Peasentry was a main social
group in Russia
The October Revolution (or the Bolshevik Revolution) begun a 5 year civil war and led to creation of Soviet Union in 1922. This is when Russia became socialist in character and, despite changes in government, tends to stand this way till today.
But how did Russian life looked like before socialists came to power? We have some little-known facts that will probably change your perspective.
Until
the 20th century, Russia was the next-to-last country in consumption of
alcohol
60% of
Russian families owned 3 or more horses, which made it 21 million horses. Just
to compare, there were 75 million horses in the whole world
94% of
world oil came from Russia
Nicholas II was the first
leader to propose world disarmament
Nicholas II was also George
IV's cousin
In
1913, Russian butter export was as profitable as gold's