From the Past: Tzar Nicholas II at two factories

On 20 April 1915, Tzar Nicholas II visited as factory in Bryansk which was making explosives. What began as a sawmill grew with time into a factory specialized in metals and minerals, then railways and now locomotives. At present it is called BMZ.

This image could prove more interesting. I don't know when it was taken but it shows Tzar Nicholas II in a visit at Putilov Works in Petrograd, back then it was one of the largest factories in the world. During the war it was awarded a state order for artillery of around 113 million ruble (60 million dollars at the 1914 exchange rate), The factory could not keep with the huge demands and its owner supposedly benefited from part of the money. This meant that in 1917 the factory was bankrupt, on 18 February 20 000 workers went on strike, the following day the total number of strikers went up to 90 000 with over 850 factories closed. Such events were not isolated they escalated in intensity and spread like a wildfire, ultimately marking the start of the February Revolution that preceded the October Revolution.