Topic 4: Life in the Soviet Union, 1924-41

what was the impact of industrialisation on living conditions in Soviet towns and cities?

• large lack of adequate housing

• Moscow’s population increased from 2.2 million in 1929 to over 4 million by 1936, leading to severe overcrowding and poor living standards.

• leningrad’s population increased from 1.6 million in 1926 to over 3 million by 1939, exacerbating housing shortages and increasing demand for basic services.

• the state didn’t want to spend resources on housing

what was the impact of industrialisation on new towns and cities?

• the population grew so rapidly that housing wasn’t able to keep up

• workers were initially housed in tents and mud huts

• slowly improved through the 1930s although they were still basic, barrack style dorms

• unpaved roads, no street lighting, open sewers

how was daily life in the towns effected (everyday items)?

• everyday items weren’t a priority

• basic items were in short supply e.g shoes

• household ‘luxury’ items were in even shorter supply e.g furniture

• stealing supplies was normalised

• food was also in short supply

what were leisure opportunities like in the towns?

• attractive gardens, shack bars, pools, music and dance areas

• parks, football stadiums, athletics grounds and cinemas

• cinema in Magnitogorsk had annual audiences of 600,000

what were living conditions in the countryside like?

• peasants had even less to eat as they were regarded as less important

• very basic one-room wooden huts with an outside toilet and water from a well

• villages received very little new investment

what were working conditions like in the towns?

• health and safety wasn’t a priority - accidents at work were very common

• internal passports were introduced to stop workers from constantly changing jobs in search of better employment - if the worker didn’t have the ‘right’ to be in that city/ workplace they could be arrested

• rights of the trade unions severely restricted

• ‘progressive piecework’ meant workers were paid based on the amount they produced

• due to war with Nazi Germany looking likely, unpleasant regulations were introduced

what were working conditions like in the countryside?

• peasants lost their own land

• they were told what to do by the collective chairman

• low wages: income of a peasant on a farm was approx. 20% of a factory workers

• long hours and hard physical work: despite propaganda claims, there were few tractors and machines to help

• lack of freedom: peasants couldn’t leave the collective farms unless granted permission

what were Stalin’s policies on living conditions in towns?

• working day increased from 7 to 8 hours

• the working week would be lengthened from 5/6 days to 6/7 days

• changing jobs without official permission is now a criminal offence

• if you’re late to work by just 20 mins on 2 occasions, your pay is cut by 25% for 6 months

what were the effects of stalin’s policies on living conditions in the towns?

• everyone had a job: unemployment levels in the early 1930s reached 25% of the work force

• factories gave cheap basic clothing to their workers and set up canteens with cheap hot meals

• larger factories also had childcare and laundry services which eased the burden on women

• rewards including pay or ration increases were available to those classed as shock workers or stakhanovites

what were the differences between the main social groups in the Soviet Union?

• gulag prisoners were used as slave labour

• peasants: low wages, long hours and tough physical work

• workers: poor living and working conditions but were paid more

• ruling class: access to luxury shops etc

what was the position of women in russian society?

• were not equal to men

• not expected to be educated, have a career, views or be independant

• domestic violence was common

• communists wanted to end the bad treatment of women and laws were passed about equal sex treatment

what difference did the Bolsheviks make to women’s lives?

• no longer had to take her husband’s name upon marriage and didn’t need husband’s permission to get a job

• divorce made easier to avoid abusive or unhappy relationships

• abortion legalised

• if couples did marry, it was civil instead of through the church, removing the religious element to reduce the status of the marriage

what changes took place in family life?

• ½ of marriages were separated

• men could easily leave their wives and children

• gangs of abandoned children lived on the street, stole and caused trouble

what positive changes occurred in the women’s employment?

• the communists wanted to give women economic independence

• by 1940, there were 13 million female workers

• women used to work in domestic, low wage jobs before the war

• female engineers, construction workers, steel makers, train drivers etc.

• by 1940, 41% of workers in heavy industry were women

what problems still remained in women’s employment?

• some men refused to work with women

• despite policy, women doing the same jobs as men were only paid 60-65% of mens wages

• they were denied the opportunities to advance and faced discrimination in hiring processes.

what changes took place in women’s political position?

• when the Bolsheviks first seized power, women were given the same political rights as men - vote and stand in a party

• however the communist party failed to advance women into politics from 1924-41

• many women who did try to rise up in the party were harassed or ignored

• party still dominated by men

• 1930 the Zhenotdel was closed down and traditional sexist attitudes continued

what was education policy like in 1924?

• traditional teaching methods had been largely left behind

• communists believed that these prepared children for life in a capitalist world

• ‘project method’ used children - sent to factories

what were the problems with education in 1924?

• many children didnt attend school

• not enough schools

• schools chronically underfunded

• teachers had no authority over students and were poorly trained

• often involved little more than children being used in cheap labour

what changes did Stalin make to education policy?

• official textbooks provided by the state had to be used

• children had to attend school until at least 15

• exams, homework and rote learning of the ‘correct’ facts

• strict discipline was used

• all schools had to teach reading, writing, the sciences, russian, geography and history, plus communist ideology

what were the effects of Stalin’s changes to education on the Soviet Union?

• number of children receiving education grew remarkably in the 1930s

• rise in overall literacy rates, from 55% able to read and write in 1928 to 94% by 1939

• students attending university increased from 170,000 in 1927 to 812,000 in 1939

• schools and universities were able to produce large numbers of disciplined, hardworking and technically skilled students

• the young obeyed the communist party without question

• made industrialisation easier for stalin

what had been the policy of the Tsarist Empire towards ethnic minorities?

russification

what is russification?

where smaller national groups of the russian empire were forced to adopt russian language and culture

what was the official early Communist Party policy towards ethnic minorities?

• different national groups were promised:

  • equal treatment - self government

  • freedom of religion

  • right to develop their own culture and lifestyle

• minority populations within each republic were formed into smaller self-governing territories e.g Russia was divided into 30 national territories

why did Stalin adopt a less tolerant approach to ethnic minorities?

• no desire to celebrate the soviet union’s diversity

• angry at the way the non-russians refused to support collectivisation

• he was worried that giving too much independence to national groups may weaken overall communist control

• worried that some national groups living near the borders might be disloyal if the soviet union was ever invaded

in what ways was Stalin’s policy less tolerant towards ethnic minorities?

• celebration of local languages and culture were now seen as disloyalty

• russian language and culture was shown to be superior

• all schools had to teach russian as the second language

• during the purges, many minority leaders, teachers, artists and writers were arrested

what was the impact of Stalin’s policies on ethnic minorities?

• 1937: 171,000 ethnic Koreans were deported to Asia

  • stalin was worried about a japanese invasion

• 1941: Nazi’s invaded the soviet union and volga Germans were arrested and exiled to siberia and central Asia

• stalin ended the tolerant approach and weakened cultures

• forced resettlement

• many national groups were angry at the soviet union