RR - Unit 4 - Social Developments

Question 1

Work and Benefits - 1917 - 1918 - 3 Points

Answer 1

• Declaration of rights of toiling and exploited people, ensuring that everyone worked
• Benefitted the peasants and capitalists could no longer male money by simply owning property
• March 1918 - 75% of chemical and metal workers in Petrograd were unemployed

Question 2

Work and Benefits - 1918 - 1921 - 6 Points

Answer 2

• September 1918 - able-bodied men aged between 16 - 50 lost the right to be unemployed
• Compulsory labour proved unsustainable
• People in work were issues a work card, which entitled them to free rations
• Working class got the most rations and aristocrats got 25% of what the workers did
• Party members were given food privileges
• At its peak there were 22 million ration cards

Question 3

Work and Benefits - 1920s - 8 Points

Answer 3

• Unemployment surged due to the Red Army being disbanded
• Urban workers were unable to get jobs after their return from war
• Reduction in number of workers to reduce cost
• Government sacked 125,000 administrators
• 1922 - 6.2% of unemployed in cities and towns were women
• 1922 - labour laws gave unions the right negotiate pay and working conditions
• Social insurance covered, such as maternity leave, medical care, disability, and unemployment benefits
• Government invested in education for worker’s children

Question 4

Work and Benefits - 1930s - 7 Points

Answer 4

• Rapid industrialisation led to full employment of men and women
• Hidden unemployment - all the people Stalin wanted were working, all the others were left uncared for and were not reported in statistics
• Unions lost right to negotiate, strikes were banned, and lateness was criminalised
• Minimal rise in living standards, but by 1933 most Soviets had access to electricity
• Safety was not a priority, and factories were often in bad conditions
• Continuous work week, with an alternating day off each week, allowing factories to be open 7 days a week
• Increase in healthcare provision, such as mass vaccination

Question 5

Work and Benefits - 1945 - 1953 - 8 Points

Answer 5

• 1940s - workers lost their right to change jobs
• Workforce increased from 8 million to 12.2 million
• Decline in living standards, which led to communal eating as people could not afford to eat individually
• Sanitation in the workplace was inadequate, and there frequent outbreaks of dysentery and vomiting
• Soviet workers only got 10 - 15 days off a year
• Infant mortality declined by 50% between 1945 - 1950
• Number of doctors increased by over 60% between 1947 - 1953
• Vaccines were made universal, and there was a rapid decline in malaria from 1949

Question 6

Housing - 1918 - 1928 - 6 Points

Answer 6

• Lack of housing, and aristocrats had a surplus
• Priorities of the government were to provide housing for workers, remove excess wealth from those who had it, and the civil war
• Houses were further destroyed during the civil war for timber and fuel
• Property owners lived in single rooms
• Churches were sometimes turned into housing for workers
• Town houses were socialised between 1923 - 1924

Question 7

Housing - 1930s - 5 Points

Answer 7

• Urban population had trebled between 1929 - 1940, which increased the demand for housing
• Priorities of the government were to keep the housing budget to a minimum, heavy industry, and construction of factories and combined housing
• Buildings were divided into small kommunalka, and bathrooms and kitchens were shared
• Average family had 5.5 square metres
• Some factories had housing inferior to kommunalka, with several families living in a barrack style dormitory

Question 8

Housing - 1941 - 1954 - 6 Points

Answer 8

• WW2 had mad the housing situation worse, with 1/3 of urban housing destroyed
• Priorities of the government were to recover from the war, keep the housing budget small as it was managed inefficiently, and increase housing for collective farms
• 4,500 villages built, and 31,000 communal buildings
• Kommunalkas had 4 square metres of space per family, and barracks had 3 squared metres of space
• Barrack conditions were poor, with 15,000 beds for 26,000 workers, and 1 wash basing for every 70 people
• Houses were weak, roofs leaked, and there was no gas, electricity, or sewerage

Question 9

Khrushchev’s Promotion of a Stable Society - Priories - 2 Points

Answer 9

• Increase living standards for workers
• Increase production of consumer goods

Question 10

Khrushchev’s Promotion of a Stable Society - Successes and Stability - 2 Points

Answer 10

• Apartments were small, but were 10 times bigger than kommunalkas of Stalin’s era
• People had improved family lives

Question 11

Khrushchev’s Promotion of a Stable Society - Limitations and Stagnation - 2 Points

Answer 11

• Lack of informants meant it was harder to find information
• Increased privacy for the people, which is good for the people, but not the State

Question 12

Brezhnev’s Promotion of a Stable Society - Priorities - 5 Points

Answer 12

• Job security
• Low prices for essential foods
• Thriving second economy, free of government interference
• Improve and increase social benefits
• Social mobility

Question 13

Brezhnev’s Promotion of a Stable Society - Successes and Stability - 3 Points

Answer 13

• Government spending on health care grew from 4% to 5% per year
• Government benefits, work, and trading on the back market meant citizens were likely to have a comfortable life - improved living standards
• Organised opposition to the government extremely rare

Question 14

Brezhnev’s Promotion of a Stable Society - Limitations and Stagnation - 5 Points

Answer 14

• Full employment led to serious economic inefficiencies and there was hidden unemployment
• 20% of the employees being paid were not doing a useful job
• During the later 1970s, there were at least 1 million fancies not filled, and lower production rates
• Healthcare spending increased but health care declined
• 1970s infant mortality rate went from 3% to 7% and life expectancy dropped from 68 to 64

Question 15

Policies Introduced by Brezhnev and Khrushchev - 4 Points

Answer 15

• Investment in healthcare went from 21.4 billion in 1950 to 44 billion in 1959
• Decrease in deaths and mortality rate - went from 81% in 1950 to 27% in 1965
• 1961 - new reforms introduce free lunches in schools, lunches, and offices, free public transport, and free pension and healthcare rights for farmers
• 1960 - 1965 - housing doubled as the government invested in cheaper materials for housing

Question 16

Changing Status of Women - Key Points - 11 Points

Answer 16

• 1918 - Soviet Constitution gave men and women equal right s
• Zhenotdel - women’s department within the Communist Party
• Lenin tried to improve the status of women by providing them with better pay and easier access to divorce
• Stalin hindered the improvement of the status of women and reversed many of Lenin’s reforms
• 1917 - 1940 - women less visible in propaganda, and if they were, they were portrayed as weaker than men and as mothers
• 1917 - 1952 - Alexandra Kolloant was the first women in government in Europe
• 1941 - 1964 - women portrayed as a symbol of the Russian nation, but during the war, were portrayed as in need of men
• 1963 - Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman in space and portrayed a hero in the USSR
• Late 1960s to late 1970s - propaganda emphasised a true Soviet women as an exemplary worker, caring wife, and mother
• 1970s - tone of propaganda became more conservative, and women who went to work and neglected their children were criticised
• 1980s - women blamed for problems in the workplace, such as drunkenness

Question 17

Women in the Workforce - 5 Points

Answer 17

• Women encouraged to work in orphanages to assume their motherly role
• Women in towns worked a double or triple shifts - no balance in household roles
• Made up a large proportion of agricultural peasants
• Women in the workforce increased by 300%
• Doctors and nursing professions were dominated by women, and and led to those in the field being paid less

Question 18

Improvements for Women in the Workplace - 6 Points

Answer 18

• Women entered the industrial force in large numbers, however, increase as more a result of industrialisation than improved position of women
• 3 million women workers in 1928, compared to 13 million women workers in 1940
• 1940 - 41% of workers in heavy industry were held by women
• 1960s - 45% of industrial jobs went to women
• 1960s - women made up half of Soviet graduates
• Increase in number of women in higher and technical education - 20% in 1929, compared to 40% in 1940

Question 19

Lack of Improvements for Women in the Workplace - 5 Points

Answer 19

• Under the NEP, job opportunities for women in factories was limited to low level jobs
• Many women were involved in prostitution to try and make money, due to widespread unemployment of women - roughly 39% of men in urban areas used prostitutes in the 1920s
• Khrushchev recruited women for the Virgin Lands Scheme, but this only to provide incentive for men, and they were restricted to traditional roles
• Women were paid 60 - 65% less than men, and received verbal, physical, and sexual abuse
• Low pay meant they were more likely to slip into poverty

Question 20

Lenin’s Soviet Policy Towards The Family - 8 Points

Answer 20

• Aim was to create a consistent view on family and reform traditional family
• Alexandra Kolloant advocated for free love
• Family Code of 1917 made divorce easier
• 1926 - postcard divorces
• Contraception, abortion, and prostitution made legal
• Rising abortion and divorce rates
• Women left their abusive husbands
• Zhenotdel unwilling to help women who were victims of sexual harassment, as it wasn’t a crime

Question 21

Stalin’s Soviet Policy Towards The Family - 6 Points

Answer 21

• Aim was to grow the population to industrialise more and become more conservative
• 1936 - abortion criminalised and contraception banned
• Tax on single people to encourage marriage
• Sex outside of marriage was stigmatised
• Divorce made more expensive
• Importance of family emphasised

Question 22

Khrushchev’s Soviet Policy Towards The Family - 6 Points

Answer 22

• Aim was to promote the family as a social unit and encourage women to care for family and look after their family whilst working
• 1955 - abortion legalised
• 1956 - paid maternity leave went from 77 was to 122 days
• Sixth FYP focused on improving living and working conditions of women
• Seven Year Plan aimed to eliminate double shift
• 1960 - 49% of women in the workforce were older family members

Question 23

Brezhnev’s Soviet Policy Towards The Family - 6 Points

Answer 23

• Aim was to reinforce traditional values
• New Family Code of 1968 made sexual morality more strict
• Lowered the pension age for women form 60 to 55
• Divorce rates remained high, with over 1/3 of marriages ending in divorce
• 1982 - women spent twice as long doing household chores than men
• Lack of women in senior or more skilled jobs

Question 24

Problems and Issues of Education - 4 Points

Answer 24

• Low level literacy - only 32% of the population in 1917 could read and write
• Educational inequalities in rural areas
• 88% of children failed to complete primary school
• Not free or universal

Question 25

Successes in Improving Education - 8 Points

Answer 25

• Abolished corporal punishment
• Established unified labour schools to provide polytechnic education to all children aged 8 - 17
• Schools provided free breakfasts and medical examinations
• Education made compulsory
• Children did 4 hours of factory work
• As the economy stabilised in the mid 1920s, so education was expanded
• 1927 - fees for primary school abolished, so most children received full primary education
• 1928 - 60% of Soviet children of primary school age were in education, which was 10% more than prior to the revolution

Question 26

Failures in Improving Education - 9 Points

Answer 26

• NEP led to some schools closing to save money
• Reintroduction of fees for primary and second school children, except for the poorest children
• NEP caused plans to link children’s homes and schools scrapped - nearly 7 million children were orphaned by the war
• Civil war meant insufficient funds available for education
• Free compulsory education not achieved until 1950s
• Schools did not have resources to provide free meals and medical check ups
• 97% of secondary school students paid fees to attend
• 90% of middle-class school students started school, compared to 25% who finished
• 40% of working-class students started school, compared to 3% who finished

Question 27

Educational Reform Under Stalin - 5 Points

Answer 27

• 1921 - decree ordered curriculum reform and abolished polytechnics
• 1928 - Soviet higher education expanded
• 1935 - system of national examination introduced
• University courses reflected the economic needs
• Fees maintained in higher levels of education to keep costs down

Question 28

Consequences of Stalin’s Educational Reforms - 5 Points

Answer 28

• 1944 - 227,000 students in University
• 1953 - 1.5 million students in University
• 1935 - almost 100% of children aged 8 - 12 gained the full four years of primary school
• Number of students in higher eduction continued to rise
• 65% of children aged 12 - 17 gained some secondary education, but only 20% aged 15 - 17 completed it

Question 29

Khrushchev’s Educational Policies and Reforms - 5 Points

Answer 29

• 1956 - reintroduced polytechnic education
• 1956 - abolished fees for students attending secondary schools
• By 1959, 73% completed secondary education, compared to 20% in 1933
• 1960 - Stalin discipline relaxed
• Invested 2 million in teacher training in 1964 - better education and more went to university

Question 30

Khrushchev’s Successes in Education - 3 Points

Answer 30

• Higher level of secondary school attendance
• Education became more cultural ion 1961, with more emphasis on foreign languages
• Improved education for the academic elite, with the number of special schools increasing

Question 31

Khrushchev’s Failures in Education - 2 Points

Answer 31

• Polytechnics were unpopular as people preferred academic education
• Curriculum reforms not implemented in 47% of schools

Question 32

Brezhnev’s Educational Policies and Reforms - 7 Points

Answer 32

• Restored focus on academic education
• Abandoned compulsory education with the hope that 100% of children would voluntarily complete it
• Ended vocational courses for 16 - 19 year olds in farms and factories
• Expanded university courses to reflect the demands of light industry
• Academic staff grew from 87,000 in 1958, to 380,000 by 1980
• Attempts to increase peasant population in schools by requiem all schools to provide hot meals
• Free meals available to poorer students

Question 33

Brezhnev’s Successes and Failures in Education - 3 Points

Answer 33

• By 1978, almost 70% of teachers went to university
• 1976 - only 60% of children finished secondary school, which was much lower than the targets set
• Curriculum remained largely unchanged

Question 34

Illiteracy During the Communist Rule - 8 Points

Answer 34

• Before the revolution, illiteracy was 65%
• December 1919 - ‘liquidation of illiteracy’ decreed for all citizens aged 5 - 50
• Those who refused to attend lessons faced criminal charges
• 1920 - 1925 - 5 million went through literacy courses
• Trotsky introduced literacy classes for all of the Red Army
• By 1925, 100% of soldiers were literate
• By 1939, over 94% of Soviet citizens were literate
• By 1959, 99% of the urban population was literate and 98% in the countryside

Question 35

Literacy and the Civil War - 2 Points

Answer 35

• Military victory and economy prioritised over education
• Manu teachers in 1917 did not support the regime

Question 36

Literacy and the NEP - 4 Points

Answer 36

• May 1925 - announced an initiative to make all adults literate by October 1927
• Initiative pushed back to 1933
• Transport workers had 99% literacy in 1927
• To save money they had to close down 90% of reading rooms established during the Civil War

Question 37

Literacy and Stalin - 2 Points

Answer 37

• Government recruited 3 million volunteers from Komsomol to educate workers and peasants
• Volunteers called cultural soldiers, organised in military style