Why did people during the Russian Revolution gravitate towards Communism?
While the stated ideals of Socialism/Communism are generally big draws for many lower class and disenfranchised people, the main reason that the people gravitated to the Communists during the Russian Revolution of 1917 is because they were the only game in town. The moderate reformers were weak, disorganized, and ended up being virtually non-existent. If you look at the American Revolution the ‘people’ supported the ‘democratic movement’ for the same reason. The leaders of the Revolution were Communists and the ideology trickled down into the middle and lower classes. The other thing to keep in mind is most Russian peasants didn’t really care who was running the country as long as their lot in life either stayed the same of got better. Most people at the time were uneducated and uninformed so as long as their bellies were filled and they had a warm place to sleep (or at least the promise of it in the future) they were content.
