Culture and Society- Complete

Question 1

Religious legacy under Lenin?

Answer 1

Allowed freedom of religious worship whilst destroying the Orthodox church. Church lands were seized, births, marriages and deaths were secularised and priests were persecuted

Question 2

In 1927 what did the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church offer?

Answer 2

To stay out of politics in return for recognition of the Orthodox church

Question 3

Orthodox Church under Stalin?

Answer 3

Came more under attack, religious schools were closed down and the teaching of religious creeds were forbidden, worship was restricted and many churches were physically destroyed

Question 4

What was abolished between 1929 and 1940?

Answer 4

The holy day of Sunday
Workers were employed for 6 days a week
Sixth of workers having each day off

Question 5

Stalin’s 1936 Constitution?

Answer 5

Criminalised the publication or organisation of religious propaganda- priests did regain the right to vote however

Question 6

Priests as victims?

Answer 6

Victims of the 1930s purges- accused of political involvement and large numbers were deported to the Gulags

Question 7

How did Soviet Muslims suffer?

Answer 7

Property and institutions were seized and their Sharia laws abolished
Pilgrimages to Mecca were forbidden and frequency of prayers, feasts and fasts reduced
The wearing of a veil was forbidden

Question 8

What outcome of the persecution of the Muslims would Stalin have been happy with?

Answer 8

The emergence of the split within the Islamic Church where a new Mosque movement taking place taking a pro-Soviet line

Question 9

Negative social consequence of Muslim persecution?

Answer 9

Traditionalist Muslims murdered those who obeyed Soviet injunctions

Question 10

How did persecution extend to the Jewish community?

Answer 10

Jewish schools and synagogues were closed down

Question 11

By 1941 how many Christian churches had been closed down?

Answer 11

40,000

Question 12

By 1941 how many Mosques had been closed down?

Answer 12

25,000

Question 13

What were churches and mosques converted into?

Answer 13

Schools, cinemas, clubs, warehouses, museums

Question 14

In 1937 census how many people described themselves as religious believers?

Answer 14

Over half a million- with the real number being a lot higher

Question 15

How effective was Stalin’s attempt to destroy religion?

Answer 15

Unsuccessful it was impossible to destroy all religious beliefs

Question 16

Why would Marx have supported religious persecution?

Answer 16

He saw it as the upper class peoples excuses to justify their power of the people

Question 17

Role of women under Lenin?

Answer 17

He had praised enthusiastically the new liberation of women, where sex discrimination was outlawed, divorce and abortion made easier and women took jobs along side men. Family was a bourgeois relic of society

Question 18

What was Stalin’s ‘Great Retreat’?

Answer 18

Conscious rejection of post revolutionary experiments as he reverted to more traditional policies. The family became the main propaganda campaign where the father was presented as the ideal family man and divorce and abortion were attacked

Question 19

What caused the Great Retreat?

Answer 19

Population growth fell
Family break ups
Fear of war

Question 20

How was the importance of marriage emphasised?

Answer 20

Wedding rings were introduced, new marriage certificates were issued

Question 21

How did the presentation of women change?

Answer 21

Women’s image as muscular in the 1920s was replaced in films with females being portrayed as feminine family women

Question 22

When was the family code created?

Answer 22

1936

Question 23

Terms of family code?

Answer 23

Abortion= illegal - would increase birth rate
Divorce made more difficult- cost more, both parties had to attend
Mothers with over 6 children had tax exemptions
Children who committed violent crimes were treated as adults when over 12#
Adultery criminalised

Question 24

Did divorce rates improve?

Answer 24

No, they remained high e.g. 37% in Moscow

Question 25

Did women working in factories decrease?

Answer 25

No it increased, large numbers also worked on collective farms where conditions were poor

Question 26

How many abortions were there to live births?

Answer 26

157,000 abortions to 57,000 live births

Question 27

What percentage of men and women in their 30s were marriage in 1937?

Answer 27

91% of men | 82% of women

Question 28

Consequence of being single?

Answer 28

Less likely to be employed and would not get compensation, women therefore often turned to prostitution

Question 29

Was there a significant change for women in the 1930s?

Answer 29

No, poorer women were still expected to look after their children and homes even though they had the additional burden of contributing more to the full-time work force as part of the drive to construct socialism

Question 30

Education in the 1920s?

Answer 30

Key to building a socialist structure | Was free for everyone

Question 31

Stalin's opinion on 1920's education?

Answer 31

Failing to produce skilled workers, scientists and technicians

Question 32

School structure under Stalin?

Answer 32

Provided by Narkompros (the people's commissariat for Education) which provided nursery schools for children at 3 years, infant schools until 7 years and secondary school until at least 15 years. Adult educations institutions were also established

Question 33

What did Stalin abandon in 1935?

Answer 33

The quota system where a high proportion of working class children were given places at secondary schools

Question 34

What were selective secondary schools?

Answer 34

They had a rigid academic curriculum, formal teaching, report cards and uniforms where the core subjects were reading, writing and science. Nationalism was promoted and military training was incorporated

Question 35

What was encouraged in schools for the less able?

Answer 35

Increasing the amount of practical work to help with the industrial drive

Question 36

Role of teachers within society?

Answer 36

Their loyalty increased their likelihood of being a party member However teachers and university lecturers were closely watched and could be arrested if they failed to live up to the expected high targets If students failed they could be blamed and purged

Question 37

Success of 1930s education?

Answer 37

Spread of literacy especially in rural areas- by 1941 94% if the 9-49 age group were literate and 86% were in the countryside - this was a success for the party as it meant that more of the population could understand the propaganda

Question 38

What was Komsomol?

Answer 38

Youth organisation that catered for those 10-28 , where communist values were taught

Question 39

What did Komsomol discourage?

Answer 39

Smoking, drinking and religion

Question 40

What did Komsomol encourage?

Answer 40

Volunteer social work, sports, political and drama clubs were organised to inspire socialist values

Question 41

Members oath to Komsomol?

Answer 41

To live, study and fight for the Fatherland and help carry out party campaigns and assisted the Red Army and Police

Question 42

What was Komsomolskaia Pravda?

Answer 42

A Newspaper encouraging young people to respect their parents

Question 43

Who did Stalin's policies most benefit?

Answer 43

Skilled workers- spread of technical education, more opportunities for training, introduction of wage differentials and the Stakhonivite movement, workers therefore found new ways to improve themselves

Question 44

How did unskilled workers suffer?

Answer 44

They were unused to the harsh labour discipline, and would often move from place to place to avoid staying in one place too long to avoid a bad working record

Question 45

Living conditions for workers?

Answer 45

Overcrowded and put a strain on family life- there was little privacy Petty crime and drinking flourished

Question 46

What was a kommunalka?

Answer 46

A communal dwelling or housing bloc where most urban families lived, space was allocated according to family size, with each family having its own room, serving as a living, dining and bedroom

Question 47

Conditions in the streets?

Answer 47

Many cities were without sewage, street lighting and public transport despite the showcase of the Moscow metro Water was rationed Considerable hooliganism and urban violence

Question 48

1933 worst living conditions?

Answer 48

Overall food consumption was lower than it was in 1900 and meat consumption was a third of the 1928 figure Black market was depended on for survival

Question 49

Who coped better with the Stalin's changes?

Answer 49

Urban workers- changes were fewer, at least factory workers had regulated hours and wages and could benefit from work canteens and even shops providing goods for employees to buy- peasants had all produce taken from them

Question 50

Who coped better when the war came?

Answer 50

Peasants they had their private land to fall back on | Rural communities became very harsh and rationing was reintroduced

Question 51

What was a socialist man?

Answer 51

A person who was publicly engaged and committed to the community - had a profound sense of social responsibility

Question 52

What was the attitude to independent thoughts?

Answer 52

Was viewed as a curse rather than something to be admired

Question 53

Socialist man- urban or rural?

Answer 53

Urban | Unlikely to be rural as a backwards peasant could be influenced by outdated religious beliefs

Question 54

How did the creation of the Socialist man influence industry?

Answer 54

Industrial city complexes were built where the socialist man could flourish- one where the community took precedence over the individual and behaviour was held up to the scrutiny of neighbours

Question 55

Scientist Lysenko outlook on the Socialist man?

Answer 55

``` If the socialist man acquired the right characteristics- these could be passed on through the generations, therefore old class enemies attitudes could be eliminated Discredited by scientists outside the USSR ```

Question 56

How successful was Stalin at imposing a refined culture?

Answer 56

The most popular cultural value= the cinema, where Hollywood movies appeared more popular than Soviet propagandist films Argument that only 1/5 Soviet workers supported the Stalin regime

Question 57

How much influence did Lenin have in Stalin's culture?

Answer 57

``` Stalin used methods in which Lenin had established- internal security services and class warfare Argument that Stalin undermined Lenin's work rather than continued it ```

Question 58

Similarities between Lenin and Stalin USSR culture?

Answer 58

Both controlled a one party state Both had a secret police Centralised state