What was the Russian economy like before the revolution?

Answer 1

Russia, unlike the western European Countries, did not take a significant part in the Industrial Revolution; and it maintained a feudal economy until 1861, when the serfs were emancipated. The freed serfs (who had been little better than slaves) were allocated a sort of share in community land; but they could not sell their land. Thus they remained tied to the land, or else left for the cities, penniless.

By 1914, Russia dis have an fledgling industrial economy; but most of the population were still agricultural workers.


The great Soviet move to industrialisation occurred after the war, under Lenin's successor, Stalin.

Answer 2

If you mean directly before the revolution, then it was terrible. They were suffering badly from inflation and even the nobles and middle classes were struggling for money. Inflation meant that their savings were useless, and it also meant that the money that peasants were paid to sell their crops was useless too, so they stopped selling their crop and there was no food either. There were riots in Petrograd most of the time with the workers, so nothing was being made in the factories and as at that time there was WW1 so that also meant that there were a lot of costs.

Answer 3

Poverty was rife and the Russian government was no more then a Dictatorship that had very little regard for the lives of the Russian peasant.