By

Molly Trafford
Class: 8B

Compare and contrast essay for the Russian revolution and the
Industrial revolution
A revolution is not just a question of pulling a trigger; its purpose is to create a fair just
society. Said Nelson Mandela. A revolution is a major attempt for a change in power or
technology that take place over a short or long period of time. In this essay I will be comparing
and contrasting the Russian revolution from 1894 to 1924 and the Industrial revolution from
1750 until the early 1900s. What were the main similarities and differences between the
Industrial revolution and the Russian revolution? How similar and different are these two
revolutions?
The Industrial revolution and the Russian revolution both took place over a long period of time,
therefore having many events such as new inventions and changes in power. The Industrial
revolution was from 1750 to the early 1900s, while the Russian revolution was from 1894 to
1924. The Russian revolution was significantly shorter than the Industrial revolution, however
it was still quite a long period of time. Throughout the Industrial revolution there were many
technological advancements such as enclosed farming in 1773, the first factory in 1769 and
the steam train in 1804. During the Russian revolution there were also many subsections such
as the February revolution on the 23rd of February, 1917 (March 8th with modern day/ Julian
calendar) and the October revolution on October 24th and 25th (November 6th and 7th with the
modern/ Julian calendar). The Industrial revolution and the Russian revolution are both similar
in terms of time period and subsections.
The working class people in the Russian revolution and the Industrial revolution were similar,
most of the working class people in both revolutions worked long hours in factories. In both
the Industrial and Russian revolutions, the working conditions in factories were terrible and
the wages were low. During both of the revolutions laws were made which made working
conditions better. In the Russian revolution two very important laws were made. The first law
was in 1885, women and children were not allowed to work overnight. Another law in the
Russian revolution was in 1897, the longest one person could work in a day was eleven and
a half hours. In the industrial revolution laws were also made for example in 1833 anyone
under the age of 9 was allowed to work, in 1833 children between the ages of 9 and 13 could
only work up to nine hours a day and in 1847 women and children under 18 could only work
up to 10 hours a day. These laws were important because they restricted work hours, this was
good because it made sure that workers would get to go outside and the children had the
opportunity to go to school. Overall I think that the Industrial revolution and the Russian
revolution were similar in this category.
Before both the Industrial revolution and the Russian revolution education was very limited
due to it being expensive and the fact that children also had to help earn money by working
for long hours. In early Industrial revolution only the richest children could afford to have a
basic education, the rest of the children depended on Sunday school. In the industrial
revolution in 1833 every factory working child had to have at least two hours of education a
day. By 1880 in the Industrial revolution children under the age of 10 had to attend school.
The 1902 Education Act established a system of secondary schools (BBC Bitesize). In the
middle of the Russian revolution only 37.9% of men over the age of 7 and 12.5% of females
over the age of 7 were literate. In the Russian revolution in 1938 the government made a 7

By Molly Trafford
Class: 8B
year schooling system for children in urban areas. In the Russian revolution from 1923 and
1927 a campaign was made to make more adults literate. The campaign was successful
because in 1939 81.1% of Russian citizens were literate. These revolutions are similar
because in both revolutions the education started of as poor and only the richer citizens could
afford it. Throughout the revolution more and more children and adults had the opportunity to
have an education. By the end of both these revolutions almost everyone had the opportunity
to have an education and were literate. This impacted both revolutions positively because
when the citizens were educated they could get better jobs and earn more money, which then
raised the standard of life. Overall I think that this is an important similarity because education
is a very important idea and it developed a lot in both revolutions.
Both the Industrial and the Russian revolution impacted the world positively. The Industrial
revolution introduced many important inventions to the world, such as the steam engine in
1712, the seed drill in 1701 and factories in 1769. All of these inventions soon spread to other
countries and soon the whole world was technologically advancing. Factories have allowed
products to be mass produced and produced faster. The Russian also positively impacted the
world. During the Russian revolution communism was invented. Communism is the idea that
all property is owned by the government and every body contributes and is rewarded with
money according to how skilled they are and their needs. A definition by an expert of the
subject is, A way of organizing a society in which the government owns the things that are
used to make and transport products and there is no privately owned property. (Merriam
Webster). After the Russian revolution, the idea of communism spread across the world to
other countries such as China, Cuba, Laos and Vietnam. Overall I think that both revolutions
positively impacted the world, the Industrial revolution however impacted the world more.
The Industrial and Russian revolution were different in the fact that the Russian revolution was
violent and the Industrial revolution was not. During the Industrial revolution there was not
much violence, only theft. The industrial revolution was about technological changes such as
new inventions and discoverys. In the industrial revolution the new inventions and discoverys
impacted the peoples lives, violence was not necessary. However, during the Russian
revolution there was lots of violence. During the Russian revolution there was a group known
as the Red Terror who killed, toured, arrested and injured people. For example, from 19171918 the Red Terror arrested over 800 people in the capital city of St. Petersburg. All of the
people who were arrested were executed by the Red Terror. They were executed because
the Red Terror said that they were enemies of the revolution. None of the 800 was put on trial
(History learning site). In this context, the Russian revolution and the Industrial revolution were
very different.
The Industrial revolution and the Russian were very different by the fact that one was a change
of power (political) and the other was a change in technology. The Industrial revolution was
all about new inventions and discoverys being made. These new inventions and discoverys
changes the society and the way of life for the people of England. The Russian revolution
however, was about the change in power. The Russian revolution was a large revolution with
many subsections such as the February and the October revolution. Throughout the Russian
revolution many different rulers fell and grew to power. For example, Czar fell from power in
the February revolution and the Bolsheviks came to power. After the October revolution the
Bolsheviks turned into the Soviet Union. The Russian government was only secure after three
years of civil war. The solid government that turned into the Russian government as we know
it today was lead by a man called Vladimir Lenin. In this context the Russian and Industrial
evolution were very different.

By Molly Trafford
Class: 8B
The Russian revolution and the Industrial revolution have many similarities such as time
period, employment, education and the positive impact on the world. The two revolutions also
have some differences, such as violence and one being about the change in power and the
other being a technological change. I think that as far as revolutions go, these two revolutions
have quite a few similarities. Both of these revolutions were very important in the history of
their countries and the world. Without these two revolutions the world and the countries that
these revolutions were based in would have turned out very differently.

Works cited list

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