Social security under Lenin Flashcards
What did Karl Marx say about employment?
“Labour produces marvels for the rich but it produces deprivation for the worker.”
What did Karl Marx view capitalists as?
Karl Marx viewed capitalists as “parasites”
Why did Karl Marx view capitalists as “parasites”?
Marx viewed capitalists as “parasites” in the sense that they lived off the work of the working class without contributing to their well-being
After the revolution Marx argued that parasitism should be abolished and that all able people should work. Marx also argued that the relationship between work and wealth would go through two phases after the revolution. What were these two phases?
Socialist economic organisation would be based on the principle: “from each according to their ability, to each according to their ability.” Therefore, work, rather than property, would be the key to gaining economic resources
Communist economic organisation would be based on a higher principle: “from each according to their ability, to each according to their need.” Individuals should contribute to society based on their capabilities, and resources should be distributed based on the varying needs of each individual
Lenin’s view of work was influenced by who?
Karl Marx
What did Lenin publish?
the Declaration of the Rights of Toiling and Exploited People
What did the Declaration of the Rights of Toiling and Exploited People introduce?
The Declaration of the Rights of Toiling and Exploited People introduced two principles that were designed to transform work
The Declaration of the Rights of Toiling and Exploited People introduced two principles that were designed to transform work - what were these principles?
The Declaration abolished the private ownership of land. Therefore capitalists could no longer make money simply by owning things
The Declaration introduced universal labour duty. This was designed “to eliminate the parasitical layers of society” by ensuring that everybody worked and therefore capitalists could no longer simply live off the labour of others
Lenin’s economic policy went through several phases but what did they all reflect?
Lenin’s economic policy went through several phases but they all reflected the Communist Party’s belief in the duty of all people to labour
Why was ensuring stable employment extremely difficult between October 1917 and mid-1918?
The revolutions of 1917 had caused economic chaos
How many industrial enterprises closed between March and August 1917 and what did this lead to?
570 industrial enterprises
As a result, unemployment had increased to over 100,000 by October 1918
Why did the employment situation worsen after the October Revolution?
Lenin called a truce, effectively taking Russia out of the First World War. Consequently, war production ceased, leading to higher unemployment
By March 1918, how many chemical and metal workers in Petrograd were unemployed?
75 per cent
During this period, what did Lenin stress?
Lenin stressed the duty of labour discipline and collaboration between workers and their former bosses, who were employed as “bourgeois specialists”. The “bourgeois specialists” no longer made money through property. Rather they received wages for their work running factories and organising production
Lenin’s early economic plans failed to…
stop the disintegration of the economy and rising unemployment
In theory, what was War Communism based on?
In theory, War Communism was based on a relationship between the government and workers. Workers had a duty to provide labour, and the government had a duty to provide food and basic amenities
In theory, what was War Communism based on?
In theory, War Communism was based on a relationship between the government and workers. Workers had a duty to provide labour, and the government had a duty to provide food and basic amenities
The widespread unemployment of early 1918 was ended by…
the introduction of compulsory labour. From September 1918 able-bodied men between 16 and 50 lost the right to refuse employment. People in work were issued a work card which entitled them to food rations
Who lost the right to refuse employment and when?
From September 1918 able-bodied men between 16 and 50 lost the right to refuse employment
What were people in work issued?
People in work were issued a work card which entitled them to food rations
After money was abolished, what were rations allocated according to?
Occupation
What was the rationing system based on and what did this mean?
The rationing system was based on class, so that working-class people received the highest rations, but people working in middle-class occupations such as medical doctors received less
Aristocrats and former factory owners, “the former people”, were entitled to about __ per cent of the food that working people received. At the height of the rationing system __ products were rationed and there were __ million people entitled to ration cards
25
36
22
Who was rationing organised by?
Prodraspred
Prodraspred had subsections which…
delivered rations to workers and a Community section which tried to deliver food to schools and to people who could not work due to sickness or disability
Provide an example of another benefit workers - at least in Moscow and Petrograd - had access to?
A work card entitled workers to travel on public transport
How did party members enjoy special privileges?
The government ran special shops where Party members could acquire food and goods that were scarce
Compulsory labour proved unsustainable in the conditions of the Civil War - give an example of this being the case.
the
War Communism never provided more than __ per cent of the ___ and ___ that people needed to live on. In the short term, people turned to the ____ ____. In the longer term, workers fled the cities seeking ___ and ___ on ____
50
food
fuel
black
market
work
food
farms
How much did the population of Petrograd drop by between 1917 and 1921?
50 per cent
How much did the total population of factory workers reduce by during the Civil War?
25 per cent
____ ____ and ___ ____ meant that War Communism ultimately failed to create a system of ___ ____ which provided ____ ____ for all those in work
Factory
closures
food
scarcity
full
employment
social
security
What disappeared under the New Economic Policy?
The relationship between compulsory work and government benefits
What returned under the New Economic Policy?
A degree of capitalism and unemployment returned
What percentage of the labour force was unemployed in the year 1921?
5.5 per cent
What percentage of the labour force was unemployed in the year 1922?
8.6 per cent
What percentage of the labour force was unemployed in the year 1923?
16.6 per cent
What percentage of the labour force was unemployed in the year 1924?
18.0 per cent
Why was unemployment a significant problem between 1921 and 1924?
In 1921 and 1922 soldiers from the Red Army were demobilised and found it hard to get work
Urban workers who left the cities towards the end of the Civil War returned. Some were unable to get jobs
At the beginning of the New Economic Policy the government tried to “rationalise” industry in order to make it profitable. Therefore the number of workers in government factories was reduced to lower labour costs
As War Communism ended, the government sacked around 225,000 administrators who had been employed administering the system
Who did the government prioritise jobs for following War Communism?
Former members of the Red Army
Funding for ____ was ended in the 1920s
crèches
In __, __ per cent of unemployed people in the Soviet Union’s towns and cities were ____
1922
62.2
women
What did the 1922 Labour Law do?
It gave unions the right to negotiate binding agreements about pay and working conditions with employers
During the 1920s, social insurance was introduced - what did it do?
Social insurance paid disability benefits, maternity benefits, unemployment benefits and medical benefits - covering nine million workers
The system of social insurance for Soviet workers was the most ____ in the world. However, ____ were almost entirely excluded from these benefits due to the government’s focus on the special position of the ____
comprehensive
peasants
proletariat
While unemployment was a major problem during the period of the New Economic Policy, urban workers were clearly better off in 1926 than they had been before the revolution in 1913. Give two examples that showcase this?
Urban workers were paid around ten per cent more and ate more meat and fish
From the beginning of 1918, working people in cities had forcibly taken property away from whom?
aristocrats and the middle class
Under the NEP what per cent of urban housing was denationalised?
between 60 and 80 per cent
Experiments with rent-free housing came to an end in ___ when rent was reintroduced
1921
Under the conditions of the NEP what per cent of house building was undertaken by private companies?
89 per cent
What were Constructivist houses designed to do?
They were designed to facilitate collective living through the provision of a collective kitchen, crèche, library, gym and laundry facilities, as well as a roof garden
What did the provision of a communal kitchen, crèche and laundry reflect?
The provision of a communal kitchen, crèche and laundry reflected a commitment to the liberation of women through sharing domestic duties
Why did Constructivist houses make little impact on the lives of Soviet citizens?
Although these buildings were revolutionary and extremely well designed, only a few were built and therefore they made little impact on the lives of Soviet citizens
