Culture and Society Flashcards
How did marx describe religion?
as the ‘opium of the people’
How did Lenin destroy much of the earthly power of the Russian Orthodox Church?
- church lands seized
- births, marriages and deaths and schools secularised
Who was the patriarch of the Orthodox Church who made a promise to stay out of politics in return for State recognition of the Orthodox church in 1927?
Sergius
Under Stalin how did the Orthodox Church find itself under a more direct attack? (2)
religious schools closed down
teaching of religious creeds forbidden
How was worship restricted under Stalin?
to ‘registered congregations’
Between what years was the holy day of Sunday abolished?
1929-1940
How many days of the week were workers employed?
6/7
In what year was there a brief relaxation of the anti-religious camp again which vigorously renewed after the terror extended?
1935
What did Stalin’s 1936 constitution criminalise?
the publication or organisation of religious propaganda
Who regained the right to wrote in Stalin’s 1936 constitution which they had lost in 1918?
priests
In what decade did large numbers of priests get sent to the gulags for accused political involvement?
1930’s
how did orthodox congregations survive?
as priests were supported by voluntary donations
What happened to Soviet mosques?
their Sharia courts were abolished
From what year were pilgrimages to Mecca forbidden?
1935
What happened to those who obeyed Soviet injunctions in Asian muslim communities?
they were murdered by traditionalists
As well as attacks on Orthodox church, Jews and Muslims who else were there attacks on? (3)
Buddhist institutions, the Armenian and Georgian Churches
By 1941 how many Christian churches and Muslim mosques had been closed and converted into schools, cinemas, clubs and warehouses?
40,000 churches and 25,000 Muslim mosques
In the 1937 consensus how many Soviet citizens described themselves as religious believers?
over half a million
under the new liberation of women, what was outlawed?
sex discrimination
What was the family first seen as in Soviet society?
as a relic of a bourgeois society
IN what year did Russia become the first european country to legalise abortion in an attempt to give women the freedom of choice?
1929
What led Stalin to revert to more traditional policies during the 1930’s?
the fall in population growth combined with family breakups with the legalisation of divorce onto of the purges and poor living conditions
What was the “Great Retreat”?
this was a conscious rejection of the social experiment of the post-revolutionary period which had rejected the ‘family’ as a relic of a bourgeois society
How did Stalin use ‘family’ propaganda?
he presented himself as a father figure and the ideal family man.
How were woman portrayed in 1920’s Russian film and and art?
as muscular, plainly dress women who helped to build Soviet Russia
When was the new ‘family code’ put forward following a decision of the Central Committee which
- made illegal abortion
- difficult to get divorce
- contraception banned
- mothers of 6+ received tax exemptions
- Children who committed violent crimes 12+ treated like adults
- adultery criminalised
June 1936
Under the June 1936 ‘family code’ following a decision of the Central Committee, what was put in place (6)
- made illegal abortion
- difficult to get divorce
- contraception banned
- mothers of 6+ received tax exemptions
- Children who committed violent crimes 12+ treated like adults
- adultery criminalised
What had the decline of family life come to be considered as?
as a great social evil
Despite the new emphasis on family life and the encouragement for women to give up paid employment when they married, what happened to the numbers of women working in factories?
they continued to increase and large numbers also worked on the collective farms
What was the divorce rate in Moscow in 1934?
37%
How many abortions were there to ever 57,000 births in Moscow in 1934?
150,000
What % of men and women were married by 1937?
91% of men and 82% of women
What years showed a decline in population growth?
1929-1940
When did female participation in high Party politics decline?
1930’s
What were poorer women expected to do, regardless of their children?
they were expected to look after their children and homes with the additional burden of contributing more to the full time work force as part of the drive to construct socialism
What happened to teachers in Soviet russia?
the traditional teachers were replaced by more committed communists
Which students were given priority on higher education courses?
Students from a proletariat background
What education was provided for children?
nursery for 3 years, infant until 7 years, secondary until 15 years
Under who’s control were universities put under as they were seen as agencies for delivering economic growth?
the economic planning agency, the Veshenka
IN what year was the quota system which gave a high proportion of working class children places at secondary school abandoned , and replaced by selection which included non-prolertariats?
1935
Why was there an emphasis put on the higher training of specialists?
as they could help the industrialisation drive
Where was the teaching of the importance of duty and loyalty for the party fostered?
at all levels
Who were given a higher status and were likely to become party members?
teachers
teachers were encouraged to set high targets for themselves and their students under the Stakhanovite system, what could happen to themselves or students if these high targets were not met?
arrested and purged
What was the striking success of education in the 1930s?
the spread of literary, even in rural areas
What was incorporated into the selective secondary schools in the years before the war?
military training
What % of the population had been literate before the revolution?
65%
By 1941 what % of the 9-49 age range were literate in towns and countryside?
94% in towns
86% in countryside
Why was literacy particularly desirable for Stalin?
as this allowed the population to more readily absorb the all-perusaviive propaganda
What happened to the number of working class students reaching university and higher classes at secondary level after the quota system was replaced with selection?
it fell
From what year did the youth organisation “Komosomol” cater for those aged 10-28?
1926
What did the organisation “Komsomol” teach?
communist values
what was discouraged under the organisation “Komsomol”?
smoking, drinking and religion
What was set up for 10-15 year old “Young Pioneers”? (3)
special palaces which acted as community centres and free summer schools and winter holiday camps
What year did Komsomol become directly affiliated to the Party?
1939
After 1939 when the Komsomol became directly affiliated to the Party, members took an oath to do what?
to live, study and fight for the fatherland and carry out part campaigns and assist the Red Army and police
What was published as a youth newspaper which encouraged young people to respect their parents?
Komosomolskaia Pravada
What was the Komosomolskaia Pravada?
this was a youth newspaper which encouraged young people to respect their parents
Many members of Komsomol became very enthusiastic about the industrialisation drive and joined activist groups flocking to projects such as what?
Magnitogorsk
While some opted out of the Komsomol and others joined small secret oppositional youth organisations, what direct confrontation to the Soviet system frequent?
no it was very rare
Who did the best out of Stanilist policies?
the skilled workers
How did determined and loyal workers find new ways to improve themselves under Stalinist policies? (3)
- with the spread of technical education
- introduction of wage differentials
- Stakhanovite movement
While for some there were wage rises as acquired expertise became more desired, why did this fall in 1940/41?
due to the approach of war
Why were working men likely to move around from job to job?
as many were unskilled and former peasants who were unused to the strict labour disciplines
What proliferated during the 1930’s with working men?
Petty crime and hard drinking
Why were many workers forced to conceal their backgrounds?
as it would be a disadvantage to come from a former bourgeoise background or purged family
