By 1917, soldiers began deserting, the economy was through the floor and people were starving due to the war. As Commander in Chief, Nicholas was getting even more blame than he usually did. On March 8th, or February 23rd on the Julian Calendar that Russia used at the time, a large group of women took to the streets, protesting the starvation they were going through. The next day, many of the men joined in too. They demanded to stop the food rationing and the war, whilst also deposing the Tsar.
In situations such as these, soldiers would usually take care of them, but tired of the war themselves and firing on their own people they’re meant to protect, they turned on their own generals. Members of the Duma also joined in, tired of the Tsar dissolving them whenever he wanted. All of these groups had one thing in common. They wanted the Tsar to abdicate.
As the violence escalated the Soviets were reestablished to manage riots. Nicholas decided to return to Petrograd, but was stopped on the way there, by a group of politicians and generals, who all said he needed to abdicate right now, in order to quell the violence. Eventually he agreed and three centuries of Romanov rule in Russia fizzled out like that.