My question pertains to when historically do the Russian people cease seeing the czar and his government as the rightful rulers of Russia. And similarly, when do modern Russians view that cut off. I would imagine it occurred sometime between the coronation of Nicholas II and the Revolution. Though I may be wrong.
Rasputin was a factor as people believed he held influence over the tsar, continous defeats by the Germans despite Nicholas taking control of the army, and the spark that ultimately led to Nicholas's abdication was when the women's day protests of 1917 in Petrograd kept growing in size from women, to citzens, to multiple units of the military and navy mutinying. In summary, when Nicholas II lost control of Petrograd (The Capital), Tsardom was pretty much over and the Duma and Petrograd Soviet swooped in to take power.