The Working Class Flashcards
What are workers/WC also known as?
urban, towns, cities, factories, Industrial
Across the period, how were workers treated?
(synoptic statement for intro)
Across the period, workers’ lives remained harsh and their concerns were rarely at the heart of the leaders policies.
For both regimes, workers increasingly became a valuable asset.
What is a political synoptic statement to describe the experience of the Working Class in Russia?
Across the 109 years of Russian rule, the political experience of the workers remained at the mercy of their leaders
apart from 8 months in 1917, democracy was not available to WC
repression was a key feature of everyday life, where Tsars feared the workers’ power and communists worked hard to suppress them
What is the history of the WC in Russia?
not really a WC until the 1880s rapid expansion of industry
WC truly emerged in Stolypin era
What were Workers Conditions like under Alex II?
workers were ill-treated + overworked (low, irregular pay + long hours)
urbanisation was a slow process
no factory inspectorate
textile workers- dangerous conditions
Emancipation supposed to make it easier for peasants but limited, didn’t encourage peasants to migrate from land to industrial centres
What were negative Workers conditions like under Alex III?
(5)
Witte’s reforms + huge expansion led to suffering as import duties + indirect taxes caused standard of living to fall
conditions were appalling in industrial work
disgraceful housing conditions
increasing population led to rent increases
internal passports used to control where workers could go
What were the housing conditions like under Alex III?
disgraceful
factory barracks
cubicles were separated from others by boards , living actually in factory
How many accidents were there in 1904?
(Workers conditions under Nicholas II)
in 1904 there were 556 deaths and 66,680 injuries reported
What were positive Workers conditions under Alex III?
1882, Factory Inspectorates introduced to protect workers BUT ineffective due to not many + limited powers
1882, employment in factories of children under 12 banned
What were positive Workers conditions under Nicholas II?
1897, law shortened hours of work BUT widely ignored
Created trade unions (SIGNIFICANT), decreased strikes after 1905
installed a sewage system in 1911, improved conditions in St Petersburg
1914, Statutory holidays introduced - most working 9-10 hr day better than 11 hr
What were negative Workers conditions under Nicholas II?
accidents were frequent
1899 slump added to misery -> workers lost jobs
housing conditions still poor overcrowded workers “barracks”, eg over 1/2 of all housing was constructed from wood & prone to fire damage, only 74 towns had access to electricity
overcrowding led to cholera outbreak, 100,000 deaths in St Petersburg in 1910
Impact of WW1 worsened conditions
wages low
1896, 11 hour day fixed by law
What were negative Workers conditions like under the PG?
hyperinflation meant wages fell by 50% leading to tougher living conditions
increasing unemployment
demands for 8 hour day + higher wages opposed
used new power to strike eg 1.8 million strikers in April, but repressed by PG in July days just like they were repressed under the tsars
What were positive conditions like under the PG?
Influence of Petrograd Soviet
What were positive workers conditions under Lenin?
grain requisitioning to feed workers meant there was more food for workers
the Decree on Land improved housing as this took private homes and gave them to the Proletariat
What were negative Workers conditions under Lenin?
5 million died in WW1
Introduction of Rabkrin in Feb 1920 was a backward step - this body became a talking shop rather than one that enforced industrial law
hours were long, pay was relatively low,
What was urban housing like under the tsars?
relatively poor with respect to quantity and quality
public health problems
What was urban housing like under the communists?
characterised by overcrowding but some improvement under Khrushchev
What was urban work like under the tsars?
poor conditions but some reforms aided improvement
What was urban work like under the communists?
similar poor conditions under tsars but hours much lower by the end of the period
workers prone to being purged under Stalin
What were negative Workers conditions under Stalin?
rouble devalued by 90% in 1947 - damaged everyone’s savings
housing improvements reversed - ‘factory housing’ by mid 1930s 1 room was shared by 2 or more households
25 million homeless after WW2/GPW
“new work discipline”, workers fined for breaking work rules eg 10% of wages docked if called in sick
fuel prices increased
human costs of plans
What were the positive Workers conditions under Stalin?
some improvements in 2nd 5YP eg food more available
although flats were communal they were a vast improvement to earlier living accommodation - had central heating
workers’ wages were higher than peasants, by the last years under Stalin their wage on average was 5 times the average wages of peasants
What were positive Workers conditions under Khrushchev?
minimum wage + 8 hour day -> better rights
7th 5YP focused on consumer goods, meant that 50% of households had a TV + washing machine by 1968
Introduced social housing + “Khrushchev barracks”
What were negative Workers conditions under Khrushchev?
Social housing was cheaply + badly built, so not sustainable
Khrushchev barracks also cheaply made
