USSR: social stability under stalin

What did historian Stephen Kotkin argue in 1999 about soviet workers?

Hint: “they weren’t p_____ o_____ of the state’s d______” and that we shouldn’t “a_____ that soviet workers were b_________ into working” ← expand on this

Soviet workers wernt passive objects of the states design and that we shouldn’t assume that they were brainwashed into working,, there’s lots of evidence to suggest that they worked to receive social benefits that came along with it, the security and rewards of being a soviet worker were genuinely appealing and satisfying. It gave people an identity.

what declaration did lenin publish in 1918 and what did it say?

(think employment)

the Declaration of the Rights of the Toiling and Exploited People

designed to transform work

• abolished private ownership of land

• capitalists could no longer make money off of simply owning things

• introduced universal labour duty

• ensured everybody worked and therefore caps couldnt simply live off the labour of others

lenin’s economic policies were based off of ensuring stable employment

BUT failed to stop the disintegration of the economy and rising unemployment

what/who was war communism based on a relationship between?

what was ended by war communism(think work)

the gov and workers

workers provided needed labour and the gov provided food and basic necesities

ended widespread unemployment because of the introduction of compulsory labour

what other benefits did workers under lenin and war communism have access to?

work cards, public transport, communal dining halls in factories to feed the workers

• gov claimed that 93%of people living in moscow in 1920 were regularly fed in communal halls

why was the access to goods/benefits disproportionately felt under lenin and war communism?

(think what party members had access to)

party members were given privileges

• g

in practise, was the system of compulsory work and gov provisions successful under civil war conditions?

no!

compulsory labour was unsustainable under civ war conditions

by july 1920 factories were being forced to close due to shortages in fuel and food

^^ the gov actually forced unemployed people to search for fuel or join food detachments

also war comms never provided more than 50% of the food and fuel that people neede to survive← short term= people turned to the black market again,, long term= workers fled cities and seeked work on farms for food

^^ around ¼ of people left cities

the party’s e_____ to create full e__________ were ultimately u__________ by factory c________ and food s_______

the party’s efforts to create full employment were ultimately undermined by factory closures and food shortages/scarcities

how much did the industrial workforce increase by from 1945-50? and why?

went from 8 mill- 12.2 mill as a result of returning soldiers

did full employment continue afetr stalin’s death?

what was full employment a part of ?

yes!

full employment was apart of the economic model of planned industry and collective agriculture (the five year plans)→ which became the nature of the economy and economic models until 1985