Industrial Workers

Question 1

What did Alexander II introduce?

Answer 1

New Work Disciplines, which were foreign to the rural world

Question 2

What were there periods of hardship and unemployment under the Tsars?

Answer 2

Due to trade depressions

Question 3

What was a consequence of workers gaining communication with the West?

Answer 3

New political ideas were spread such as Marxism

Question 4

What was a common feature of the Tsarist era?

Answer 4

Strikes were a common feature, although they were banned in 1885 after the Morozov Dye Works strike involving 8,000 workers

Question 5

What did the workers have in terms of political rights under the Tsars?

Answer 5

They had no political rights, as they could not vote in the Duma elections due to restrictions on the franchise

Question 6

How many people were employed in full time work at its height in the Tsarist era?

Answer 6

4 million people

Question 7

How much did workers earn per month in the Tsarist era?

Answer 7

The equivalent of £2

Question 8

What was the average working day under the Tsars?

Answer 8

It was around 11 hours, although Alexander III had restricted it to no more that 11.5 hours in 1888

Question 9

How many land passports were issued during the Great Spurt?

Answer 9

7 million land passports were issued to allow peasants to migrate

Question 10

What percentages of Moscow and St Petersburg’s populations were immigrants in the late Tsarist era?

Answer 10

15% of Moscow’s population, 33% of St Petersburg’s population

Question 11

What was the variation in wage rates during and after the Great Spurt between Moscow and Baku?

Answer 11

Moscow was 175 roubles per year, Baku was 360 roubles per year

Question 12

When was medical insurance brought in?

Answer 12

1910 under Nicholas II

Question 13

How many people typically shared a bed in the late Tsarist era as a result of overcrowding?

Answer 13

Four to six people

Question 14

When did a large cholera outbreak occur in St Petersburg under the Tsars and what did it lead to?

Answer 14

It occurred in 1911 and led to a sewage system being introduced

Question 15

When did the Lena Goldfields strike occur and how many people died as a result of it?

Answer 15

1912 and 200 people died

Question 16

What proportion of houses were built from wood during Tsarist industrialisation?

Answer 16

Over half

Question 17

What were houses and streets mainly lit with in the Tsarist era?

Answer 17

Kerosene lamps

Question 18

By 1910 how many towns had access to electricity, gas, had piped water, or a sewage system?

Answer 18

74 towns had access to electricity, 35 to gas, 200 had piped water and 38 had a sewage system

Question 19

What did Alexander III do to attempt to improve working conditions?

Answer 19

He set up a factory inspectorate but it was very limited in its scope and powers, and he also banned children under 12 from working

Question 20

Where did workers in small workshops often sleep during the Tsarist era?

Answer 20

On the floor of their workshops

Question 21

What percentage of families were living in one room shared by other families during the Civil War?

Answer 21

25%

Question 22

What percentage of families lived in a bathroom, kitchen, corridor or hallway during War Communism?

Answer 22

5%

Question 23

What did the Bolsheviks set up as a factory inspectorate?

Answer 23

Rabkrin, but it was just a talking shop

Question 24

What restricted movement during War Communism and the Five-Year Plans?

Answer 24

Passports were reintroduced

Question 25

What were the negative impacts of the NEP?

Answer 25

There were only slow wage rises, resentment of Nepmen and corruption

Question 26

What is an example of slave labour under the Communists?

Answer 26

Belomor Canal during the Five Year Plans

Question 27

What were some rewards for success and meeting targets introduced under the Communists?

Answer 27

The Stakhanovite movement, wage differentials and piece work

Question 28

How was the construction of the metro beneficial under the Communists?

Answer 28

It provided much needed support to workers’ daily lives although it was often overcrowded

Question 29

What were some leisure activities available under the Communists?

Answer 29

There were opportunities to go to the cinema or the theatre even though the performances were filled with propaganda

Question 30

What improvements were there to the working class under the Communists?

Answer 30

The working class became more skilled and better educated, and there were much higher literacy rates after the late 1920s, and workers had more security of employment although initially there was a high labour turnover

Question 31

How was the position of women improved under the Communists?

Answer 31

Creches and canteens were provided, although they were not treated equally to men in the workplace and had less chance of promotion

Question 32

What percentage of the workforce was made up of women during the Five Year Plans?

Answer 32

44%

Question 33

What became of Trade Unions under the Communists?

Answer 33

They became organs of he state, working with old bourgeoisie specialists during the NEP before merging into the state during the Five Year Plans

Question 34

What did living space fall to under the Five Year Plans?

Answer 34

Living space fell from 8.5m² to 5.8m²

Question 35

What benefits came to housing after World War II?

Answer 35

Housing projects were not considered a priority during the Five Year Plans, and under Khrushchev, after the massive devastation of World War II, a housing project nearly doubled the available housing and communal living was abandoned

Question 36

What had happened to working hours by 1964?

Answer 36

Work hours had fallen but were subject to periods of longer hours to meet specific needs and targets

Question 37

What happened to consumer goods under Khrushchev?

Answer 37

There was no real improvement in consumer goods as he was focused on technological competition for the Cold War

Question 38

What demonstrated the level of continuity under Khrushchev’s reign to the past?

Answer 38

Novocherkassk in June 1962 demonstrated the level of continuity. Demonstrations about wage cuts and bad housing conditions were met with machine guns and arrest without trial

Question 39

What was introduced under Stalin in order to promote childbearing?

Answer 39

‘Distinctions of Mother Heroines’ scheme was introduced in 1944 whereby women who at any one time had ten or more children were given substantial money rewards

Question 40

What happened to abortion under the Communists?

Answer 40

It was legalised in 1926, resulting in a fall of the birth rate, prompting a revision of the law whereby it was only allowed if the life of the mother was thought to be threatened. As such the birth rate rose again only to fall after all restrictions on abortion were lifted in 1955

Question 41

What percentage of the army was considered literate by the mid-1860s?

Answer 41

7% of army recruits were considered literate

Question 42

How many pupils were attending primary schools in 1929 and how had this changed by 1930?

Answer 42

8 million pupils were attending primary schools in 1929 and 18 million pupils were attending primary schools in 1930

Question 43

How did the number of primary schools in Russia vary between 1880 and 1914?

Answer 43

23,000 in 1880, 81,000 in 1914

Question 44

How many pupils were attending secondary schools by 1931 and how had this changed by 1932?

Answer 44

2.5 million pupils attending secondary schools in 1931 and 6.9 pupils attending secondary schools in 1932

Question 45

How many people were left homeless after the Second World War?

Answer 45

25 million Russians

Question 46

Give an example of an anti-religious pressure group formed under Lenin?

Answer 46

The League of the Militant Godless, formed in 1925

Question 47

What happened to the churches under Stalin?

Answer 47

By 1938 there were only 16 working Orthodox Churches, compared with 224 in 1930, and the number of clergy had been reduced by 60%

Question 48

What did Khrushchev introduce that was essentially a substitute bible?

Answer 48

The Moral Code was introduced at the Twenty-Second Party Congress of 1961