Why did thousands of Russian citizens march on St. Petersburg in 1905? They marched to demand better working conditions, more personal freedoms, and greater representation in government. They marched to call for an end to World War I, which had claimed the lives of many young Russian men. They marched to encourage the government to lower taxes, which had become too high for most people to pay. They marched to bring about civil rights and to insist on suffrage for Russian women.