Russia's Condition before the Bolshevik Revolution

In the late 19th century Russia had been notably behind Europe economically, they weren’t in possession of the modern farming technologies that could efficiently provide for a large country. As a result 90% of the Russian population were peasants (Massey, 4). The serfs lived in deep poverty; they didn’t have the appropriate apparatus to produce enough crops and most of their landlords had unbelievably high demands. In an effort to reform the economy’s recession tsar Alexander II liberated the serfs. However this created more bad for both the serfs and the nobles. In the beginning the serfs saw this is a great victory and another reason to be thankful for their tsar. But as timed pass by the peasants saw this life of liberty and freedom to be increasingly difficult. The government directly compensated the nobles, while the less desirable land was sold to the peasants at a much higher price. They monthly rent they paid the nobles was replaced with paying the state (Massey, 5). And while the population nearly doubled between 1861-1917 poverty increased not only with the peasants but with the nobles as well. Nobles found it hard to assimilate them to a new life style where they would have to trade their lavish goods with farming tools and as result many of them acquired a large amount of debt. This period signifies a time where the people of Russia opened their eyes to the deep poverty and lives of oppression they were living. This is the point where the feelings of peasants who previously worshiped the tsar turned bitter. After consistent resistance to industrialization the tsar had finally given in, aggressive approaches were put in place and railroads grew more than 15,500 miles in 1880 (Massey,6). As the Industrial production con...

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...Anyone who didn’t follow these commands were to be exiled to a prison in Siberia. Some of these political prisoners were even executed just for practicing their own religion or speaking their native language. This forced them too grow more and more biter towards the Tsar. A Bolshevik revolution where the proletariats would rule the nation was everything they were yearning for.

Deplorable working conditions, strong ethnic divide, political repression and an autocratic rule where the underlying conditions that made the people of Russia desire a Bolshevik revolution. During the late 19th century everyone including the nobles were deep in debt because of the failed attempts of land reform. The final straw that really made the citizens of Russia to side with the Bolsheviks would be during World War I where even with their suffering economy they decided to go to war.