In the early years, 1900 – 1918, the country was ruled by the Czar, a monarch with dictatorial powers. Right at the end of WWI, The Bolshevik Revolution took place, and the political system really didn’t change too much. Lenin, then Stalin took over and also ruled dictatorially. This worked really well during WWII, as dictatorships are much more efficient than democracies, not better, just more efficient since nobody debates or votes. The economy of Russia was horrible from the beginning. Stalin’s five year plans did nothing to help, and radical spending on the military kept the country bankrupt. The economic situation never did improve. In the 1980’s, because of the economic woes, the communistic government/economy fell. Today, there is a limited form of democracy, but the people are still poor and the government is starting to spend more and more on the military.