Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia, was a reluctant and unfortunately for his people, empire and family, a pretty incompetent emperor. By the beginning of the 20th century, he should have been a more enlightened ruler and yet he was committed to autocratic rule and resisted working with the Duma (Russia's parliament). Historians agree that Nicholas II was too immature and lacked leadership skills. Under his rule, Russia lost access to the warm water Port Arthur in the 1905 Russo-Japanese War. This was a humiliating defeat for Russia. In January, 1905, the Russian police fired into a crowd of peaceful protesters (asking for better working conditions), killing 234 and injuring 800 people. The Russian public was outraged. In 1914, the Tsar declares was on Germany, entering WWI, subjecting Russia to severe military losses, a collapse of morale, strikes and mutinies by 1917. The royal family's connection to Rasputin also damaged their public image. After Nicholas II abdicates in 1917, he and his family are taken prisoner and Russia plunges into civil war. In July, Nicholas II and his family are brutally murdered by the Bolsheviks on the order of Vladmir Lenin.