The proletariat Flashcards
Proletarianisation
to turn the mass of the population into urban workers, it was believed that the masses had to be proletarians in order to create a socialist - and ultimately communist- state
to develop a cooperative mentality in both town and countryside
Proletarianisation was an important step in?
the creation of the ‘scaliest man’ and yet life was far from paradise for the workers
after a brief period of ‘worker power’ both in the factories and on the land in the early months of Bolshevik rule, what happened ?
labour discipline was tightened and that early ‘freedom’ never returned
during the civil war, what was issued?
to stop workers leaving their employment
by 1921 workers could be?
imprisoned or shot if they failed to meet targets and unions became a means of keeping the workers under control
the harsh living and working conditions experienced in Leninist times persisted throughout?
the NEP
In Stalin’s early years the harsh living and working conditions got?
worse - as peasants were herded into the collectives and more emigrated to the town
as more peasants emigrated to towns under Stalin, what happened to the urban labour force by 1932
by 1932, the urban labour force was doubled
the drive for industrialisation brought?
a 7-day working week and longer working hours
arriving late or missing work could result in?
dismissal
eviction from housing
loss of benefits
damaging machinery or leaving job without permission was?
a c criminal offence
strikes were?
illegal
From 1931, what produced a more diverse proletariat ?
(Stalin’s s rule)
the introduction of wage differentials bonuses
payment by the piece (designed to increase productivity)
opportunities for better housing = to reward skills and devoted application
workers were allowed to?
(Stalin’s rule)
choose their place of work and could therefore improve their lot, while disciplinary rules were eased
huge propaganda campaigns including the Stakhanovite movement increased?
(Stalin’s rule)
‘socialist competition’, which in turn produced a new ‘proletarian elite’
more peasants moved to?
more town workers became?
children of workers benefitted from?
towns
more town workers became managers
children of workers benefitted from the increased educational opportunities that Stalinst Russia offered
The Stakhanovite movement
What did Aleksei Stakhanov (a miner) do in August 1935?
he extracted 102 tonnes of coal in 5 hours 45 minutes, when the normal expected time was 14 times that length of time
Aleksi Stakhanov was used and hailed by Stalin as?
an example of how human determination and endeavour might increase productivity
Competitions were arranged for?
others to emulate Stakhanov’s achievement
The Stakhanovite movement became a way of?
forcing management to support their workers to increase production
failure to fulfil targets (which were increased on average by 10% in 1936) meant?
managers might be branded ‘saboteurs’ and removed
Stalin’s industrialisation drive thus produced new opportunities for?
social advancements
Stalin’s purges hit who the most and what did they do?
- hit the intellectuals and white-collar workers the hardest
this reduced the numbers competing for jobs and created plenty of vacancies ‘at the top’
1933 Stalin could announce
‘life has become better, comrades, life has become more joyous’
realities of daily life remained grim throughout this period , for instance what happened to living conditions?
living conditions in the towns remained primitive
in towns workers had to live in extremely cramped communal apartments and cope with inadequate sanitation and erratic water supplies
public transport and shops
- public transport= over crowded, shops were often empty and queues and shortages were an accepted feature of life
Although real wages increased during the second 5 year plan, what were they in 1937?
1937= still lower than they had been in 1928
1928 had been little better than in 1913
when was rationing phased out?
in 1935
- marks prices were high
those in positions of importance in socialist system(e.g party cadres) could?
obtain more goods more cheaply
this not the case for ordinary workers (whose living standards stagnated, may have even fallen slightly in the last years before war )
