Pre-war Stalin - Society

Question 1

Working conditions for the proletariat

Answer 1

-7 day working week, longer working hours
-lateness could lead to dismissal, eviction, loss of benefits
-damaging machinery or leaving a job without permission was a criminal offence and strikes were illegal

Question 2

Stakhanovite movement

Answer 2

-aleksei stakhanov, coal miner who extracted 14x his expectation in 5h 45mins
-example of hard work increasing production
-used as a way of driving workers to meet targets

Question 3

Life for the proletariat

Answer 3

-industrialisation provided opportunity for advancement
-cramped apartments, poor sanitation and water supply
-public transport over crowded, food shortages common
-wages in 1937 lower than 1928

Question 4

Focus on women and the family

Answer 4

-family focus of propaganda, women portrayed as mums
-large divorce fees, 60% of mens wage to child support
-adultery criminalised, contraception banned
-financial incentives for large families, tax exemptions

Question 5

Women in work

Answer 5

-female industrial workers, 3 million-13 million 1928-40
-43% of industrial workforce female by 1940
-earned 40% less than men, in less top positions
-large numbers of women worked in collective farms

Question 6

Results of family focus

Answer 6

-37% divorce rate in moscow
-150,000 abortions to every 57,000 live births
-91% of men and 82% of women in thirties married

Question 7

Education reforms

Answer 7

-universities put under control of veshenka
-30% of time russian language and literature, 20% maths, 15% science and 10% to soviet history
-military training introduced into middle/higher schools
-94% literacy in towns by 1941 and 86% in countryside

Question 8

Youth groups

Answer 8

-directly affiliated with party in 1939, helped with party campaigns, assisted red army and the police
-komonsolskaia pravda youth newspaper
-some youth interested in western culture, set up secret oppositional youth organisations

Question 9

The orthodox church

Answer 9

-churches ransacked, bells seized and melted down
-1925, league of the godless anti religious propaganda
-new years replaced christmas, may day replaced easter
-1929, worship only for registered congregations
-1932, uninterrupted 6 day week meant no holy day

Question 10

Other religions

Answer 10

-muslim property confiscated, sharia courts abolished
-pilgrimages to mecca banned 1935
-muslim priests imprisoned or executed
-1941, 40,000 churches and 25,000 mosques shut down
-1937, 57% of population claimed to be believers

Question 11

Jewish people

Answer 11

-soviet jews given a national homeland in the east
-became an autonomous republic 1934
-by 1941, 1/4 of the regions population was jewish
-2 million jews accepted into ussr 1939-40

Question 12

National minorities

Answer 12

-less tolerance in 30s, stalin sought single soviet identity
-1938, learning russian compulsory in soviet schools
-deportation of non russians began in 1930s

Question 13

Propaganda

Answer 13

-used pictures of happy soviet workers to harness support for his economic policies
-marx, engels, lenin and stalin used heavily
-treated lenin as a god, named lots after him

Question 14

Culture

Answer 14

-entirely focused on promoting socialism
-1932, all writers must belong to union of soviet writers
-great interest in 19th century works, for ordinary people
-return to classical composers and writers