Russia and its Rulers: Economy and Society

This episode explores how successive dictatorial regimes transformed the economy and society of Russia and the USSR from Alexander II to Khrushchev, tracing the shift from a largely agrarian empire to a highly centralised socialist state. We examine how the tsars used limited reform, repression and state‑driven modernisation to maintain control, before analysing the Bolsheviks’ radical restructuring of the economy through War Communism, the NEP and the creation of a command system under Stalin. The episode investigates the human impact of collectivisation, industrialisation, famine and terror, alongside the emergence of new social hierarchies, propaganda and the cult of personality. Finally, we consider Khrushchev’s attempts to reform both society and the economy through de‑Stalinisation, housing expansion and agricultural experimentation, revealing how dictatorship shaped everyday life, class structure and economic development across a century of upheaval.