a death sentence, and their fate depended on the mood of the capitalists.
Montoffsky let out a quiet sigh, but he was still helpless in the face of the factory managent's demands.
Ironically, Russia officially implented an eight-hour work system, which was far different from the actual working hours at Montoffsky's factory.
Montoffsky's normal working ti was about 12 to 14 hours, and the total working hours were at least 14 hours, including overti.
This was nearly double the Russian working ti regulations.
This ant that, after completing their standard eight-hour work shift, most Russian workers had to "voluntarily" work unpaid overti for at least six additional hours.
Actually, this was not unheard of. Most European countries participating in the war had high intensity overti, with an average working ti of more than eleven hours.
But the problem was that overti in European countries at least provided so symbolic overti pay, rather than Russia's forced unpaid overti.
Even if they distributed so supplies or food, it would be enough to pacify the restless workers. Unfortunately, Russian capitalists either couldn't see the workers' predicants or simply didn't care if they did.
"Hey! Montoffsky, are you going to participate in the race the day after tomorrow?" The middle-aged man next to Montoffsky cautiously asked after the factory managent had walked away.
"Running? What is that?" Montoffsky looked puzzled. What kind of ti is it now, and who still has the mood to run?
"It's a big strike organized by the Workers'' Alliance. This is highly confidential information, buddy, don't reveal it to anyone," the middle-aged man once again cautiously looked around and whispered.
Although large-scale strikes and demonstrations were common in Russia, it didn't an they were legal.
As the Tsarist governnt had previously cracked down on several demonstrations, now participants, especially organizers, would face the death penalty.
Even ordinary workers who participated in such demonstrations risked imprisonnt. If discovered by factory managent, they could lose not only their jobs but also endanger their lives and the lives of their families.
"Workers' Alliance? Is that a new political party?" Montoffsky asked curiously.
Although Russia was an autocratic country under Tsar Nicholas II, there were no shortage of political parties within the nation, with a diverse range of ideologies.
Of course, a considerable number of these parties were illegal, and their mbers would be targeted by the governnt.
"It's actually the Bolshevik Party, as you know." The man explained with a smile.
Even though Arthur had already ordered the Royal Security Intelligence Agency to clear so of the political parties in Russia, it was impossible to completely eradicate these revolutionaries.
These parties assud that the Tsarist governnt was cracking down on them, so they chose to go underground and use new party nas to conduct their activities.
The Bolshevik Party, along with other workers' parties, still held so influence among Russian factory workers.
Not only Montoffsky but also a large number of Russian workers were secretly recruited for the upcoming large-scale protest, which had even spread to other regions outside Saint Petersburg.
anwhile, amidst the undercurrents stirring within Saint Petersburg, Nicholas II was also plotting his own sches.
Since he beca Commander-in-Chief of Russia, the military's offensive had not achieved any noteworthy results, and both the frontlines and the dostic situation in Russia were deteriorating.
The military and the people all pointed their fingers at Nicholas II, as he was the highest leader of the army and the rightful scapegoat.
While Nicholas II's military prowess was not impressive, his political abilities were definitely that of a qualified monarch.
In order to minimize his own responsibility, finding soone to bla was necessary.
On October 19, 1916, Nicholas II convened a military eting in Saint Petersburg, ostensibly to discuss Russia's offensive plans for the following year.
The eting attracted many high-ranking Russian military officials, including the Commanders-in-Chief of the Southwest and Northwest Armies.
As the top levels of the Russian military imagined, the discussions about next year's battle plans never took place. Instead, at the very beginning of the conference, Nicholas II loudly questioned the two frontline Commanders-in-Chief for the Russian army's lack of significant achievents thus far.
The two commanders broke out in cold sweat, realizing that Nicholas II was looking to place the bla on them.
Before they could offer any defense, Nicholas II turned his gaze to the other military higher-ups and asked aningfully: "Gentlen, are you willing to stand up for the fallen soldiers, your brothers, subordinates, and comrades-in-arms, and investigate the real reason behind the failure of the war?"
"Yes!"
The response from the military higher-ups was fast, albeit sowhat disjointed.
This was the ti for the military higher-ups to choose sides. Nicholas II's intentions were clear: he wanted the two frontline commanders to take the bla for the failures of the war, thus shifting responsibility onto his predecessor Archduke Nicholas and the two frontline commanders.
The others had two options: either beco Nicholas II's accomplices, helping him to pin the guilt on the two frontline commanders, or unite the military against Nicholas II's scapegoating but likely face dismissal.
They quickly decided between preserving their own positions and the lives of their colleagues.
Soon enough, various elaborate reasons were thought up by the military higher-ups, not only placing the bla for the lack of military progress on the two frontline commanders but also implicating the already-cleared logistics departnt in the withholding of supplies and collusion with dostic and foreign capitalists.
The following day, the announcent by the Russian governnt made it clear that Nicholas II and the governnt had shifted the majority of bla for the war's failures onto the frontline commanders and the logistics departnt.
Due to the governnt's announcent accusing the logistics departnt of colluding with dostic and foreign capitalists, nurous Russian factories were investigated. The owners of these factories were well-known Russian capitalists and the masterminds behind the collusion with the logistics departnt.
However, this caused suffering for the factory workers. As the factories were being investigated, they were temporarily out of work.
Greedy capitalists would not pay the workers' salaries when they couldn't work, resulting in about ten thousand workers being temporarily deprived of their inco.
Although the governnt's announcent stated that the investigation of these factories and capitalists would only take a short ti and the factories would reopen soon, the temporary loss of inco still caused panic among many Russian workers. They knew that each day without work ant their wives and children would go hungry.
At this critical mont, the Workers' Alliance took the opportunity to announce a rule that all workers participating in the protests would receive free grain.
This was a great relief to those workers and, in a very short ti, managed to attract even more participants to the large-scale protest that was about to erupt.
Enticed by the prospect of free grain, many workers eagerly signed up, and the estimated number of participants in the protest quickly exceeded one hundred thousand.
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