In the years preceding the fall of the three hundred year old Romanov dynasty, increasing tension was building in Russia. Russia's failure in the war, the failures of the Tsar and his decisions, as well as Russia's social and economic situation played a role in the downfall. However, World War I is believed to have played the most important role in the fall of the dynasty. When the war first began in 1914, the tension between the Tsar and his people eased immensely thanks to the extreme outburst of patriotism. In the early stages of the war Russia's efforts were met with success, but by August 1914 Russia had begun its decline. By the autumn of 1915 the Russian forces had been completely driven out of Poland, and in September 1915 the Tsar decided to appoint himself commander-in-chief of the Russian army. This meant that the performance of the Russian army was now completely reflected on Nicholas II himself. Not only were there problems on the Eastern Front, but the war was causing problems on the home front as well. The Russian national budget increased eightfold between 1913 and 1916, financed by higher taxes, loans, and loans from allies Great Britain and France. To maintain the war effort, the Russian government began printing more money causing inflation with prices rising over 200% between August 1914 and Christmas 1916. The enormous loss of life and military humiliations undermined domestic support and in 1917 the Russian government faced a crisis. huge crisis and you can see how this seriously put a strain on the tsarist regime. On the other hand there were other problems that befell the Romanov dynasty. After the removal of Russia from Poland, the Tsar took it upon himself to become the new commander in chief, even though... half of the paper... food arrived in the cities and towns and what little food was already there it was now too expensive due to inflation. There were problems in the countryside, farmers had started to reclaim land to grow their own food and survive. The Russian people were fed up with the way things were going and were ready for a revolution. Although there were other factors that caused the February Revolution and the fall of the Romanovs, World War I is by far the most important. Without the war the country would be in this state of disappointment with its actions and the Tsar would not have had to take control and leave his wife in charge of the government. Without the war Russia would not have had so much debt and would not have had such a terrible food shortage. Overall it is clear that the war was the main cause of the fall of the Romanovs 1917.