Changes to living and working conditions of the rural and urban people. Flashcards
1
Q
By the end of the 19th century, what percentage of Russian people lived in towns and cities?
A
- 15% in Russian towns and cities.
- compares to 80% in Britain.
2
Q
Evidence of urbanisation in Russia by 1914:
A
- By 1914 the populations of Riga and Kiev almost doubled.
3
Q
Evidence of the impact of urbanisation on the people:
A
-A survey from the Congress of the Struggle Against Alcoholism in 1910 found that 93% of workers drank heavily.
4
Q
By 1914 how many towns in Russia had access to electricity and gas?
A
- Only 74/1000 towns had access to electricity.
- 35/1000 had access to gas.
- 38 had sewage systems.
5
Q
How many people died from cholera in St Petersburgh in 1910?
A
- 100,000
- Conditions improved in 1911 when a sewage system was imposed, shows politicians willing to act when situations became desperate.
6
Q
What was life like in barracks?
A
- hastily built and overcrowded.
- workers usually slept in workshops.
- skills workers were somewhat better off as they could afford to rent private rooms.
7
Q
How did the Bolsheviks Decree on Peace change living conditions?
A
- Dwellings in towns and cities to be given over to the proletariat.
- To ensure this was done fairly, redistribution was in the hands of the soviets.
8
Q
Evidence of poor housing conditions under Stalin’s rule:
A
- In Moscow in the 1930’s, 25% of people were living in one room, shared between two or more households.
-5% live in a bathroom, kitchen or corridor. - Part of Stalins policy to allocate space rather than rooms.
9
Q
How many Russian people became homeless after WW2?
A
25 million.
10
Q
How did Khrushchev address the housing issue between 1955-1964?
A
- housing stock doubled , principles of communal living abandoned.
- emergence of hosing cooperatives - benefited better off professionals who could afford to pay deposits on new cooperative hosing.
- they ere also fine first pickings over new state housing.
11
Q
What was housing like for peasants for the majority of the period?
A
- Peasants mainly lived in izba’s - a single room wooden hut.
- Animals were also housed in the huts.
- quality of life was poor in the huts, however peasants had control over how their accomodation could be used.
12
Q
How did rural housing change under Stalin?
A
- Construction of special housing blocks located on the periphery of collective farms.
13
Q
How did rule housing change under Khrushchev?
A
- wanted to build self-contained agro-towns.
- they were built cheaply and of a poor standard.
- accommodation became overcrowded and they began to experience the. public health issues found in towns and cities.
14
Q
What were the general reasons for famines in Russia?
A
- a tendency towards monoculture.
- the restrictive practices of the mir - eg the mir insisting on growing certain crops.
- severe weather conditions.
- government policies such as grain requisitioning and collectivisation.
15
Q
How did Alex II deal with the potential for food shortages in Russia?
A
- In 1864 he places the Zemstva in charge of drawing up emergency measures to deal with famines.
16
Q
What was the 1891 famine a result of?
A
- Adverse weather.
- the famine was made worse by outbreaks of cholera and typhus.
- Vyshnegradsky (finance minister) was also blamed - he had raised the tax on consumer foods which meant that the population had to pay more for every day items - peasants sold off their grain to cope with the inflated prices.
17
Q
How many people died as a result of the 1891 famine?
A
350,000.
18
Q
How did Alex III respond to the 1891 famine?
A
- Banned the exports of grain.
- Sets up the Special Committee of Famine Relief.
- for most this was too little too late and provided incentive to join an emerging revolutionary group.
19
Q
Why were there food shortages during WW1?
A
- In the first three years of war there were good harvests, but they often went to feeding troops.
- Inadequate transport infrastructure meant that it was difficult to transport food into urbanised areas.
- the queue for bread was often 8 hours long.
20
Q
Why was there a food crisis in 1918?
A
- Peasants continued to hoard food after land was lost in the treaty of Brest-litovsk.
- Bolsheviks responded by introducing grain requisitioning.
21
Q
How did the Bolsheviks blame for food shortages in 1918?
A
- Kulaks.
- By 1920, Cheka and the Red Army were instructed to seize all food supplies for redistribution and not just surpluses.
- Contributes to the 1921 famine.
22
Q
What was the 1921 famine a result of?
A
- Bolsheviks grain requisitioning policies.
- Droughts and severe winters in 1920-21.
- Ukranian food production fell by 20%.
- Civil War essentially shut down Russian railway systems making it difficult to transport food.
23
Q
What was the impact of the 1921 famine?
A
- 5 million people died.
24
Q
What was Lenin’s response to the 1921 famine?
A
- Lenin partly to blame for the severity of the famine.
- Reluctant to accept aid from the American Relief Administration.
- Charitable aid was treated with suspicion - members of relief agencies were arrested by the Cheka and exiled.
25
What was the famine of 1932-34 a result of?
- First phases of collectivisation.
- Poor harvests due to poor weather conditions.
26
How did Stalin respond to the famine of 1932-34?
- death penalty imposed for stealing grain.
- peasants who ate their own seed corn were shot.
- discussion of the grain crisis was banned.
27
How did workers diets change under the communists?
- arguably worsened.
- by the 1930's meat and fish consumption had fallen 80%.
28
What were rural working conditions like before the Bolsheviks?
- had limited government interference.
- their work was dictated by natures clock.
- the only restrictions came from the mir.
29
How did rural working conditions change under the communists?
- production and methods of farming were dictated by the government.
- collectivisation meant that peasants had to work cooperatively.
- peasants who did not toe the party line were liable to be punished severely.
30
What were the reasons for poor urban working confusions?
- there was no factory inspectorate until 1882. - working condition were often dangerous and unhealthy.
- even when the inspectorate was introduced they were inefficient - eg the employment of children under 12 continued because they were unlikely to be found out.
31
What was the Rabkrin introduced in 1920?
- Workers and peasants inspectorate introduced by the communists.
- Step backwards - talking shop rather than one that enforced industrial law.
- fines of 10% of wages were often used for petty wrongdoings.
32
What were working hours like under Stalin's five-year plans?
- 10-12 hour working days.
- drops down to 7 hours - workers were rewarded for implementing their 5 year plans.
33
What were working hours like under Khrushchev?
- 7 hour working day was the norm.
- wanted to move away from the oppressive stalinist years.
