culture and society Flashcards
How did Culture have a significant place in USSR?
used to promote propaganda, and transform society
How many schools were closed and destroyed by 1941?
40,000
What was different about Sunday?
abolished as a day of rest - any day within 6 day week
How many priests were imprisoned during the purges?
4000
How did Soviet Muslims suffer?
had their property and institutions seized
What was banned for Soviet muslims in 1935?
Pilgramage to Mecca
What other religions were persecuted?
Jewish and Buddhist institutions closed
What did Trotsky call Stalin’s social policies?
the ‘Great Retreat’ - retreat from social experiments of 1920s
What did Stalin introduce in 1936?
the ‘family code’
What did the family code make illegal?
abortion, contraception,
What did the family code make more difficult to obtain?
divorce - also gave tax breaks to mothers with 6 or more children
How did the number of abortions drop from 1935 to 1939?
1.9 million - 755,000
How many women were wokring in 1940 compared to 1928
3 million - 13 million
What were women encouraged to do?
give up paid work when married
What % of men and women were married in 1937?
91% men 82% women
What were working women expected to do/
housework and childcare
What did education prioritise in the 1920s?
ideology over knowledge.
What was stalins opinion on the 1920s education policies?
as a disaster, failing to produce skilled workers, scientists and technicians.
What did the school system abandon in 1935?
a quota system - instead accepted most able, no preference.
What did secondry schools curriculum include?
promoted nationalism and military training.
What did Stalin reintroduce that Leninn banned?
exams
How many people were literate before 1917?
65%
How many people were literate by 1941?
94% towns and cities
86% countryside
What was the Komsomol?
Soviet youth organisation
What ages did the Komsomol for?
10-28 year olds, 10-15 ‘young pioneersWh
at did the komsomol encourage?
Socialist values - organising voluntary work,
against selfish or unhealthy behaviour (like drinking)
What were available for Young Pioneers?
Free summer and winter holiday camps
When did the komsomol become directly affiliated with the Communist part?
1939
What did members of the Komsomol take in their oath?
to live, study and fight for the fatherland
What did the Komsomol help to do?
many mega-projects such as Magnitogorsk and Komsomolsk
What was one reason why children 12 or older could be tried as adults?
the regime linked orphans and abandoned children to ‘hooliganism’
However how was ‘hooliganism’ rare?
only a minority interested in western culture
How did stalinism affect working men?
affected them badly
Where did skilled working men get better opportunities than unskilled working men?
training and education - former peasants found harsh labour difficult
What movement gave skilled workers power over managers?
the Stakhanovite movement from 1935
How were living conditions for unskilled poor?
overcrowded, with little/no privacy
What was a positive
