4. Stalinism - Society in 1930s

Reasons for the Great Retreat (1936)

• Falling birth rate

• High divorce rates

• Family instability

• Population concerns - facing upcoming war, need soldiers

What was the Great Retreat

• Return to traditional family values

• Rejection of earlier radical social policies

• Propaganda:

  • Stalin as “father figure”

• Marriage encouraged

• Traditional gender roles restored

Stats of Great Retreat

By 1937:

91% men married

82% women married

Laws introduced in 1936 for family

Abortion - illegal

Divorce - harder + expensive

Contraception - banned

Large families rewarded - tax benefits + bonuses

Other key familial measures?

Child support = 60% of father’s income

Children (12+) considered adults in the eyes of the state for serious crimes

Did this improve much?

Continued gender inequality

High divorce + abortion rates:
Moscow (1934) - 37% divorce rate

150k Mvs 57k births

Why did Stalin attack religion?

Marxist belief - “religion is the opium of the people”

Seen as
Backward
Anti-communist
Linked to kulaks

Actions took against the Church

80% of village churches closed by 1930

Priest numbers dropped 90% by 1941

Anti-religious propaganda

Sunday abolished

Did religion disappear?

No

1937 census:

500k declared believers

Personal faith remained strong

Institutional religion weakened

What was the Komsomol

Youth organisation (founded 1918)

Promoted loyalty to Communist Party

Growth of Komsomol

1920: 40k

1930: 2+ mil

Role of young people

“Soldiers of production”

Attack bourgeois values

Report dissent

Support Party control in education

What was a “social utility” in education?

Education should serve socialism

Focus on technical skills + production

Changes in education

Expansion of
technical colleges
Universities

150k students in technical courses

Literacy improvements

Pre-revolution urban literacy - 65%

1941:

Urban - 94%

Rural - 86%

Why is literacy important

• Spread propaganda

• Increase control

• Build skilled workforce

Collectivisation consequences

1937 - Kolkhozes dominated countryside
1940 - controlled roughly 4/5 of all sown land

1930-1 - 2 mil “kulaks” deported
Fractured village communities
Embedded fear + mistrust between people + Party

How did the State control peasants

Surveillance perturbed everyday rural life - OGPU + administration

Significant change from Leninism - did not reach rural areas

1932 - introduced passport system

Schooling improvements

Literacy rose - 1941, 91%
Major gender gaps however

More rural residents reached by propaganda + instructions