Absolutism In Russia

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Vladimir Lenin once said that “Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was in ancient Greek republics: Freedom for slave owners.” This was true in the literal sense in the French colony of Saint Domingue before the Haitian Revolution and in the metaphorical sense in Russia before Lenin and his followers, the Bolsheviks took power. Saint Domingue's class structure was mainly based on one’s race and Russia’s classes were largely based on one’s wealth. This raises the question, how did the social status in Saint Domingue and Russia in the early 20th century lead to revolution and influence the government systems that replaced them? In many cases, the way in which people are oppressed determines what system of government …show more content…
They suffered low wages, poor housing, and many work related accidents. They government attempted to regulate factories by passing acts to restrict a number of hours one could work, but their efforts were insignificant and led to many strikes and constant conflict between the workers and the police. Before the Crimean War, Russia wasn’t very industrialized compared to Western European powers. This was due to a greedy upper class and serfdom, which is a system in which peasants provide feudal agricultural labor in exchange for the use of part of their master’s land in order to cultivate their own food. However, after the Crimean War, the tsar Alexander II enacted various reforms, one of which included the end of serfdom, this paved the way for Russia to begin industrializing. Between 1890-1910, Russia’s economy increased, due in part to the expansion of the Trans-Siberian Railway and a higher exportation of natural resources. A consequence of Russia’s industrialization was an influx of population in cities. Unlike other industrialized nations, Russia’s cities didn’t expand to accommodate their population growth, so workers in the cities were forced to endure poor and unsanitary living conditions as well as work days with little pay. Due to Russia’s long history of serfdom, there was little technological advancements and people skilled in technology, as a …show more content…
The French government implemented highly restrictive trade laws on rich, white plantation owners and absentee landlords, who lived in France and relied on their agents to get things done. This financially limited rich, white plantation owners and absentee landlords’ ability to afford slaves. The French government also vexed the rich, white plantation owners and absentee landlords by allowing for a percentage of colored people to be free, because it's hard to dehumanize a certain race of people when it is normal for some of them to not be enslaved. Wealthy people of color and poor whites did not appreciate being subject to legal discrimination, and slaves did not consider servitude adequate living
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