Chapter nineteen - Culture and society Flashcards
How did religious schools come under attack?
Religious schools were closed and teaching of religious creeds forbidden. By 1941, nearly 40,000 churches had been destroyed.
What happened to religious days?
Sunday was abolished as a religious day of rest. Workers worked for 6 days a week with one-sixth of all workers having a day off during the week.
How many priests were victims of the purges?
Over 4000 priests were imprisoned
How did religious practises decline?
By 1939 only 1 in 40 churches were still functioning and only seven bishops were still active in the whole of the Soviet Union.
How many members did the Union of the Militant Godless have?
By 1933 it had 5.5 million members
How were Muslims targeted?
Only 1300 mosques were still operating in 1941 as against 26,000 in 1917.
What happened to the age of legal responsibility?
1935 passed a new law lowering the age to 12. This allowed children to be treated like adults in the law and receive adult punishments, including the death penalty.
How was divorce made more difficult to get?
1936 - it got more expensive with each subsequent divorce to put people off divorcing. Also both parties were required to attend in court and agree
When was abortion banned?
1936 and newspapers printed horror stories about abortion to put women off. Lots of illegal abortions did occur. The birth rate did rise from 25 to 31 per year in every 1000
How was abortion covered by the media?
Court cases of husbands who forced wives to have an abortion, or of illegal abortionists were given full media coverage
Did the literacy rate increase?
Literacy drive - from 65% in 1917 to 94% (towns) and 85% (countryside) by 1941 of ages 9 - 14
What was the Great retreat?
The Great Retreat was a policy introduced by Stalin which promoted traditional family values
What was the effect of the great retreat on abortion?
The number of abortions dropped sharply from 1.9 million in 1935 to 570,000 in 1937
There were still 150,000 abortions to every 57,000 live births
What was the effect of the great retreat on women in the workplace?
Women’s place in the workplace - factories and collective farms - increased. In 1928 there were 3m women in paid work and by 1940 there were 13m
What was the effect of the great retreat on marriage?
Encouraging traditional marriage meant that 91% of men and 82% of women were married. Divorce was high though - 37% of marriages in Moscow in 1934
What was the effect of the 1936 constitution on religion?
Publication of religious propaganda was criminalised
What happened to country village churches?
By the end of the 1930s, 80% had been closed
What happened to the number of priests?
Number of acting Orthodox priests fell from 60,000 in the 1920s to only 5665 by 1941.
By 1939, only 12 / 168 bishops active in 1930 well still at liberty
How many people were still religious?
According to the 1937 census, over half a million Soviet citizens described themselves as religious
How many marriages were there for every divorce?
3.5 marriages for every 1 divorce
What was the new school structure?
Nursery schools at 3 years, infant schools until 7 years and secondary schools until 15 years
What happened in selective secondary schools?
Core subjects were reading, writing and science with 30% of time devoted to Russian language and literature, 20% to maths, 15% to science and 10% to Soviet style history.
What happened to the school quota system?
The quota system, whereby a high proportion of working class children were given places at secondary school was abandoned in 1935 and selection reappeared for all. This meant that the able received a strong academic education.
What happened to teachers?
Teachers were given a higher status and were increasingly likely to be party members. They were closely watched and could be arrested if they failed to leave high standards under the Stakhanovite system
