Shortages

Blat/sviazi

To have pull/ To have connections

Food and other supplies

food, clothes, ration cards, passports

speculation

Buying a lot of a good. hoping the price will rise, then selling.

Rationing

Limit food distribution

closed distribution:

Food only distributed to certain shops

Insnab:

Foreign stores. A lot more goods, but only foreigners can go in (need passport)

kolkhoz market

Fresh, surplus food from collectivization farms. Large assortment, Expensive, Usually site of Black market

black market:

Selling goods illegally from other people. People buy from moscow then sell to other far areas for money

Torgsin

Pawnshop, need very expensive metals for rare goods.

Commercial stores:

private stores with large selection. need ID to prove higher status

Second Economy

Economy of personal gain. corrupt, favors needed

What was communal living?

Collective socialist living: live together, help each other

Describe what life was like living in a barrack?

Mud, nonstop noise, not enough beds, library poor, few newspapers, people steal, gossip, drunk hooligans

Why were many facilities built for the whole population to use (baths, laundry, dining halls, etc)?

Communism (living together, being together, saves money, no one has property)

Describe life in a communal apartment. (Remember the movie)

One common kitchen, constant scandals, food is stolen, gossip, no running water or sheets, marked off sub areas for people, food dangled out windows to keep cold, shared sinks, toilets, showers

What were some of the stresses of living in a communal apartment?

No privacy, fear of theft, strangers, drunkards, trouble makers, denouncing

What was the average living space for Soviets in the 1930s?

3.2 square meters per person

Who were the people who got the best apartments?

Elite worker, party member

Who was given highest priority for receiving scarce goods?

Elite worker, party member

What were some of the problems for distributing goods?

Overcrowding lines

What was the system of rationing that was set up?

Amount of family members were taken into account. No one starving, but no one had a surplus of food

What was the black market?

Peasants selling goods illegally. not official.

Describe the "second economy." Why was it necessary?

Economy that had both legal and illegal ways to obtain items. Official ways were unfair, elites were treated better, peasants needed to sell in the black market to survive and defeat the long lines of the USSR.