Russia was a dictatorship. The ruler Of Russia was the Emperor (Tsar) and in principle everything that happened in Russia was his responsibility which he joint with no one and was responsible only to God for his actions.
From 1894 until 1917, Nicholas II was the Tsar and autocrat of all the Russias and he had succeeded his father Alexander III who had died while still relatively young (49 years old). Alexander's father, Alexander II, had tried to reform Russia by creating local councils and freeing the serfs (slaves) but his only thanks from some sections of the Russian population was growing resentment. This concluded in his brutal murder. Neither Alexander III nor Nicholas II were interested in reform and indeed they tried to restore the mediaeval idea of the Tsar and his people.
Nicholas was dominated by his father both physically and mentally and throughout his career as Tsar he tried to follow the policies that his father had been so enthusiastic about.
English: Photo taken by A. A. Pasetti of Tsar Nich...
Nicholas II, the last emperor of Russia.
Portrait by unknown of Tsar Alexander II of Russia...Nicholas dismissed any ideas of further reforms as complete ignorance. He literally tried to rule Russia on his own and tried to reply to every letter personally but the sheer volume was too much. Also it's doubtful if Nicholas had the intellect to be a successful autocrat whereas he would have made a very good constitutional monarch relying on elected Prime Ministers for advice and confining himself to consultation and discussion rather than executive action. His cousin King George V of Britain proved to be very successful in this role.
Russia was too large and too modern a country to be ruled by one man and to assist him the Tsar had the Russian civil service, some of whom were very able and clever but also many were corrupt, poorly educated and unwilling to...