Theme 4 Flashcards
(67 cards)
How did Lenin focus more on eradicating the bourgeoisie rather than giving everyone social security in war communism ?
Rationing - working class got more than bourgeoise classes. Aristocrats received 25% of working class
What did Lenin do in the war with labour ?
What was the fallout of this in terms of unemployment ?
All able bodied men 15-50 forced conscription.
After the fallout of war conscription
1921. 5.5% unemployed
1925 18% unemployed
What did Lenin do with housing in NEP
NEP - 60-80% housing denationalised
What were the labour exchanges under Lenin ?
How effective were these ?
Modern day job centres
People didn’t join in fear of being put in a bad job
What was Arteli and how did it contribute to lack of social security under Lenin ?
Workers paid as a group -
Inefficient direct pay
What did Stalin claim
About employment ?
Stats ?
Claimed full employment had been reached
Indeed , 11million - 27 million unemployed 1928-1937
How did Stalin enforce productivity ?
Military style discipline - lateness criminalised
Stakhanovite movement
Failures of housing under Stalin ? (3)
How was this an effect of his heavy focus on industrialisation ?
Magnitogorsk - increased 25-250,000 people under first five year plan’s rapid industrialisation. However housing was not prioritised with people building make shift huts for housing
KOMMUNALKA - tiny housing shrinks from 5.5 square metres to 4 square metres
War - focus on industry left lack of housing worth 1 basin per 70 people
Medical security under Stalin ?
Doctors increase by two thirds
Infant mortality decreases by 50%
Despite full employment claims, how did employment under Stalin fail in terms of social security ?
Gulag population increased 1.5 million to 2.5 million which increased the use of slave labour
What did Khrushchev say about social security ? What did this mean?
WHAT SORT OF COMMUNISM IS IT THAT CANNOT PRODUCE SAUSAGE ?
- meaning communism was impossible without food and consumer goods
Especially after removing the ‘stick’ method with socialist legality.
Khrushchev needed therefore a lot of ‘carrot’ or in his case, sausage.
What did Khrushchev do with consumer goods ?
Increased investment 60%
What did Khrushchev do with healthcare budget?
Doubled it
What did Khrushchev do with the pensions budget ?
How was this still limited ?
Budget quadrupled
However the 40 roubles a month was still arguably insufficient
Which leader introduced the minimum wage and when?
Compared to Britain ?
1956 - Khrushchev
U.K. - 1997
What did Khrushchev do with housing ?
How was this limited ?
Housing more than doubled under Khrushchev .
He invested in housing with lots of low funded buildings giving families whole apartments compared to Stalin’s 4 metres squared !
This was called
KHRUSCHYOVKA
However these did not look appealing and were criticised as ‘Khrushchev slums’
However something better than nothing ???
What was the social contract and who introduced it ?
What was the result ?
Introduced by brezhnev
Guaranteed employment
Led to 20% hidden unemployment as lack of incentive
What was healthcare like under brezhnev in rural areas ?
As late as 1988, some hospitals had no heating or water
Star on brezhnev and consumer goods ?
1980 - 85% of families had a television
Productivity under brezhnev compared to the USA ?
25% of ussr on farms compared to 5% in the USA.
USA farms 6X more productive
Who was Alexandra Kollontai ?
First European woman in government under Lenin
How did Lenin improve the lives of women in politics ? 2
Zhenotdel created - women’s branch of Central committee
Kollontai - first european woman in government
Evidence of Lenin being inconsistent with women in politics
Kollontai’s idea of ‘free love’ where women would be liberated when the traditional idea of family ‘withered away’
Lenin said this was too radical
Kollonatai removed from government 1923
Only 10% of the party were women
What social changes did Lenin bring about to benefit women ?
Abortion legalised
Contraception legalised
Lesbianism is legal
