Russia Theme 4: Social developments, 1917–85 Flashcards
how did labour work under lenin?
civil war led to de-urbanisation, due to food shortages in cities. under war communism, labour conscription was introduced to ensure the RA was adequately supplied. the end of the civil war led to a huge influx of workers in cities, and rural food shortages led to further migration to urban areas. unemployment reached over 1m workers by 1926.
under the NEP, “artelis” (groups of workers in the same trade who were payed as a group) were commonly used. real wages increased, however so did inequality.
how was full employment achieved and what was its impact on the workforce?
full employment was achieved as an unintended consequence of the five year plans: the push for industrialisation was so aggressive that it required every healthy adult in order to achieve in such a short amount of time.
consequences:
-lack of modern technology put pressure on workers; made labour very intense
-urbanisation increased further due to the huge amounts of labour required in cities
-restrictions were placed on trade unions, keeping working conditions poor.
-productivity remained low compared to western countries. average soviet worker produced half that of the average british worker. this was largely due to technological limitations. to combat this, night and day shifts were used so that machinery would be utilised 24 hours a day.
-wage differences between skilled and unskilled labour was introduced to incentivise workers to stay in their posts - frequently switching jobs was a problem due to poor working conditions. piecework wages weer introduced in 1934 - this was where workers would be payed according to output, and was a process favoured by more skilled workers.
-absenteeism was a growing issue - it was made a criminal offence, but this was not always enforced due to the need for the workers.
-pressure on workers was further increased during WW2. this was aided by forced labour in the gulags, whose populations increased dramatically during the war.
how did the housing situation change after the revolution until 1953?
-in 1917 the Bs confiscated large houses of the rich, partitioned them and rented them to families of workers. however there was still not enough housing to meet everyone’s needs.
-housing was strained further due to industrialisation. while new industrial centres sprung up like magnitogorsk, with populations growing to 250,000 in a matter of 3 years, and moscow’s population doubling to 4 million, housing remained neglected. this led to many workers living in tents or corrugated iron shantytowns in areas like magnitogorsk.
-housing improved over the course of the 1930s to some degree - barracks were constructed in indutrial centres and apartment blocks were made where resources would allow.
-rural housing was slower to improve; peasants on collectives were often expected to proide for their own houses, which would usually be a one-room hut.
-lack of available housing was made much worse after WW2, due to massive destruction due to german invasion.
how did social benefits work after the revolution until 1953?
-the workplace was a provider of some benefits; cheap food was usually available at a workplace canteen.
-trade unions were stripped of real practical powers under lenin, but they continued to play a role in improving workers’ quality of life. TUs would organise sports facilities, film viewings and would provide workers with 2 weeks’ payed holiday to a state resort.
-healthcare was also provided by the government to benefit the whole population - it was effective in combating epidemics. due to a mass exodus of doctors after the revolution, the government increased training placements substantially, creating an adequate number of doctors again. while quantity was not indicative of quality, the healthcare system was largely effective.
how stable was society under developed socialism?
society was generally fairly stable, arguably in part due to free speech restrictions. there was some serious unrest in satllite states, most notably an attempted revolt in hungary in 1956 in which the USSR had to intervene, in order to prevent the government being overthrown.
there were some rare cases of open protest in the USSR due to workers’ discontent, usually due to changes in living/working conditions.
what was developed socialism and how did it affect social stability?
developed socialism was the idea of the socialist system providing considerable material benefits and quality of life improvements for the average person. the term was used much more under khrushchev and brezhnev.
developed socialism had effects on:
full employment: this was enshrined in the soviet constitution on 1977. wage differentials were low and real wages improved by 50% between 1967 and 1977. however some jobs were mundane and occasionally pointless.
job security:
it was very difficult for managers to dismiss workers who were not good at their job. work would often be done very slowly for most of the month, followed by an intense period to ensure production targets were met. minimum wage was imtroduced in 1956 to ensure no soviet worker was below the poverty line. however problems persisted for workers who had to support a family on minimum wage.
improved material benefits:
this included much more consumer goods under K; this trend was furthered under B, leading to a generally higher quality of life for the average soviet citizen (although it was still substantially lower than the main rival of the US). the greater demand for skilled labour to make consumer goods provided better upward mobility in soviet society
nomenklatura system:
most jobs in the USSR were provided by the state. the nomenklatura system was a system of patronage with the communist party rather than the state more broadly. this system provided farmers in particular with the opportunity for social improvement under K and B due to an internal passport system being introduced. a consequence of this system was nepotism - both K and B’s sons inherited important government positions.
education system:
pursuing higher education was a key factor in obtaining social mobility in soviet society. boys and girls had equal access to education in the USSR and by the 80s the number of women entering higher education was the same as that of men.
housing:
lives were substantially improved by K’s extensive housing programme. the annual housing space provided by the state nearly tripled from 1951-61. khrushobys - housing blocks built under khrushchev - were often bleak and uniform, and were poorly finished in a rush to meet targets (eg concrete blocks left in apartments, plastering unfinished). however these conditions were often far better than citizens had been living in previously, so they were a much-needed solution.
healthcare:
this was widely available before the time of K/B, however the quality was a problem beforehand. this was improved with developed socialism, however quality was not even - the best facilities were in moscow and leningrad, while some hospitals in rural parts of central asia (the poorest regions of the USSR) had hospitals without running water up until 1988.
rural living conditions:
while these remained more promitive than those in urban areas, there was heavy investment in agriculture and infrastructure around it from K and B. this included schools, housing and health services. a regular wage was introduced for farmers rather than the previous system based on a portion of the farm’s income. by the mid 70s, wages in rural areas were only 10% lower than urban areas on average.
what evidence is there of instability in the USSR?
there was serious in unrest in Temirtau in the late 50s. this was a kazakh industrial centre that was to be populated by komsomol. however when the new workers arrived, they were met with appalling living conditions, and it also came to light that east german and polish migrants were receiving higher salaries than they were. as a result they burned down the canteen and hanged the local police chief. the KGB was sent to restore order and several protesters were killed.
-there was also an assassination attempt on B; however no political motive was established and the perpetrator was considered mentally unstable
-alcoholism was a serious problem in the ussr. in 1987 there were an estimated 20,000,000 alcoholics (almost 1 in 10 soviet citizens).
-while there were some social issues and discontent overall, there was no real threat of a large-scale revolt until gorbachev took power.
how did the revolution change the status of women in the short term?
-attitude towards women at the time of the revolution was highly misogynistic - popular saying at the time was “the more you beat your wife, the better the soup will taste”
-immediately after the revolution the bolsheviks took several measures to protect women under the law
-the zhenotdel was set up - this was a women’s branch of the B party.
-a series of decrees were issued protecting the rights of women - divorce was made easier, abortion was legalised. laws that required women’s subjugation to men were abolished.
-equal pay was legally codified in 1917
-the soviet constitution specified that men and women were equal in the eyes of the law.
however, the real day-to-day attitudes towards women predictably took much longer to change. easing of divorce was implemented to make it easier for women to escape abusive relationships, however the reality was that this new law was used by men 70% of the time, often after their wives had become pregnant with an unwanted child.
what was the impact of the civil war on the status of women?
due to the high numbers of men fighing in the red army, there was a sudden practical need for far more women in the workforce.
-millions of women were recruited into factories, but social childcare was inadequate. the goverment wished to provide creches for all young children but lacked the resources for this to be possible.
-in the civil war most women held unskilled positions, and lost their jobs after men returned to work
-traditional attitudes that women were unfit for heavy manual work persisted
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how did changes to the status of islamic women differ to other groups?
in central asia, the idea of a polygamous, male-dominated family was entrenched. in these areas women were often kept from public view and denied an education. in these areas the bolsheviks used female activists to encourage the unveiling of women. however the efforts for women’s liberation were sometimes met with violence. in baku, a zhenotdel meeting was attacked by muslim men with dogs and boiling water. women who refused to wear traditional dress were sometimes killed by their families in “honour” killings. from the 30s the approach to women’s liberation was approached with a less hardline approach.
what was the impact of collectivisation on women in the countryside?
the policy of forced collectivisation in rural areas led many men to move to cities to look for better work. some men would send money back to their families from their new jobs; others would simply never be heard from again. quality of life was generally lower in the countryside, and the slow rate of change in attitudes towards women reflected this. this problem got worse during and after WW2: until the 1950s it was possible to find villages populated entirely by women and children. quality of life in rural areas for women remained very poor under S.
under K and B, social provisions like healthcare and education were extended to the countryside. the internal passport system allowed women to move to towns in search of jobs that held better status and pay. however the more common outcome was that this opportunity would be taken by young men, leaving women to carry out the agricultural work, as this was now the norm in the USSR.
what was the impact of industrialisation on women in towns?
pressure for labour from the 5YPs was high - this meant women in urban areas essentially had no choice but to work. women in the work place was out of economic necessity rather than a conscious liberation movement. women dominated light industry. women were also expected to take advantage of subsidised higher education facilities in the same way as men. women dominated the workforce during WW2 - in most jobs the majority of workers were women.
how did the status of women in politics change after the revolution?
provisional government of 1917 gave women the vote for the first time. however women playing an active role in politics was predictably still very limited. this problem persisted in the communist party: even by 1932, women only made up 16% of the party membership. alexandra kollontai was the most notable female politician in the early days of the USSR - she was commisar for public welfare.
how were role models used in the women’s liberation movement?
role models were used in order to encourage women to play an active role in the soviet state.
-sport was given high status by the government; this included investing significantly into women’s sport.
-most notable example of soviet female role model was valentina tereshkova, who became the first woman in space. she had a proletarian background (perfect for propaganda) and became a prominent member of the communist party. she is still viewed as a hero in russia today.
what was the family code of 1918 and why was it introduced?
kollontai held the opinion that the family was unnecessary under socialism, and the state could take care of upbringing and social services. the family code made divorce much easier; either a husband or a wife could initiate a divorce by request, without the need to provide grounds for the divorce. abortion was legalised, the use creches were encouraged and the importance of official marriages under the church were reduced - informal unions where a family lived together now had equal status under the law. in 1926, divorces became even easier with the “postcard divorce” system, where a partner could send their spouse a postcard informing them of the divorce, with no further steps required. divorce rate was 50% in moscow, and abortions outnumbered live births 3:1. conservatives put pressure on the party to revert back to more traditional laws surrounding the family.
the family code was partly an attempt to make family life less dominant, due to the subjugation of women in the family. it was also a practical measure to increase the number of women in the workplace, which was especially important during the civil war. another reason was to reduce the dominance of the orthodox church (christian marriages were given equal status to informal unions)
