Finance & Fury Podcast

Today we’re going to run through the very first implementation of Communism on a mass scale. Our last few Furious Friday episodes are a lead up to this. If you didn’t catch those episodes, it’s not the end of the world but if you did manage to have a listen it will provide a bit of context to this episode.   Russia – 1917 under Vladimir Lenin & the Bolsheviks (Spoiler alert! It didn’t end well!) Firstly, it’s important to understand Russian History, pre-1917, as a prelude to the events that occurred. 1861 - Tsar Alexander II passes the Emancipation Edict, ending serfdom in Russia Alexander II was a pretty good guy (as far as leaders through history go) Sold Alaska to the USA 1867 for $200m in today’s dollars. Favoured an economic system similar to that in other European countries; Capitalism and free trade. Promote development and to encourage the ownership of private property, free competition, entrepreneurship, and hired labour Most Serfs were free (a third of the Russian population) They had rig