Full Employment and Social Benefits, 17-53 Flashcards
When did Lenin publish the Declaration of the Rights of Toiling and Exploited People?
1918
What were the two principles of the Declaration of the Rights of Toiling and Exploited People?
- Private ownership of land abolished so that money couldn’t be made just by owning something
- Universal labour duty to ensure that capitalists had to work rather than depend on the work of others
How many people were unemployed in Russia in October 1918? Why?
100,000. This was because nearly 600 industrial enterprises had had to close due to the revolutions and Russia’s withdrawal from the First World War.
Who were “bourgeois specialists”?
Former factory owners who ran the factories and organised production. They were paid not for owning the factory but for the work they did there.
What government measure brought widespread unemployment to an end?
In September 1918, compulsory labour was introduced for all able bodied men aged between 16 and 50
What were workers during War Communism given in return for their work?
Work cards which entitled them to rations
How were rations distributed under War Communism?
The population was split into 6 class according to occupation and then food was distributed according to how low the class was.
Who were “the former people”?
The class who received the least rations in the War Communism rationing system, comprised of aristocrats and former factory owners. They only received 25% of what workers got.
Who organised rationing?
Prodraspred
What additional benefits did work cards bring to people in Moscow and Petrograd?
- Public transport
- Access to dining halls which allegedly fed 90% of Moscow’s population
- Access to laundry services
- Creche places
What special privilege did Party members enjoy during War Communism?
Special member-only shops were opened up supplying food and goods that were otherwise scarce.
How did compulsory labour during War Communism prove unsuccessful?
There weren’t enough jobs to go around, especially as factories started to close in July 1920 due to fuel shortages. As a result, the government forced people to go and scavenge for food and fuel so they were doing something.
How did government provision during War Communism prove unsuccessful?
It never provided more than 50% of the food and fuel people needed to be able to survive. This meant people fled the city to find work and food in the countryside - the population of Petrograd halved.
How much did the industrial workforce decline by during the Civil War?
25%
Why did unemployment surge again after the Civil War?
- The Red Army were demobilise meaning soldiers had to try and find work again
- Urban workers came home but found it difficult to get jobs
- The NEP led to redundancies in an effort to “rationalise” government industry
- Around 225,000 administrators were fired by the government
What proportion of the unemployed in 1922 were women?
60%
What was the 1922 Labour Law?
It gave unions the right to negotiate binding agreements with employers on pay and working conditions
What benefits were introduced for workers in the 1920s?
- Social insurance for 9 million
- Government funded education
What caused full employment?
Stalin’s rapid industrialisation
How did Stalin’s economic policies affect working conditions?
They deteriorated as the focus was put on speedy construction rather than clean and safe workspaces.
What labour discipline reforms did Stalin instate?
- Lateness was criminalised
- 1922 Labour Law was repealed
- Damaging factory property was criminalised
- Strikes were banned
What was Stalin’s “continuous working week”?
The weekend was abolished and instead workers were given a different day off every week to allow factories and mines to operate 7 days a week.
How did Stalin stop workers moving around to find better pay?
In 1940 it was made illegal to change jobs and internal passports were introduced to inhibit free movement
How did the Five Year Plans impact benefits?
- By 1933 most Soviet citizens had electricity
- Passenger traffic on railways went up 400%
- The Moscow Metro opened in 1935
- Mass vaccination campaigns against smallpox, malaria set up
- Canteens ensured the workforce were fed
