Culture And Society Under Stalin

Question 1

What did Stalin use propaganda for?

Answer 1

To gather support for his policies and get people behind them.

Question 2

When did the Stalinist Cult begin?

Answer 2

1929

Question 3

How did the Stalinist Cult grow?

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Answer 3

Paintings, poems and sculptures were made glorifying Stalin.
History was changed to make Stalin have a bigger role than he did in the October Revolution.
Photos were doctored to remove his enemies and improve his appearance.

Question 4

How was Stalin viewed by the Russian people?

Answer 4

He was viewed as the father of his people.

Question 5

How did Stalin view theatre, arts, literature and sculptures?

Answer 5

Only valuable if they supported socialist ideology. Art for its own sake had no place in the Soviet state.

Question 6

What did all writers have to be apart of from 1932 onwards?

Answer 6

Union of Soviet Writers and similar bodies were also set up for musicians, artists and film-makers. These bodies allowed the state to control what was produced.

Question 7

What were writers supposed to write about?

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Answer 7

What Soviet life would be like in the future and not how it was at the time.
Glorify the working man.
Communities working together.

Question 8

In the years 1936 and 1937 how many films had to be withdrawn mid-production due to them not promoting socialism?

Answer 8

68 out of 150.

Question 9

In the years 1936 and 1937 how many ballets had to be withdrawn mid-production due to them not promoting socialism?

Answer 9

10 out of 19.

Question 10

In the years 1936 and 1937 how many plays had to be withdrawn mid-production due to them not promoting socialism?

Answer 10

60 and 10 theatres in both Moscow and Leningrad closed.

Question 11

Who was Vsevolod Meyerhold?

Answer 11

He was a prominent director who appealed for artistic freedom and because of this he was arrested in 1938 and then shot in 1940.

Question 12

What did films, plays and ballets have to follow?

Answer 12

Socialist Realism.

Question 13

How did Stalin impose his judgement over musical works?

Answer 13

He said that the Soviet Union’s leading composer, Dimitri Shostakovich, works were bourgeois and formalistic.

Question 14

How were ‘worker-heroes’ shown off?

Answer 14

Put on the front cover of Pravda and between 1937 and 1938 workers appeared on the cover more than Stalin.

Question 15

Under Stalin what happened to the Orthodox Church?

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Answer 15

Under more of a direct attack than it was under Lenin.
Religious schools were closed down.
Worship was restricted to registered congregations.
Many churches were physically destroyed.

Question 16

Between 1929 and 1940 what was abolished?

Answer 16

The holy day of Sunday.

Question 17

What was criminalised in 1936?

Answer 17

Publication of religious propaganda.

Question 18

Which religions suffered the most?

Answer 18

Muslims and Jews.

Question 19

When were pilgrimages to Mecca banned?

Answer 19

1935.

Question 20

What happened to Muslim priests?

Answer 20

Many were imprisoned or killed.

Question 21

By 1941 how many churches and mosques had been closed down?

Answer 21

40,000 Christian churches and 25,000 Muslim mosques.

Question 22

What happened to women under Stalin’s rule?

Answer 22

The great retreat back from the advancement made under Lenin.

Question 23

Why did the great retreat happen with women?

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Answer 23

A fall in population.
Increase in disruption with family break-ups.
Fears of war.

Question 24

Why did birth rates increase in the 1930s?

Answer 24

Abortion became illegal and contraception was banned.

Question 25

How did Stalin try and prevent divorce?

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Answer 25

A large fee was introduced.
Both parties had to attend proceedings.
Child support payments by fathers fixed 60% of income.

Question 26

How were women encouraged to be mothers?

Answer 26

Propaganda.

Women with 6 or more children received tax exemptions.

Question 27

What were other ways that were brought in to increase families?

Answer 27

Adultery was criminalised along with prostitution and homosexuality.

Question 28

Did the Great Retreat with women work?

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Answer 28

Number of women working in factories increased,
Divorce rates remained high (37% in Moscow in 1934).
Over 150,000 abortions for every 57,000 births.

Question 29

What happened to education in the 1930s?

Answer 29

Parents had to contribute to the cost for secondary schooling.
More organised school structure.
Reverted to traditional methods of teaching and discipline.

Question 30

By 1941 what percentage of 5-49 were literate?

Answer 30

94%

Question 31

What did Komsomol do?

Answer 31

Set up in 1926 and catered for those aged 10 to 28.

Taught Communist values while discouraging smoking and drinking.

Question 32

How did working men feel about Stalin’s policy of rapid industrialisation?

Answer 32

They hoped it would bring more employment which would improve living standards.

Question 33

What happened to working men in the 1930s?

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Answer 33

More opportunities for training.
Introduction of wage differentials in 1931 and the Stakhanovite movement motivated workers.
Living conditions were still tough.

Question 34

Who would a new socialist man and woman be?

Answer 34

A well educated individual who was dedicated to the Party and worked for the community as well as being independent thinkers but also accepted what the State said.