Social living standards in rural/urban areas

Question 1

How did Russia far had Russia industrialized compared to the West by 1900?

Answer 1

• Only 15% of people lived in towns and cities, whereas this figure was 40% in the US and 80% in Britain.

Question 2

What was the main issue with rapid urbanization?

Answer 2

There was an increase in public health issues as housing was erected cheaply and quickly with poor drainage/sanitation/water supplies.

Question 3

Why was Cholera so easily spread in Russia?

Answer 3

There was a lack of supply for affordable housing so prices rocketed and this led to overcrowding perfect conditions for diseases to spread.

Question 4

How backward were Russia in 1914?

Answer 4

Most buildings were constructed from wood, Homes were lit by paraffin lamps, and only 200 towns (out of 1000) had access to piped water.

Question 5

How many people died from the 1910 Cholera outbreak in St Petersburg?

Answer 5

1000 people died.

Question 6

What was the reaction to the 1910 Cholera outbreak from the government

Answer 6

The government were willing to act they funded a new sewage sytem for the city in 1911

Question 7

What did the ‘Decree on Peace’ do?

Answer 7

This was a decree that meant all private households were to be handed over to the proletariat and this improved the provision of housing.

Question 8

What happened to housing conditions during Stalin’s rule?

Answer 8

Housing conditions deteriorated rapidly for example in Moscow 25 % lived in one room shared with two more or more households.

Question 9

Was housing a priority for Stalin?

Answer 9

No the Bolsheviks preferred to focus on the Russian economy and achieving the targets set in the five-year plans. However tenements were built in the cities.

Question 10

How did Khrushchev address the housing crisis?

Answer 10

He sought to dramatically increase the amount of housing and doubled the housing stock from 1955-64. Housing cooperatives were established however this favoured professional’s who could afford to pay the government’s rate.

Question 11

What happened to Rural housing during this period?

Answer 11

There was little improvement, most peasants had a single room wooden hut. The accommodation was poor.

Question 12

What did Stalin do to improve rural housing?

Answer 12

He created ‘special housing blocks’ that were in close proximity to collective farms. Housing was built quickly and cheaply but led to overcrowding in rural areas.

Question 13

What did the typical Russian diet consist of?

Answer 13

As grain was there staple food, the made lots of dumplings pancakes and cereals. Fish and meat were eaten in areas where it was plentiful. They had wide range of vegetables and their overall diet was rich and varied.

Question 14

What caused the intermittent food shortages and full blown famines?

Answer 14

1. Tendency to use monoculture.
2. Severe weather conditions
3. Government policies (Collectivization)
4. The Mir deciding what should be grown.

Question 15

How many people died during the famine of 1891?

Answer 15

350,000 people died.

Question 16

What was blamed for the famine of 1891?

Answer 16

• Some blamed central government for this by saying the finance minister raised tax on consumer goods which meant goods cost more so the peasants had to sell of grain they had kept to deal with the inflated prices.
• There was severe weather.

Question 17

What factors exacerbated the provision of food in the first World War?

Answer 17

-The military were using the railway infrastructure so food was not being brought into the cities
- Some peasants hoarded their grain
-

Question 18

What caused the food crisis of 1918?

Answer 18

• The food crisis was caused by the continual hoarding of grain and the loss of valuable land from the Treaty of Brest-Livitosk.

Question 19

How did the Bolsheviks address this issue?

Answer 19

They introduced grain requisitioning and persecuted the Kulaks who were blamed for hoarding.

Question 20

What caused the famine of 1921?

Answer 20

-There were very harsh winters that meant Ukrainian food production fell by 20%. The railway network had been decimated by the civil war, so food could not be transported long distances and it was harder to urban dwellers to reach places that sold food. Lenin refused to accept aid that the American relief administration wanted to give him.