relations between britain and USSR strained when soviets behaved subversively during the general strike
soviet leadership saw the strike as a political act and beginning of proletarian movement
dispute over wages
russian central council of trade unions sent £26,000 to the trades union congress, who sent the money back as they didn’t want to be accused of being in the pay of the soviets
achieved the encouragement of die-hard anti-soviets in britain
treaty of berlin
importance of rapallo as basis of friendliness between russia and germany
if either country was attacked by a third party, the other would remain neutral in the conflict
joint promise not to join any economic boycott launched against germany and russia
treaty would remain for 5 years and that the two countries would discuss their further relationship in the future
19 million had migrated into towns
for every three peasants who joined a collective farm, one became an urban worker
peasants who joined collectives were hostile to the regime for the ‘new serfdom’ they had been placed in
offensive against ‘bourgeois specialists’ was quietly dropped due to the loss of valuable personnel causing so many problems
scapegoats for hold-ups, break downs, and problems in the supply industry
pre-1917 managers, engineers, and technical staff who survived NEP because of their skills and abilities
labour books and internal passports issued
gave details of worker’s labour history, qualifications, and any misdemeanours
difficult to survive without a labour book
volga-white sea canal constructed
constructed using forced labour
12,000-25,000 died
first major project completed using forced labour in the USSR
propaganda of convict ‘reforging’ themselves in useful labour
dneiprestoi dam opened
largest soviet power plant at the time and one of the largest in the world
began generating electricity during the first five year plan and four further generators were added during the second five year plan
moscow metro opened
one 11km line and 13 stations
part of the second five year plan, which focused on urbanisation
ambitious architectural project designed to prove socialist metro could surpass capitalist design
massive recruitment campaigns launched for the unskilled workers
at the sixth comintern congress stalin proposed his view that the time was right for an attack on anti-communist social democratic parties, due to the weaknesses of capitalism
stalin prepared the comintern for a fight to spread communism around the world
trotsky condemned stalin for being hypocritical
stalin may have been reverting to his true beliefs once the need for ‘socialism in one country’ was over
stalin may have wanted to fight bukharin, his now strongest opponent
19 million had migrated to tows
for every three peasants who joined a collective farm, one became an urban worker
factories had to pay for fuel, raw materials, and labour with their own money
managers had to count and spend profits carefully
bribery and corruption became embedded within the system
work norms raised between 10% and 50% - it became harder for managers to deal with protesting workers
‘work norms’ = state regulations managers were expected to apply in the workplace
made it difficult for managers to earn good will of their workers
any attempt to bypass regulations or lower the norms could result in accusations of sabotage
wage differentials introduced
some proletariat thrived, some struggled
wages varied, bonuses awarded, pay by the piece, better houses
reward for those who stayed in their jobs and worked hard
aleksei stakhanov cut 102 tonnes of coal in 5 hours, 45 minutes
expected in 14x that amount of time
human determination and endeavour might increase productivity
celebrations of stalin’s 70th birthday were extremely elaborate
organised by 75 leading figures & included whole politburo
galas and greetings every day from 21st december 1949 to august 1951
giant portrait of stalin was suspended over moscow and lit up at night by a battery of searchlights
major artist association changed its name to ‘russian association of proletariat artists’
emphasis placed on artists with proletarian background
realist painters left the organisation as they couldn’t adapt to the new demands
aleksander gerasimov and isaak brodsky attacked - traditional, realist painters
people’s commissar for social welfare passed laws which:
guaranteed paid maternity leave for 2 months before and after birth
allowed nursing mothers to work shorter hours & take time to breastfeed babies at work
excused women from heavy work or night work
set up a commission for the protection of mothers & infants
maternity clinics, milk points, nurseries
5% of voting delegates at party congress were women
percentage decreased over succeeding years
zhenotdel, women’s department of party, set up to make women active defenders of revolution through propaganda and agitation
focused on social services, education, and training
making sure laws protecting women in factories were being enforced
union of the militant godless was established
held events - debates to prove god didn’t exist
newspapers attacked clergy as fat parasites living off the peasantry
relics and icons ridiculed
8000 people executed or killed in the anti-church campaign
metropolitan of petrograd, 28 bishops, 1215 priests
politburo were alarmed by this level of resistance and suspended action
lenin overruled the politburo - opportunity to smash the church
lenin ordered to be informed, on a daily basis, how many priests had been shot
stalin decided RAPP had served its purpose
criticised for being too narrow, and was abolished
union of soviet writers included non-proletarian and non-party writers
maxim gorky, a non-party member, was the first head
socialist realism proclaimed to be the basic principle of literary creation
membership of komsomol reached 2 million
applicants could be rejected on grounds of immaturity & insufficiently proletarian social origins
‘soldiers of production’ in industrial drive
imposing labour discipline - collecting state procurements of grain
leading campaign against religion
monitoring bureaucracy, exposing official abuses, unmasking hidden enemies
new family code
abortion outlawed for everyone but women who’s health was threatened and women with hereditary diseases
divorce made harder: both partied had to attend divorce proceedings, cost introduced to divorce
fixed child support payment amount
mothers with six children to receive 2000 roubles a year for five years
voroshilov, member of the politburo, urged NKVD should be instructed to immediately clear moscow of homeless adolescents and delinquents out of parental control
increased attempts to get children off the streets and into appropriate institutions
parents could be fined for the hooliganism of their children
risked having them taken away & put into orphanages that parents would pay for the maintenances of