Complex sentence: The Tsarist government before the Russian Revolution had tried to foster an interest in Russian decorative arts but after the Revolution the new government was increasingly short of hard currency and the sale of objects from the Church and the aristocracy was one way to raise funds quickly.
Split into simpler sentences: The Tsarist government before the Russian Revolution had already tried to foster an interest in Russian decorative arts. After the Revolution, the new government was increasingly short of hard currency and the sale of objects from the Church and the aristocracy was one way to raise funds quickly.