Russia's Paranoia and Inevitable Revolution

Russia spent the entire 19th century trying to prevent a revolution and actually made it

inevitable. After seeing the French monarchy fall, the Tsars went full

paranoia mode. They built a massive police state to crush dissent, but they also knew

they had to modernize to survive. It was a toxic mix of top-down reforms, like freeing the

serfs, while refusing to share any real power. Society was totally torn between becoming

like the West or staying traditional. By bottling up every problem with censorship and violence,

the Tsars turned the country into a pressure cooker that was bound to explode.