1.4a How effective was the government in providing social security for the Soviet people between 1917 and 1985? Flashcards
In what year did the Soviet Union reach full employment?
1930
Why was full employment still not providing a successful economy?
Productivity was very low because there was little incentive to work
The average Soviet worker produced ____ of the average British worker
Half
What problems were there around full employment?
People kept changing their jobs in search of a better one
Which person was used in a propaganda campaign to improve productivity in the USSR?
Alexi Stakhanov who was a coal miner who mined 15x the average
Why did full employment give the USSR a particular ideological advantage over the US?
Because they were going through the Wall St Crash at the time
Define Social Policy
Any policy that had an impact on the people
How did full employment actually hinder the Soviet people?
Trade Unions were removed which removed workers rights and worsened their working conditions
Between 1917-53, how did the government ensure a supply of meat to their workforce?
Instructed canteens to keep all rabbits to give to the workforce
In 1930, how did the government provide social benefit in terms of food?
Made cheap food available to all
Between 1917-53, how did the government provide social benefit in terms of clothing?
Work clothing was made free
Between 1917-53, how did the government provide social benefit in terms of rent?
Rent was cheap
Who provided social benefit from 1917-53 when the government wouldn’t?
Trade Unions
Give 4 things that Trade Unions did between 1917-53 to provide social benefit through having a break
- Cheap, subsidised State Resorts
- Allowed 2 weeks paid holiday
- Organised sports meetings and films
- Organised sick pay
What was the government’s healthcare social policy effective in dealing with from 1917-53?
Containing epidemics
How did the government’s healthcare social policy deal with a serious cholera outbreak from 1917-53?
Compulsory vaccination programme set up
Between 1918-20, how many people did lice-spread-typhus kill?
6 million people
What was Lenin’s famous quote on the ‘lice-spread-typhus’ epidemic?
‘Either lice will defeat Socialism or Socialism will defeat lice”
USSR Hospital Beds:
1928 - ______
1939 - ______
USSR Hospital Beds:
1928 - 247,000
1939 - 791,000
Why did the government increase the number of training places to be a doctor during 1917-53?
Many doctors had fled or been purged
How many places did the government to train to be a doctor?
1928 - ______
1940 - ______
1928 - 70,000
1940 - 155,000
What was much of the progress in healthcare social policy down to?
Women training to be doctors
What was done due to the lack of doctors between 1917-53?
Sanitary inspectors were given the title of doctor
What was the downside of healthcare social policy for the people?
They had no choice in healthcare and still had to pay for it
How was housing allocation decided from 1917-28?
Depending on party rank
During the industrialisation years, what did the population of Moscow grow to?
1929 - ___ million
1936 - ___ million
1929 - 2.2 million
1936 - 4.1 million
What did the population of Magnitogorsk grow from and to?
1929 - _____
1932 - _____
1929 - 25
1932 - 250,000
Why did housing have communal kitchens?
To discourage criticism of the state in passive conversation
In 1936, what percentage of people lived in:
- More than 1 room - __%
- 1 room - __%
- A kitchen/Corridor - __%
- Dorms - __%
- More than 1 room - 6%
- 1 room - 24%
- A kitchen/Corridor - 5%
- Dorms - 25%
During WW2, what percentage of its housing stock did Stalingrad lose?
90%
During WW2, what proportion of its housing stock did Leningrad lose?
1/3
What was post-war money spent on instead of housing that was needed?
An elaborate underground transport system with propaganda murals
What did the government do in 1921 to combat factories not having enough staff?
Forced people to take any work offered to them
Define Arteli
A group of workers who were paid as a group
Why were the government against the use of Arteli?
They thought it was a backward step
When were there especially large proportions of unemployed people?
At the end of wars
In 1926, how many people were unemployed?
1 million
In what year did ‘Shock-Brigades’ become common?
1929
What were ‘Shock-Brigades’?
Groups of young Communists who worked on construction projects
In what year was employment benefit cancelled?
1930
What did more established groups of skilled workers do to avoid being replaced?
Used discrimination and harassment
Why was the ‘Uninterrupted Work’ initiative and 24-hour shifts used?
To keep machines running constantly
What was done in 1932 to stop workers leaving their jobs in search of better prospects?
A passport system through which rations were decided
By 1937, what percentage of workers changed their job in each quarter of the year?
30%
How did the government reward skilled workers and stop them moving jobs?
Increased the wage gap between skilled and unskilled workers
In what year was absenteeism made a criminal offence with an attached prison sentence?
1931
In what year were ‘Piecework Rates’ introduced?
1934
What were ‘Piecework Rates’?
Where staff were paid according to their output
Why was there still little incentive to work, despite pay rising?
There was nothing to buy in the shops
What was done during WW2 to make up labour shortages?
Women were employed
Labour camp inmates:
1945 - ___ million
1953 - ___ million
Labour camp inmates:
1945 - 1.5 million
1953 - 2.5 million
What did the Soviet Constitution of 1977 promise the people?
The guarantee of employment
Increase in wages from 1967 to 1977 of __%
Increase in wages from 1967 to 1977 of 50%
Wages differences in 1970 were ___ that of the USA
Half
By the end of the 1970s, __% of males over 30 were part of the Communist Party
20%
How did people advance their position through the Nomenklatura system?
Promotions gained higher wages and higher status but you needed a sponsor already in the party
What was a Sanatoria?
A rest home with medical facilites
How many rest homes were there in 1978?
2,000
What were the USSR youth groups for ages:
5-9:
10-14:
15-28:
5-9: Octoberists
10-14: Pioneers
15-28: Komsomol
In which 3 ways did the USSR try to instill Communist ideals into youth
- Education
- Youth Groups
Under Khrushchev and Brezhnev, what areas became more wealthy and received more investment?
Rural areas
By the mid 1970s, the wages of rural workers and urban workers differed by only __%
10%
In what year was a minimum wage introduced?
1956
The annual amount of housing space provided by the State increased from:
1950 - ____ million square meters
1961 - ____ million square meters
1950 - 178 million square meters
1961 - 394 million square meters
What were housing blocks nicknamed as?
Khrushchoby - meaning Khrushchev’s slums
How was house construction made easier in the 1970s?
Built with prefabricated pannels
How did Khrushchev improve material benefits?
Changes the focus to consumer goods
What is the statistic about the 9th FYP?
Higher growth rate of consumer goods than of heavy industry
Between 1950 and 1980, state spending on welfare increased ______
Fivefold
In what year was the retirement age lowered?
1956
In 1956, the pension rate rose higher than _____
Wages
When did peasants receive a pension?
In the Brezhnev era
How did an increase in living standards go on to cause mass uprisings?
Expectations rose and terror was relaxed
In what year was there an uprising in Hungary against the Soviet rule?
1956
In what year was there Czechoslovakian unrest against Soviet rule?
1968
In what year were there Polish protests over food prices?
1980
How was Soviet military intervention avoided in the 1980 Polish protests?
The Polish government declared Martial law to prop up the regime
In what year was there unrest in Temirtau?
1959
What happened to cause the 1959 uprisings in Temirtau?
A lack of food in the new industrial town and Polish and East German workers were being paid more
What was did the protestors in Temirtau do?
Burned down the canteen and hanged the local police cheif
In what year was the Novocherkassk unrest over food prices?
1962
Why was there unrest in Novocherkassk? (2)
High food prices
Wages went down
What was the slogan of the Novocherkassk protests?
‘Cut up Khrushchev for sausages’
How many people were killed in the Novocherkassk protests?
70
How did the Soviet government sold the Novocherkassk protest?
Extra food supplies were rushed there immediately
In what year was there an assassination attempt on Khrushchev by a mentally ill person?
1969
In what year were there strikes and riots in Sverdlovsk and Kiev over poor housing?
1969
In what year was the setting up of the ‘Free Trade Union Association’?
1977
What did the ‘Free Trade Union Association’ of 1977 aim to do?
Represent the concerns of the people
What happened to the ‘Free Trade Union Association’?
They were crushed by the government as their leader was evicted from his flat
In what year was a bomb set off in the Moscow Metro?
1977
How did WW2 have an influence on long-term social unrest?
Many fathers were killed and so children grew up without a father figure
What was the divorce rate in 1979?
340 in every 1000 marriages
Between 1940 and 1980, by how much did alcohol consumption rise?
600%
In 1987, how many alcoholics were there?
20 million
What did the 1975 ‘Principles of the Soviet State and Law’ course for youths aim to do?
Make young Soviets aware of their obligations
What were Stilyagi?
Gangs of nonconformists who listened to music in protest
