Where does one begin when discussing the history of Russia? There is over one thousand years of it, and it all ties together over the centuries, whether it's about Vladimir the first, or Vladimir Putin.
The problems that were prevalent, and inherited if you will, during the Communist era didn't magically appear right at 1917. They were always there. Certain traditions and the way of political rule essentially trapped each Tsar, Premiere, ruling body etc. into continuing the prior political system. Whether it was to keep the status quo and prevent peasants from a revolution, or maintain a huge military infrastructure to countermand the west. Essentially what would happen would be the problems of the previous administration, no matter the attempts at correction or reform, would carry over to the next man/regime.
Although the major problems of the Soviet system, that would eventually lead to its downfall, don't become readily noticeable until the Brezhnev era. 1964-82 We can see their beginnings during the Stalin era which I"ll touch on somewhat.
Past:.
With Lenin's death in 1924, Joseph Stalin assumed the head of the Soviet Communist Party. The reforms initiated by Lenin were continued and enhanced at the benefit of the state and in time became completely totalitarian. Here is where we see a parallel of Stalin to that of a Tsar and the amount of power he controlled. Like that of a Tsar with his boyars/bureaucrats he had ultimate control over Soviet politics, economics, foreign relations etc. But we should take note that Stalin's reign saw a huge increase in the power of state and its control of even the littlest aspect of Russian life. .
Khrushchev's era saw something of a more liberal outlook on how things should be run in Soviet Russia. We see Khrushchev attempt to narrow the gap in economic inequality and the standard of living, bring forth educational reforms, and propose reforms within the party hierarchy, but like future problems with the reforms to come, the problems that Khrushchev wanted to deal with or change were essential features of the regime and the running of the state.
