Employment, Housing & Welfare (Lenin & Stalin) Flashcards
JAN MOCK
1
Q
5 year plans & employment
A
- weren’t launched to create full employment but this was achieved as a side effect of the push to industrialise
- number of hired workers rose from 11.6 mil (1928) to 27 mil (1937)
- excessive targets forced factories to use every labour source available
2
Q
what was work like (stalin)?
A
- hard, repetitive & challenging
- lack of modern tech meant mostly manual work, putting serious pressure on the labour force
- restrictions placed on trade unions = no longer allowed to negotiate with managers to improve working conditions meant they were poor & little attention to basic health & safety
3
Q
unemployment benefit (stalin)?
A
- oct 1930 = cancelled due to full employment
- trade unions were left to provide social insurance like compensation for injury out of their own funds
4
Q
productivity in 5 yr plans
A
- low = in 1927, the average soviet worker produced 1/2 of a british worker
- it increased during the plans with machinery but still lagged behind the west
5
Q
shifts during 5 yr plans
A
- managers used uninterrupted shifts so that machines were used 24 hrs to meet production targets
6
Q
labour shortages under 5 yr plans
A
- workers constantly moved jobs to find better employment
- government issued internal passports in 1932 to keep workers where needed
- even by 1937 = 30% urban workers changed jobs every 1/4
7
Q
wage differences with 5 yr plans
A
- 1931 = increased between skilled & unskilled workers to try & reward workers & stop them from moving jobs
- 1934 = use of piecework rates expanded
8
Q
rations & stuff (5 yr plans)
A
1932 = better rations & bonuses introduced
9
Q
motivation for the workforce (5 yr plans)
A
- honours & medals
- example = alexei stakhanovite
- new flats & bigger rations for model workers
10
Q
what was there an increase of in 5 yr plans?
A
absenteeism
11
Q
what had to be used to meet the need (5 yr plans)?
A
slave labour
12
Q
work = collectivisation (stalin)
A
- brought large numbers of peasants to towns & cities
- still by 1932 there were labour shortages
- division in the workplace due to the swamping of old industrial workers by new peasant recruits
13
Q
lenin housing
A
- 1917 = began programme of confiscating large houses from the rich & partitioning them & renting to working families
- in reality = not enough housing for all
14
Q
stalin housing - strain
A
- enormous growth of towns & industrial centres but strain on housing
- received few resources & was low priority
15
Q
population stats - stalin
A
- moscow = nearly doubled from 1929-36
- magnitogorsk = 25 people in 1929 to 250,000 in 1932
16
Q
housing resources issue - stalin
A
- often non-existent due to the rush to industrialise
- workers slept in tents, makeshift huts or in the factories
- conditions improved to drab barracks in the 30s
17
Q
apartments under stalin
A
- built where resources allowed
- built to promote communism = kitchens often communal
- allocation of a modern apartment with running water, electricity & central heating was only a realistic hope for workers who showed good commitment to the plan
18
Q
welfare under stalin - can- clo-
A
- by the 30s = canteens provided cheap food
- during difficult years they were instructed to keep rabbits for a reliable meat source
- work clothes free of charge
19
Q
by 1953…
A
- average worker likely to be employed, housed & have basic social services
- life was harsh & services remained primitive in rural areas
- socialist utopia had not been achieved yet
20
Q
trade unions
A
- provided social benefits = sports facilities, meetings & film shows
- workers’ 2 week paid leave often spent on subsidised hols to state resorts
- organised sick pay
21
Q
general healthcare under lenin
A
- good at containing epidemics despite resource shortages
- 1921 = compulsory vax programme for cholera epidemic implemented
- 1918-20 = lice-spread typhus caused 6 mil deaths
- patients had no choice in healthcare & had to pay for all medicines (though heavily subsidised)
22
Q
doctor issue
A
- many fled after revolution
- gov forced to increase number of training places on offer
- increased from 70,000 (1928) to 155,000 (1940)
- beds = 247,000 to 800,000 in 1939
- sanitation taken seriously = inspectors given status of doctors
23
Q
work under lenin’s initial reforms
A
- 1918-21 collapse of industrial production = workers returning to the country for reliable food supply
- factories found themselves without sufficient workers
24
Q
work under war communism
A
- 1918 = labour conscription - forced to take next job offered if unemployed - ensured the red army was supplied
- labour exchanges established to supervise hiring workers but not used as people were scared of having to do a difficult job
25
Q
arteli
A
- groups of workers in the same trade were used in recruitment labour
- pooled their tools together to meet seasonal activities & work on construction projects
- considered backwards by gov but use of shock brigades later shows they took inspo
26
Q
why did unemployment skyrocket before NEP?
A
- end of civil war = pressure to labour market
- red army demobilised - millions returned to cities for work
- food shortages in the country = peasants moved to cities
27
Q
unemployment stat under lenin
A
1 mil by 1926
28
Q
wages under NEP
A
- differentials grow = skilled workers begin demanding more than unskilled
- encouraged by shortage of skilled after CW
