844-851

While much of Europe experienced industrial change, and in countries, such as Germany, this change served as a unifying factor, Russia’s process of industrialization was particularly unique and further divided the enormous European country. Since it is such a huge country, Russia couldn’t industrialize in a uniform pattern, thus leaving some urban, industrialized patches amongst the immense rural area. Russia was further destabilized as a result of the economic downturn that it experienced, which inevitably resulted in increased unemployment and thus peasant discontent. Russia’s economic and industrial split resulted in a greater cultural divide. The peasants desperately believed that they could express their discontentment to Tsar Nicholas II, however, when a group of them attempted to articulate their dissatisfaction to the Tsar, they were met with a group of military officers, who, instead of being open to listening to the needs of the people, chose to shoot the dissatisfied peasants along with their faith in the security of their Tsar. The unequal spread of industrialization and employment opportunities inevitably led to peasant dissatisfaction. However, while this unhappiness was almost expected, the governmental refusal to adhere to or even listen to the complaints and needs of the people was not anticipated and demonstrated how, in order to industrialize, the Russian proletariat were going to suffer.