russia key dates 5

1921

chinese communist party is founded in hops of carrying out a new communist revolution in china

march 1926

GMD massacred striking workers and established military dictatorship

april 1927

GMD suppressed communist workers’ revolt in shanghai, killing thousands

1927

GMD massacred striking workers in wuhan, killing approximately 30,000

1921

anglo-soviet trade agreement was the first positive contact

1926

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

1925

locarno treaties between european nations worried russia - could be isolated again

1926

treaty of berlin


1. importance of rapallo as basis of friendliness between russia and germany
2. if either country was attacked by a third party, the other would remain neutral in the conflict
3. joint promise not to join any economic boycott launched against germany and russia
4. treaty would remain for 5 years and that the two countries would discuss their further relationship in the future

june 1926

USSR received large financial credits from german banks

july 1928

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 was either reverting to his true belief now that the need for ‘socialism in one country’ was over or he wanted to fight bukharin, his now strongest opponent

1932-33

peasants suffered during a famine

* made worse by deliberate government policy

january 1930

stalin announced 25% of grain-farming areas were to be collectivised that year

march 1930

peasants were scared by treatment of kulaks and 58% of peasant households had been collectivised

* propaganda and force used

october 1930

20% of households collectivised

1931

rate of collectivisation increased gradually until it was at 100% in 1941

1932

kolkhozes could sell leftover produce to each other - only free market permitted in the USSR

1938

95% of threshing, 72% of ploughing, 57% of spring sowing, and 48% of harvesting was carried out mechanically

* many machines were labour intensive and manual labour was still needed

1939

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

august 1932

anyone caught stealing from a collective farm could be gaoled for 10 years

october 1931

drought hit many agricultural areas

spring 1932

drought and kulak deportations brought a severe drop in food production and famine in ukraine

1932-33

famine spread to kazakhstan and northern caucasus

1930-37

sergei ordzhonikidze was the commissariat for heavy industry leader

1931

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

1937

USSR was self-sufficient in machine-making and metal-working

1934-36

‘three good years’ because pressure was not too intense, food rationing ended, and families had more disposable income

1938

exceptionally hard winter and diversion of materials to military caused difficulties to plan

1941

USSR had succeeded in creating the industrial base for a powerful arms industry

1930

average worker in coal industry changed jobs three times a year

* quicksand society

1931

less than 7% of workforce were skilled - estimate

1933

only 17% of those recruited to industry had any skills

* untrained, clumps workers were damaging imported expensive machinery and turning out poor-quality goods

1938

labour books and internal passports issued

* gave details of worker’s labour history, qualifications, and any misdemeanours
* difficult to survive without a labour book

1940

absenteeism became a crime with two offences bringing a prison sentence

april 1930

all prisoners sentenced to more than three years were sent to labour camps

mid-1930s

number of forced labourers increased during the great purges in the mid-1930s

1928-33

in leningrad and moscow meat, milk, and fruit consumption declined by 2/3

1931-33

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

october 1932

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

1935

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

1932

six american engineers awarded for ‘order of the red banner of labou’ for work on dnieprostoi dam

1933

engineers for the metropolitan-vickers electrical company were arrested and deported, ending the role of british business in the USSR

july 1928

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

1939

19 million had migrated to tows

* for every three peasants who joined a collective farm, one became an urban worker

1937

USSR was self-sufficient in machine-making and metal-working

1938

exceptionally hard winter and diversion of materials to military caused difficulties for third five year plan

1941

USSR had succeeded in creating the industrial base for a powerful arms industry

1928-33

in leningrad and moscow meat, milk, and fruit consumption declined by 2/3

1936

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

1936

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

1931

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

1935

rationing phased out but market prices were still high and important socialists could obtain more goods more cheaply

1929

female workers (approximately 29% of the workforce) were largely concentrated in lowest paid jobs requiring least skills

* textiles and other light industry

january 1930

zhenotdel department of russian communist party devoted to women’s affairs is closed down

1935

women entered soviet industry in unprecedented numbers and represented 42% of all industrial workers

1936

party made an effort to technically train and promote more women into management positions

1940

43% of industrial workforce was female

august 1935

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

1937-38

young men who accomplished heroic endeavours featured on the front cover of pravda more than stalin

1937

vera mukhina produced a giant stainless steel sculpture called ‘worker and kolkhoz woman’ for the world trade fair

* two figures with sickle & hammer raised over their heads in workers’ solidarity

1925

tsaritsyn is renamed stalingrad in his honour

1929

stalin was seen as rather cold and distant and the leadership was portrayed as an anonymous collective body making joint decisions

* few images of leaders appeared in the press

1929

stalin received 350 greetings (some from organisations that didn’t exist) for his 50th birthday

* stalin was portrayed as lenin’s faithful pupil and companion-in-arms

1931

portraits of marx, engels, lenin, and stalin appear on special collections

* few individual portraits of stalin

1938

*the history of the all-union communist party* is published

* history reinterpreted in stalin’s favour

1935

impossible to speak of stalin not in growing terms

* portrayed as vozhd- genius with great windows and prophetic powers

1949

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

1928

major artist association changed its name to ‘association of artists of the revolution’

1951

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

april 1929

pavel petro bytor accused film-makers including eisenstein of doing nothing for workers & peasants in an essay

* principal task of cinema was to raise cultural levels of the masses

1917

new divorce law introduced

* either partner was allowed to end the marriage due to incompatibility

1917

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

1920

abortion accessible to those who wanted it

1922

when idea of state provision for creches, kitchens, and laundries was costed it was more than entire national budget

1927

2/3 of marriages in moscow ended in divorce and over 1/2 in russia

1917

47% of urban workforce were women

1917

10% of communist party members were women

1928

12\.8% of communist party members were women

1918

5% of voting delegates at party congress were women

* percentage decreased over succeeding years

1919

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

1923

number of schools and pupils were barely half the totals of two years earlier

* many children left school under the NEP

1925

teachers’ wage was a fraction of an industrial workers’

* schools didn’t have proper resources and teachers were very badly paid

1927

survey of schoolchildren aged 11-15 showed they had become increasingly negative towards communism and 50% believed in god

december 1919

‘liquidation of illiteracy’ decreed for all citizens 8-50

* illiterates who refused to learn faced criminal prosecution

1920-26

five million people in european us sis went through literacy courses

1921

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

1921-22

famine used by lenin to demand church give up its valuables for famine relief

* bitter resistance to those sent to seize the valuables
* unarmed civilians fought soldiers equipped with machine guns
* often old men and women

1922

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

april 1932

decree abolished all proletarian artistic and literary organisations, and ordered all artists into one organisation

1932

term ‘socialist realism’ first appears

* depicted life as it ought to be, not what it was
* subjects were men and women inspired by ideals of socialism and building a growing future

1934

union of writers defines ‘socialist realism’ as the definitive soviet artistic method

* stalin liked realism, as it could be easily understood by the masses and told a story
* good for propaganda

1932

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

1918

komsomol (young communist league) set up

* members aged 14 to 28

1927

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

1930

80% of russia’s village churches were closed

1939

only 12/168 bishops active in 1930 were still at liberty

may 1936

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

1935

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

april 1935

politburo decree made violent crimes committed by juveniles from twelve years of age punishable in the same way as those committed by adults

* archives show no actual executions of adolescent hooligans

1941

russia was highly industrialised & urbanised

all russian farms had been collectivised

the free market had been ended

1926-31

in 1926 17% of the population lived in towns

in 1931 33% of the population lived in towns - almost doubled