A Struggle with Character

At the very beginning of the fall semester, we debated as a class whether to classify Russia as a part of Europe. There is no right answer, but as we have followed the development of Russia through the centuries, it is clear that our MEH class was not the only group befuddled about the correct way to view Russia's association with Europe. The country itself had trouble defining its character. This struggle is clearly explicated in the late 19th and early 20th century Russia. Through class struggles and a conflicted government, we see the country torn between abiding to western influences and maintaining a strictly traditional Russia. As industrialization renovated western Europe into a stronger basis for economic and political expansion and stability, Russia was forced to consider industrializing for the sake of their military power amidst strengthening western countries. Russia was behind in modernization, and its rapid push towards industrialization intensified class struggles. The state took a militaristic approach to structure the industrial workforce, leaving little leeway for fair working conditions already fought for and established in the west. Although Russia attempted to model itself industrially like western Europe, the country was resistant to makeover its legal and political systems to match a modernizing society. It is here where Russia's identity crisis takes a grave turn as Russia's western and Russian influences clash without any authority willing to concretely choose one over the other. Tsars attempted to maintain conservative policies, but industrialization asked for more liberalizing policies and control. Although Russia was behind western Europe industrially, the country did not consider looking at the effects and consequences of western Europe's industrialization and the country instead opted for a weird and imbalanced blend of western Europe and Russia to model its society after. The Russian government's indecisiveness on how to handle Russia's modernization and stubbornness to retain a traditional Russian society created such a discordance that a revolution would be inevitable and necessary.