4 - social developments Flashcards
(26 cards)
1
Q
What was the nature of the labour market under Lenin and what measures did he introduce?
A
- Labour shortage as factory workers moved to the countryside.
- The govt. issued a decree that forced unemployed people to take up any work offered to them, and labour conscription introduced under WC.
- Unemployment reached over 1m by 1926.
- Increasing job security for skilled workers during NEP.
2
Q
What was the impact of full employment under Stalin?
A
- Low productivity (average Soviet worker produced 50% of what a British worker would in 1927)
- Workers became unhappy in their jobs –> changed jobs constantly and absenteeism rose.
- Poor working conditions and restrictions placed on trade unions.
- Increased pressure on labour during WW2.
3
Q
What did Stalin’s government do to combat issues faced by full employment?
A
- Rewarded model workers like Alexei Stakhanov, and in 1932 increased rations and bonuses for productive work and in 1934 piecework expanded.
- Passport system introduced 1932 - needed to change jobs. Unsuccessful as in 1937, 30% of workers changed jobs every quarter.
- During WW2, more women were employed and labour camp inmates rose from 1.5m in 1945 to 2.5m in 1953.
4
Q
What was housing like under Lenin and Stalin?(1917-1953)
A
- In 1917 the Bolsheviks confiscated the large houses of the rich and rented them out to families of workers.
- During the FYPs, demand for housing was high (Magnitogorsk pop. increased, Moscow pop. 2.2m in 1929 to 4.1m 1936).
- Resources for housing were non-existent (workers had to sleep in tents, makeshift huts and factories), but in the 1930s conditions improved with blocks of apartments being built with communal kitchens although running water, electricity and heating were reserved for committed workers
- In 1936, only 6% of rented units had more than 1 room.
- 5% of people renting lived in a kitchen/corridor and 25% lived in a dormitory.
- Peasants on collectives were expected to provide for their own housing.
- After WW2, Stalingrad lost 90% of its housing.
5
Q
What was the provision of social benefits like under Stalin?
A
- In the workplace: cheap food was provided by the 1930s and work clothes were provided for free.
- Trade unions: organised sport facilities, meetings, film shows, and arranged paid holidays/sick pay.
- Healthcare: compulsory vaccination program in 1921 dealt with a cholera epidemic. Doctors rose from 70,000 in 1928 to 155,000 in 1940 and hospital beds rose from 247,000 in 1928 to 791,000 in 1939. Patients had to pay for medicine at cheap prices.
6
Q
How did Khrushchev and Brezhnev promote a stable society in terms of employment and economic security?
A
- Full employment:
–> Soviet Constitution 1977 guaranteed citizens employment however many were undemanding and pointless.
–> Real wages rose by 50% between 1967 and 1977. - Job security:
–> It was difficult to dismiss someone who was not good at their job and managers often ignored low standards of discipline.
–> A minimum wage was introduced in 1956 and the number of paid holidays increased. - Improved material benefits:
–> Khrushchev and Brezhnev moved economic resources towards consumer goods (the 9th FYP (1971-75) set a higher growth rate for consumer goods than heavy industry.
7
Q
How did Khrushchev and Brezhnev promote a stable society in terms of social services?
A
- The education system:
–> Secondary school and higher education became a vehicle for gaining social status. - Housing:
–> The annual amount of housing space provided by the state increased from 178m sq. metres in 1951 to 394m in 1964.
–> Housing was often poorly finished with finishing touches left for people to do. - Healthcare:
–> Considerable growth in the provision of healthcare with polyclinics providing all-purpose healthcare.
–> In 1978 there were over 2,000 sanatoria.
–> Some Central Asian republics did not have heating or running water and had poor equipment in their hospitals. - Social security:
–> Between 1950 and 1980, state welfare spending increased by 500%.
–> In 1956 the pension scheme was expanded and retirement age reduced, although pensions remained insufficient - 40 roubles a month in 1980, and peasants did not receive a pension until the Brezhnev era. - Living conditions in the countryside:
–> Brezhnev built schools, housing and healthcare in rural areas.
–> In 1966 the government introduced regular wages for farmers (by the mid-70s the wages of rural workers were only 10% less than urban workers).
8
Q
How did Khrushchev and Brezhnev promote a stable society in terms of ideological control?
A
- Nomenklatura system:
–> Advancement required a recommendation from within the Party which built loyalty and stability.
–> Membership of the Party grew from 6.9m in 1953 to 17m by 1980. By the end of the 1970s, 20% of all males over 30 were Party members. - Youth groups:
–> Octobrists, Pioneers and Komsomol moulded the youth into committed communists and were important for those who wanted to join the Party.
9
Q
What was the status of women like under Lenin and what was done to improve it?
A
- Zhenotdel (women’s branch of the Central Committee) established in 1917.
- Decrees in 1917: legalised abortion, made divorce easier, established equal pay.
- During the civil war: 70,000 women fought in the Red Army and millions were recruited into factories. However, few women held high rank in the army, social provision for childcare was inadequate and the government didn’t have resources to implement nurseries.
- Post-civil war: many unskilled women lost their jobs when men returned, traditional attitudes persisted, and the famine of 1921-22 left women homeless and had to turn to prostitution.
10
Q
How did the status of Islamic women change under Stalin?
A
- Bolsheviks used young female activists to educate Muslims about basic contraception, hygiene and childcare whilst trying to break down traditional attitudes.
- Campaign against veiling (1927) led to opportunities for Islamic women increasing.
- Traditional Islamic attitudes were slow to change:
–> In Baku, a Zhenotdel meeting was attacked by Muslim men with dogs and boiling water and women who refused to wear traditional dress were sometimes killed in ‘honour’ killings. - By the 1930s, the government took a more gradual approach.
11
Q
What was the impact of collectivisation and industrialisation on women in the countryside?
A
- The labour of women was relied upon during collectivisation as many men left to the towns.
- In rural areas, traditional attitudes were slower to change, and agricultural work offered low wages and fewer services.
- During WW2: women provided the bulk of the agricultural workforce, and their conditions were made worse by the requisitioning of machinery and animals. As late as 1950, there were entire villages populated by only women and children.
- In the Khrushchev and Brezhnev years, the status of rural women improved as social benefits were extended to the countryside, and the internal passport system gave women the freedom to move to cities.
12
Q
What was the impact of collectivisation and industrialisation on women in the towns?
A
- The number of female workers rose from 3m in 1928 to 13m in 1940, due to the economic hardships forcing women to work.
- Women dominated the light industry, but also worked in construction and engineering (parts of Moscow underground were built by female work brigades). Women made up a high % of jobs in healthcare and education but the top sectors were dominated by men.
- In 1929 the government reserved 20% of higher education places for women, but by 1940 over 40% of engineering students were female.
- During WW2 women took over jobs previously held by men, and 800,000 women served in the armed forces (most in medical units). After the war, many women lost their jobs.
13
Q
What was the status of women in politics?
A
- Women were under-represented in the Party, making up 16% of membership in 1932.
- There were only 7 women in the Central Committee before WW2, including Alexandra Kollontai and Lenin’s wife.
- The first woman to become a member of the Politburo was Ekaterina Furtseva in 1957 who was a favourite of Khrushchev. Her power declined when Khrushchev was dismissed.
14
Q
What were the impacts of the Family Code of 1918?
A
- Divorces were made easier and abortion was made legal, to attack the traditional oppression of women.
–> By the mid-1920s, Russia had the highest divorce rate in Europe.
–> In Moscow, abortions outnumbered live births 3:1. - The Family Code was revised in 1926, making divorce even easier with ‘postcard divorces’.
–> By 1926, 50% of all marriages in Moscow ended in divorce. - A marriage law was passed in 1927, giving equal status to registered and unregistered marriages.
15
Q
What were Stalin’s laws towards the family during the ‘Great Retreat’ of 1936?
A
- The laws were more conservative and would restore the importance of traditional families.
–> Divorce was made more expensive (increased from 4 to 50 roubles)
–> Free marriages lost their legal status
–> Pregnant women were guaranteed job security and the right to be given lighter work. Maternity leave was extended to 16 weeks.
–> More resources were devoted to building creches and day-care centres. The number of nursery places doubled between 1928 and 1930.
–> Abortion outlawed except if the mother was at risk. - Strengthened in July 1944 when the family was viewed as a necessary unit of socialist society.
–> Divorce was made more complicated and couples could be forced to go to a District Court to attempt reconciliation.
16
Q
What changes were made under Khrushchev in regards to the family unit?
A
- Women were expected to care for the family as well as undertake paid employment. By 1960, women had reached 49% of the workforce.
- Domestic duties were sometimes undertaken by grandmothers.
- Khrushchev supported the family much better than Stalin by increasing the provision of social benefits, however provision was still inadequate.
- Abortion was legalised in 1955 to reduce financial strain on the family.
17
Q
What changes were made under Brezhnev in regards to the family unit?
A
- The family was promoted, with the average family size being 1.9 children in 1970. In the early 1980s, the Party discussed the use of birth incentives to encourage bigger families.
- The provision of housing improved which improved family relationships.
- Alcohol contributed to domestic abuse and early deaths (alcohol contributed to 25% of all deaths in the early 1980s). The government was unable to deal with this.
- Divorce rates remained high (over 1/3 of all marriages ended in divorce). The Family Code of 1968 required couples to give 1 months notice before a wedding could take place, and made it illegal to divorce a woman who was pregnant or within a year of the birth of a child.
18
Q
How did compulsory education expand?
A
- Lenin: Bolsheviks aimed to provide free and compulsory education for all children aged 7-17. In 1926 the average child only attended school for 2.77 years.
- 1930s: the goal of providing compulsory education was largely achieved. The number of children in education increased from 14m in 1929 to 20m in 1931, although most children failed to continue their education beyond the first 2 years of secondary. Access to education also expanded to children of aristocrats and the bourgeoise.
- From 1934: The basic pattern of schooling was established: 4 years of primary, 3 years of ‘incomplete secondary’, then a choice between 2 or 3 more years of ‘complete secondary’ or a vocational program/work.
- In the 1980s: the government turned many general academic schools into specialist schools for subjects such as maths, science and foreign language. Demand was very high. 1/3 of Soviet citizens were involved in education.
19
Q
What were some obstacles to the expansion of education?
A
- Lack of resources:
–> The Civil War caused shortages, with only 1 pencil being supplied for every 60 students.
–> Under the NEP, spending on schools declined.
–> Rural schools were affected by a lack of teachers and poor families had to pay for textbooks and equipment which forced children to leave schools.
–> A large number of teachers were killed during WW2 and 82,000 schools were destroyed. - Traditional attitudes were hard to overcome; Khrushchev’s affirmative action program to get more farmers in education didn’t have much impact as rural customs were difficult to break.
- Ethnic minorities viewed education as a vehicle for Russification and cultural influences meant that in the Uzbek Republic in 1955 girls made up 26% of the school population in the final 2 years of secondary.
20
Q
How was adult education expanded?
A
- Short courses were offered to teach adults basic literacy and numeracy; by 1964 over 2m people were attending these courses.
- By the 1970s there was an extensive program of adult education, with diplomas and degrees being offered by vocational colleges.
21
Q
How did higher education expand?
A
- In 1917, Narkompros declared that universities should be open to all.
- In 1929 the government dropped requirements for entry to universities and introduced a quota system where 70% of places had to be allocated to those of working-class origin.
–> This figure was only reached once and led to a drop-out rate of 70% as students were underprepared. The system was abolished in 1935 although opportunities for working class students had improved. - In 1964, 500,000 people were studying in higher education colleges on a part-time basis.
- The government provided free tuition (except from 1940-56) and had a system of grants to support students’ living costs.
- The number of higher educational institutions rose from 110 in 1914 to 760 in 1959.
22
Q
How was illiteracy reduced?
A
- In 1919 the Bolsheviks launched a campaign to liquidate illiteracy.
–> ‘Liquidation points’ were set up. Between 1920 and 1926, 5m people completed basic literacy courses here.
–> Rabfaki were set up for workers who had left school without basic literacy and numeracy. Millions attended as they were held at factories.
–> All soldiers recruited into the Red Army had to attend literacy classes.
–> Courses for women were provided by the Zhenotdel with emphasis placed on Muslim areas - By 1939, literacy rates were at 94% for the urban population and 86% for the rural population. By 1959 these figures were at 99% and 98%.
23
Q
What was school like during Lenin’s rule and how did Stalin’s ‘Great Retreat’ change it?
A
- In the early years, single schools for all ages and abilities were established where children would study themes such as farming or nature rather than traditional subjects, and tests were abolished.
- Due to the chaos that this caused, Stalin’s ‘Great Retreat’ led to more traditional measures being implemented with textbooks being prescribed by the government, traditional subjects and exams being reintroduced and authority in schools returning to teachers.
24
Q
What was the content of the curriculum like?
A
- Russian literature: all students taught this. For ethnic minorities, works in their native language were rarely taught.
- Maths and science: emphasised, but science was badly affected by Lysenkoism.
- History: Students required to read the ‘History of the All-Union Communist Party’ which presented developments under Stalin. After de-Stalinisation, history had to be rewritten, and during the Brezhnev years Stalin was ignored.
- The study of Marxist-Leninist Theory was compulsory at all levels of education.
25
How did education change between 1953-85?
- Changes were minimal as the education system was well established.
- Khrushchev's reforms of 1958-59 attempted to expand higher and adult education for the children of workers, and made it a requirement that all schools provide vocational training.
--> These reforms faced opposition from the Party elite.
--> Brezhnev dropped his policies but continued investment into higher education.
26
What was the impact of youth groups?
- Octobrists (children 5-9) learned nursery rhymes and played simple games in gatherings.
- Pioneers (children 10-14) encouraged good behaviour in school and provided activities such as sport and drama.
- Komsomol (ages 14-28) was seen as essential for progress into the Party. Volunteers helped support economic policies. Membership grew from 2.3m in 1929 to 10.2m in 1940 to over 40m by 1982. By the 1980s they were expected to support community schemes and report on deviant behaviour.
