At the dawn of the twentieth century, the Ranas employed repressive means to maintain and stabilize their hold over Nepal. At the same time, other forces were coalescing to destabilize them. The middle classes were awakening to their obstructed rights and determined to break free of oligarchic oppression. The Ranas worked aggressively to stem the tide of liberalizing thought that was, in part, spurred by Western influences. They forbade the entry of almost all foreigners into Nepal, and those on official business, who could not be denied, were closely guarded and guided. Writing in 1949, W. H. Tilman looked back on the first half of the twentieth century and addressed this isolationist attitude:

The Ranas also made it difficult for regular Nepalis to leave the country or even to move freely throughout their own nation, forcing them to ‘obtain permits to travel into and out of the Kathmandu valley’ (Onta, 1997: 72). The Rana's isolationist efforts were frustrated when the British recruited 200,000 Gurkha soldiers to fight in World War I and took them to other parts of Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. By the time the Gurkhas returned home, they were imbued with new ideas gleaned from their exposure to modern social and political relationships around the world. Yet the Ranas continued to thwart uncompromisingly any local political movement aiming to undermine their authority. However, a counter movement was building steam surreptitiously, and political parties had begun to develop and unite against the Ranas.