Revolutionaries in both France and Russia were not entirely successful in putting their ideas into practice during the revolutions due to diplomatic and populist constraints. No revolutionary movement was able to enforce their entire ideology on the populace so therefore had to make compromises on many issues. The revolutions contradicted each other in terms of the platform the power was fought over on. The French Revolution lasting from 1789 to 1799 was largely political for this reason it was difficult to establish complete authority when other parties were able to have a say, especially when the only party which assisted the revolution, sans-culotte, chose to influence the other parties rather than taking an active part in government. The Russian Revolution, starting in February 1917 and finishing when the Communist (formally Bolshevik) Party gained totalitarian control by 1921, required the people to be on the victorious party's side. Because of this Bolshevik leader Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin) had to make some short term sacrifices to his autocratic vision of Russia to limit civil unrest.
British autos with cannon in France (LOC)
No Mans Land, Flanders Field, France, 1919 (LOC)
Bolshevik by Boris Kustodiev, a visual representat...Lenin also used abusive methods leading to drastic malnutrition and sometimes even cannibalism within the population to keep people from being able to rebel which he claimed to be part of his tactical plan of 'War Communism'.
The most influential powers through both revolutions included the Russian Bolshevik Party and the French sans-culottes and Plain. The Bolsheviks were to rise to power, whereas the sans-culottes and Plain were to have great influence over anyone who controlled it. Both used physical force where necessary to establish an identity of authority. The Bolshevik Party was founded and led by Lenin (1870-1924) and adhered entirely to his doctrine; that of German philosopher Karl Marx's theory of Communism as stated in his 'Communist Manifesto'. France, on the other hand, didn't have...