Before 1905, Russia was marked by deeply deplorable social, economic, and political conditions that eventually led to the 1905 Revolution.

Social Conditions

• About 85% of Russia's population were peasants engaged in agriculture, many of whom were landless and worked on landowners' estates under harsh conditions

• Russian society was divided into three main classes: the working class, nobles, and clergy, with peasants and workers being socially and economically oppressed and divided among themselves

• The nobility held large estates and derived power from service to the Tsar rather than local popularity, while peasants were deeply religious and often resisted landlords, sometimes violently

• Workers were often exploited, receiving very low wages and enduring long hours without labor protections, and many were concentrated in industrial pockets around cities like St. Petersburg and Moscow

Economic Conditions

• Russia was primarily an agrarian economy and a major grain exporter, but industrial development was limited and uneven, concentrated in a few urban centers

• Industry was mostly privately owned, with significant growth in coal, iron, and steel production in the late 19th century, aided by railway expansion and foreign investment

• Despite industrial growth, workers faced poor wages and working conditions, and in 1904 rising prices caused real wages to fall by 20%, worsening living standards

• The state treasury was strained due to heavy expenses, and economic inequality was stark, with the majority of wealth concentrated among the nobility and industrialists

Political Conditions

• Russia was an autocracy under Tsar Nicholas II, who ruled with absolute power and ignored demands for political reform and public welfare

• Political parties were illegal before 1914, but socialist movements like the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party (founded in 1898) and the Socialist Revolutionary Party were active, advocating for change

• The Tsar’s oppressive policies, censorship, and lack of civil liberties fueled widespread dissatisfaction, strikes, and unrest among workers, peasants, and liberals

• The defeat in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) further undermined the Tsar’s prestige and intensified calls for reform, culminating in the 1905 Revolution, after which the Tsar reluctantly allowed the creation of a consultative parliament, the Duma

In summary, before 1905, Russia was a predominantly agrarian society with severe social inequalities, a nascent and exploitative industrial sector, and an autocratic political system resistant to reform, all of which created explosive social tensions leading to revolutionary upheaval