Culture and Society

what was the communist view on religion?

-Marx described religion as ‘the opium of the people’

-he claimed it was used to justify the power of the upper class over the workers.

What was the nature of the church under Lenin?

Lenin allowed freedom of religious worship, however he destroyed hte legal and social power of the church.

in 1927, Sergius, patriarch of the orthodox church, made a promise to stay out of politics in return for state recognition of the orthodox church.

how did the church change under Stalin?

-found itself under more direct attack
-religious schools closed down
-teaching of religious creed

how was worship restricted under stalin?

worship was restricte between 1929 and 1940, and the holy day of sunday was abolished

how was anti church terror extended?

the church was also terrorised during the Yezchovschina.

Stalins 1936 constitution criminialised the publication of religious propoganda.

how were priests effected?

-preists were sent to the gulagsi n large numbers in the 1930’s

how were muslims effected?

-property, land and mosques seized, sharia courts abolished. hijabs forbidden.

-government promoted an isalmic “new mosque” movement which supported socialist ideology.

-pilgrimages to mecca banned from 1935.

how were other religions effected?

Jewish schools/synagogues shut down.
-attacks on budhist institutions.

what are teh statistics for the closure of religions buildings?

by 1941, 40,000 churches and 25,000 mosques.

how did religious beleif remain?

despite the terror, 1937 census revealed that over 500,000 citizens described themselves as religious believers, with the real number certainly much higher.

how were women treated under lenin?

-lenins regime saw a “liberatoin of women” as sex discrimination was outlawed, and abortions made easier.

-family was seen as a relic of bourgeise socoiety as women took jobs along men.

what caused stalin to put forward the ‘great retreat’

fall in population growth in the 1930’s
-disruption caused by family breakups.

what was the nature of the new ‘great retreat’.

-family focused propoganda

-divorce and abortion attacked, while marriage was promoted

-wedding rings returned

-women potrayed more traditionally in art and film.

when and what was the new ‘family code’

may 1936 the “family code”

-abortion criminalised - increased birth rate in the 1930’s

-became difficult to get a divorce

-benefits granted to mothers

-new decrees against prostitutoin and homosexuality.

how did stalins policy on women affect the number of working women?

despite the new emphasis on family life, the numbers of women working in facotires continued and large numebrs also worked on collective farims.

how did stalins new policy affect divorce rates, abortinos and marriage?

-divorce rates remained high - 37% in moscow 1934

1929-40 saw a falling rate of population growth.

what was the nature of education under lenin?

-free education offered at all levels in the 1920’s

-focus on ideology rather than skills

-traditional treateers driven out and replaced with communists

-this was a disaster and led to mass behaviour issues.

what were stailns aims / motivations of educational change?

stalin understood the failure of Lenins educational policy

-he aimed for a more educated and skilled workforce by reforming the education system.

how did stalin change education?

-the central committee in teh 1930s introduced traditional school structure and discipline.

how did the responsibility of education change ?

-many schools became responsible for collective farms

-univerisites became agencies for economic growth.

what happened to the quota system?

Lenins quota system allowed high numbers of working class children to receive places at secondary schools.

this was replaced in 1935 by a selection system.

what areas of profession were given empahsis?

-emphasis on higher training of specialists who could help with the industrialisation drive.

-new courses in maths, science and technology

-for the less able, practical courses were encouraged.

how did the stakhanovite system effect education?

-if students failed to do well they could be blamed / purged.

what was the success in literacy?

only 65% of population literatre before revolution. by 1941, 94% of the 9 to 49 age group in towns was literate, and 86% in the countryside.

what was the success in universities?

the USSR turned out particulary strong science graduates.

what was the komosomol?

from 1926, the youth organisation komsomol catrered for those aged 10 to 28. this organisation grew more significant under stalin.

what did the komsomol do under stalin?

taught communist values - smoking and drinking and religion discrouaged.
-social work, sports, political and drama clubs were encouraged to teach communist ideology.

how did some young people reject socialist values?

Some young people remained interested in western Cinema, fashion and jazz, despite teh regimes efforts.

-some young people joined secret opposistoin organisations. despite this, direct confrontation with the state was rare.

which workers beenfitted from culuture change?

skilled workers.

skills shortage of the 1930’s meeant that those who held expertise could command good pay.

-theiy living standards greatly improved in the 1930s.

how were unskilled workers effected by change?

unskilled workers were often peasants forced into towns by collectivisation.

-likely to move from job to job.

-overcrowding strained family life, and there was little privacy. petty crime became common.

how did stalins policy effect the countryside in terms of control?

-areas which were untouched before collectivisation found themselves under strict communist control.

-the regime policed the countryside carefully.

what were the stats for food consumption in the countryside in 1933?

meat consumption was only a third of the 1928 figure. many depended on the black market for survival.

what are some of the beneffits which the countryside enjoyed?

-access to tractors, clinics and schools in villages for the first time.
-rise in literacy, however this menat increased levels of countryiwsde propoganda.

how did terror cause fear in the countryside?

people learned to whisper
-appartment blocks were supervised by officials who spied on individuals.

what were the rural living conditions?

-shortage of housing, and no privacy in kommonulka’s

-considerable hooliganism and urban violence.

what was the new socialist man and woman?

the model socialist man and women were dedicated to the party and lived and worked for the USSR.

-they rejected individualist thought and accepted what the state told them to do.

how were artists affected?

Novelists Boris Pasternak and Poet Anna Akhmatova remained silent over fears of the regime.

-some writers were forced to work in industrial/agrilctural sites.

what happened with shostakovich?

in 1936, Shostakovich’s opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsenk district was insulted by Pravada as “chaos instead of music”

the theatre director who spoke in his defence was seized, tortured by the NKVD and shot. The directors wife stabbed to death.