Dec 24, 2009

The Lower Depths | Compare and Contrast

1861: Alexander II emancipates serfs from landed nobility. Upon release, they are provided with less land than they previously held, and many were forced into the corrupt factory system and an even more brutal quality of life.

Today: Virtually no signs of the antiquated class system of peasantry and nobility exist.

Mid-1860s: Emancipation gives rise to industrialization and, as a result, the beginnings of capitalism in Russia. It is squelched by the Bolshevik Revolution, after which workers gained control of factory management.

Today:...