Why did Karl Marx not think that Russia was ready for a communist revolution?

Answer 1

Because he did not see Russian Capitalism as sufficiently mature compared to the European Capitalism.

It was not until 1861 that Russia abolished serfdom, which formalized its move from Feudalism to Capitalism.

Marx, who first published Das Kapital in 1867, saw Russian politico-economic system as a hybrid between Feudalism and Capitalism. He believed in a natural progression of political systems from Feudalism to Capitalism to Communism, with Capitalism being more progressive that Feudalism, and Communism more progressive than Capitalism. Each system, according to Marx, was intended to resolve the conflicts of the previous system, mature, run its course, create its own conflicts, which, when they came to a breaking point, would result in the next system change.

He saw the class conflicts in Germany and England as more pronounced and promising than those in Russia. If the proletariat (working class) was the engine of the next revolution, he figured, how could the Russian nascent proletariat be ready for it?

Of course, Russian revolution was anything but Marxist.

Answer 2

Karl Marx believed that communism would succeed in more advanced capitalist societies, where the working class was more developed and industrialized. He thought that Russia, being mainly agrarian and lacking a large industrial working class, was not yet ripe for a successful communist revolution.