Socialist ideas spread throughout Europe in the late 19th century as workers organized and demanded better living and working conditions. In Russia, peasants wanted the lands owned by nobles to be redistributed to them, and political unrest grew. The harsh conditions of World War I led to the February Revolution of 1917 that overthrew the tsar. However, unrest continued and Vladimir Lenin led the Bolsheviks to seize power in October 1917, nationalizing private property and industry and establishing a one-party communist state in Russia.