Assess the view that Russias communist leaders did less than the Tsars to improve the lives of the working class in the period 1855-1964.

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Assess the view that Russia's communist leaders did less than the Tsars to improve the lives of the working class in the period 1855-1964.

When the revolution of 1917 brought down the Romanov dynasty and signalled the end of the Tsarist regime, Marxist theory, along with Bolshevik claims of a 'peoples democracy' dictated that a better quality of life lay ahead for the proletariat following years of repression and poor treatment under Tsarist rule. However, the communist leaders did indeed do less to improve the lives of the working class, in particular through the brutal repression seen under Stalin.

For the majority of the period, living conditions for the average worker remained uniformly bleak. Prior to 1917, accommodation was often of a low standard as demand outstripped supply following an influx to the cities, such poor living conditions had a detrimental effect on their quality of life which was also evident under the communists, where living conditions remained in an equally bad, if not worse state compared to the Tsars. Despite Khrushchev continuing Stalin's efforts to build more social housing and improve the situation, these were often of poor quality and hastily built. Much like his successors building