[Cronos]

communism was not inevitable in Russia - it was aided by the German Empire who transported Lenin to Russia from switzerland

communism in post-imperial germany - now that was more likely

[Spktyr]

Some leftist form of government was guaranteed in Russia. If it wasn’t Bolshevik branded Communism, it could have been some flavor of socialism. As best I recall of all the agitating entities in Russia prior to 1917, *none* of the serious ones were demanding democracy. Remember that prior to Lenin’s October Revolution, there had been a February Revolution *without* Lenin and the government that resulted was heavily manned by socialists.