The gentry were a flexible class and lived a life of struggle and competition.

乡绅阶层善于适应新的环境，他们的生活中无处不乏竞争和奋斗。

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Against the backdrop of Marx's thought pervading - not just Russian life but beginning to pervade Russian government-- against this backdrop, the idea of struggle, as in class struggle, is going to predominate.

马克思的思想不但席卷,俄国普通百姓的生活，并且开始影响俄国政府-,在这样的背景下，人们认为阶级斗争是历史发展的主要推动力。

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