Living and working conditions of rural people Flashcards
Urban Housing
By the end of the nineteenth century about 15% of Russian population lived in towns and cities. only 19 cities had more than 100k inhabitants. Housing was generally erected quickly and on the cheap, demand for reasonable accommodation always outstripped supply which led to overcrowding and the inevitable spread of diseases. After WW, there were over 1000 towns containing about 2 million buildings, over half housing was constructed by wood and was prone to fire damage
Factory accommodation
Factories were nearly always located on the edge of cities. as transport links were slow to develop it became necessary to provide special worker housing on site. worker barracks were hastily built and were invariably overcrowded and insanitary. Skilled workers were better off as they could afford to rent private rooms.
Stalin’s Rule (Housing)
During Stalin’s rule housing conditions deteriorated. overcrowding became the norm. in Moscow in the mid 1930’s 25% of the population was living in one room that was shared between 2 or more households. A further 25% lived in communal dormitories. Furthermore about 5% lived in a bathroom, kitchen, corridor or hallway. The Stalinist policy was to allocate space rather than rooms to individuals and families.
Impact of WW2
WW2 resulted in swathes of Russia becoming depopulated and over 25 million Russians becoming homeless. Stalin made some attempt to solve this problem but its was Khrushchev who launched a housing programme of huge proportions. Between 1955-64 the housing stock doubled and the principles behind communal living were abandoned.
Food and Famine
The staple for all Russians was grain, especially rye. Buckwheat was also popular. Cereals were often eaten with meat dishes and there was a large consumption of fish. However food shortages occurred for many reasons e.g over reliance on grain, the restrictive practices of the mir, severe weather conditions and government policies.
Food supplies and WW1
During the first 3 years of WW1 there were good harvests although many in the population didn’t reap the benefits as much of the grain was used to feed troops and there was difficult in getting grain to urban areas. Bread queues of 8 hrs or longer became the norm. Some peasants hoarded grain and/or fed their animals
Rural work
Work on land was dictated by ‘natures clock’ which meant that specific tasks had to be completed at specific times of the year. Before Bolsheviks took over peasants were able to control how much they produce and at what pace. Under communists nature of rural work changed how much was produced and how It was produced was dictated by the government e.g. Stalins policy of Collectivisation.
Urban work
The worst conditions were in factories, as there were no factory inspections until 1882, working conditions for many industrial workers were dangerous and unhealthy. However even when there were inspectors they were largely ineffective as they ere too few in number and had limited powers of enforcement. Communists introduced ‘New work discipline’ which gave fines for petty wrongdoings and workers were also threatened by being purged.
Hours of work
1896- 11 hour working day (10 on Saturday)
1914- 9/10 hour working day
1917- 8 hour working day
1932- 10/12 hour working day
1939- 7 hour working day
1940- 8 hour working day
1958- 7 hour working day
Wages
By western standards, industrial wages were low during the whole period. Women received less than men on average even if they were employed in the same work. From the beginning to the end of the first five year plan real wages fell by 50%. They rose again after this time but it was not until 1954 that they reached the levels that they were in the early 1920’s Wage differentials increased massively under Stalin as a result of the piece rate payments.
