Stalinist Culture and Society Flashcards
How had Lenin taken power away from the Orthodox Church?
Church lands were seized; births, marriage, deaths and schools were all secularised; priests were persecuted
What did Sergius, the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, promise in 1927?
To stay out of politics in return for state recognition of the Orthodox Church
How did Stalin attack the Orthodox Church?
Religious schools were shut down, and many churches were destroyed or deconsecrated. Sunday ceased to be a day of rest as, as workers were employed for a six day week and the day they had off work changed
How did the 1936 Constitution restrict religion?
It banned the publication of religious propaganda
By 1941 how many religious buildings had been closed?
nearly 40,000 Christian churches and 25,000 mosques
How did Stalin undo the liberation of women in the 1930s?
Divorce and abortion were attacked and the family became the focus of a new wave of propaganda. The importance of marriage was stressed, and wedding rings were reintroduced
How were women increasingly portrayed in Soviet films during the 1930s?
feminine family women, in contrast to their portrayal as muscular and plainly dressed builders of the revolution in the 1920s
What did the Family Code of 1936 set out?
It made abortion illegal, made it harder to get a divorce by introducing large fees and forcing both parties to be present at proceedings, contraception was banned, mothers with six or more children were given tax exemptions, and child support payments from fathers were fixed at 60% of their income
What did the Family Code of 1936 restrict?
Homosexual acts and prostitution
In 1937 what percentage of men and women in their thirties were married?
91% of men and 82% of women
What happened to the rates of participation of women in the highest levels of politics in the USSR in the 1930s?
They fell
What was the literacy rate in the USSR in 1926?
56%
What was the literacy rate in the USSR in 1937?
75%
How did schools become more restrictive in the 1930s?
Schools were required to use Party approved textbooks, strict discipline was enforced in schools and a system of public exams was reintroduced
What happened to the number of students studying at university during the 1930s?
It grew
What was the name of the youth organisation of the Communist Party?
Komsomol
Who was able to join the Komsomol?
Anyone between the ages of 14 and 28 years old
What was the name of the Communist Party youth organisation for under 14 year olds?
Young Pioneers
What did the Komsomol discourage?
Smoking and drinking
What did the Komsomol organise?
social work, sports and drama clubs
Which major building project had members of the Komsomol enthusiastically volunteered to help to build?
Magnitogorsk
What was the average level of food consumption in 1933?
Lower than in 1900, with meat consumption just 1/3 what it had been in 1928
Which opera did Pravda condemn in 1936?
Shostakovich’s opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District
What was the most borrowed book from the Magnitogorsk library in the 1930s?
How the Steel Was Tempered
