Why was abolishing old titles and ranks part of the social revolution?

Because it broke the symbolic power of old noble privileges

The governing historical concept is social equality after the Russian Revolution. Old titles and ranks were not merely words; they represented a hierarchy in which nobles and privileged groups enjoyed higher status and special recognition than ordinary citizens. Removing those symbols signalled that the revolutionary order rejected inherited social privilege and wished to create a more equal civic identity. Option A is correct because it explains the symbolic and social meaning of the reform. The measure did not restore or promote the Tsar, so B is wrong. It was not a tax policy, making C irrelevant, and it had no purpose of granting titles to foreign armies, making D unrelated. The change therefore attacked the culture of inherited hierarchy as well as its formal institutions.

This is a Class 9 History question. Chapter: Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution. Topic: What Changed after October?.