Because of their alliances and because of imperialist greed
The answer is the light bulb.
The daily life of a serf was hard. The Medieval serfs did not receive their land as a free gift; for the use of it they owed certain duties to their master. These took chiefly the form of personal services. Medieval Serfs had to labor on the lord's domain for two or three days each week, and at specially busy seasons, such as ploughing and harvesting, Serfs had to do do extra work. The daily life of a serf was dictated by the requirements of the lord of the manor. At least half his time was usually demanded by the lord. Serfs also had to make certain payments, either in money or more often in grain, honey, eggs, or other produce. When Serfs ground the wheat he was obliged to use the lord's mill, and pay the customary charge. In theory the lord could tax his serfs as heavily and make them work as hard as he pleased, but the fear of losing his tenants doubtless in most cases prevented him from imposing too great burdens on the daily life of the serf.
Russia in the late 19th and early 20th century was a massive empire, stretching from Poland to the Pacific, and home in 1914 to 165 million people of many languages, religions, and cultures. Ruling such a massive state was difficult, and the long-term problems within Russia were eroding the Romanov monarchy. In 1917, this decay finally produced a revolution<span>, which swept the old system away. Several key fault lines can be identified as long-term causes, while the short-term trigger is accepted as being </span>World War 1<span>.
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