Russia and China have undergone significant amendments during the 19th and 20th centuries caused by political riots. Both states have experienced a series of revolts, leading to major changes in the ruling system and the deaths of multiple civilians fighting for their rights. Although the seizure of power and the establishment of totalitarianism are the major features uniting the Chinese and Russian revolutions, these two countries have pursued different goals.
Both countries were exposed to European influence and attempted to align with their societal norms. As a result, China and Russia inherited the idea of the intelligentsia—the social elite layer that pursued revolutionary thoughts and desired to implement them in practice. These people were increasingly intellectual and sought to introduce a new order. Nonetheless, these movements developed throughout different time frames in the territory of each country.
In Russia, this stage was known as Kruzhkovshchina (“a little circle”), where groups of influencers discussed political reforms based on Marxist ideas. This movement turned into an active conspiracy, where the participants gained immense support from influential people even before they started using Marxist views. At the beginning of the 20th century, Marxists strengthened their position at the expense of the Populists. This was the turning point in the revolutionary movement in Russia as it led to strikes and revolts. In 1905, Bolsheviks and Mensheviks led people to riot against the political inclinations of people in power. After these events, the role of the intelligentsia decreased, leading to a surge in the number of working class representatives. Hence, the major strategy of the revolutionists was to displace social elites and collapse the administrative order.
Meanwhile, in China, Marxism did not seem to affect the revolutionary flow to the same extent, and yet its ideas were slowly penetrating the intelligentsia layer. It finally gained support in 1918 and played an important role in the Communist movement. Power is concentrated in the remote cities, unlike in Russia. All processes were also ruled by the intelligence representatives, who promoted patriotic warfare. They were highly respected because China was not as industrialized as Russia was; hence, they did not need the working class to be prevalent. The Chinese revolutionists stuck to the strategy of promoting Communism, and it is still thriving today.
The other difference is that the political circumstances of communism’s spread affected the regime in China. The country started moving towards totalitarianism as the Russians did. However, the Chinese order was tougher as the Russians were only pioneers in this government-ruling model. The Bolsheviks started imposing socialistic ideas to govern the country. After the revolutions, Vladimir Lenin promised more social justice to the people, allowing peasants to enter armies. The spread of totalitarianism was connected to the figure of Joseph Stalin, but it was scarcely possible in the time of revolutions. Later, this regime was introduced in Russia and was almost the same as in China.
In summary, the Russian and Chinese revolutions shared many similarities, such as the use of communist ideas and the seizure of power, but they differed in their ideas and strategies. While the Russians heavily relied on Marxist ideas, the Chinese did not. Nevertheless, China appealed to Marxism, relying on communistic ideas and changing its regime to totalitarianism. In the meantime, the Russians attempted to introduce a less strict governing model, implementing socialistic ideas.