Russia:
- Serfs form the majority of the population: 50 million of 60 million of the occupants of Russia were serfs, they were somewhat similar to slaves and could be sold. They were also listed in the military. Just after the Crimean War Russia decided to free the serfs.
- Outdated Military: Russia had a large number of people in the military, the problem was that the majority of them were serfs, that had little or no previous military experience and were enduring inhumane treatment. They were at a disadvantage since Russia's army was fighting against French, English and Ottoman armies.
- Agricultural economy: The country had an agricultural system, mostly supported by serfs with low productivity.
- Absolute Monarchy: Russia was still an Empire that time, the rulers were called Tsar, Tsarist Russia only went down with the Revolution of 1917.
Western Europe:
- Modern military: Despite being outnumbered, the military of France, Britain and Ottoman Empire was trained and was up against a no trained military.
- No Serfs: In western Europe, there was no more serfdom since the feudal system fell down.
- Industrial Economy: Different from Russia, Europe at that time left the agricultural system and was up into the industrial economy with large cities such as Paris and London.
- Constitutional Monarchy: Russia lost the Crimean war to the Ottoman Empire - known as Turkey -, France, Britain, and Sardinia.
