Reasons For The Downfall Of The Russian Empire In The Year Of 1917. “The Soviet socialist experiment has been the great utopian adventure of our century, “ one scholar wrote about the Soviet Union. For more than 70 years, to millions it has meant hope, and to other millions, horror; but for all it has spelled fascination.”` For three hundred years, which was known as the communist era, Russia had been ruled by a system known as Czarism. Czarism was a murderously authoritarian form of government that was repeatedly brutal beyond belief. It remained almost constant from its b