Theme 4 - Key evidence Flashcards
Social security 1917-53
- Unemployment increased to over 100,000 by October 1918
- 1918 able-bodied men 16-50 lost right to refuse work
- urban population fell by 25% during the war
- 1924 18% workforce unemployed
- War communism never provided more than 50% of food and fuel that people needed to live on.
- In 1922 62.2% of unemployed people in the Soviet union’s towns and cities were women.
- Stalin introduced the ‘continuous work week’
- 1940 internal passports introduced
- From 1926 to 1939, the number of specialists rose from half a million to 12 million.
- workforce increased from 8 million to 12.2 million between 1945-1950.
- number of medical doctors increased by 2/3 between 1947-52
- average soviet worker took 10-13 days off ill a year in 1946
- 1936 constitution embraced the moral precept that “he who does not work shall not eat”
Housing 1917-53
- redistribution of property 1918-28
- under NEP 60-80% of urban housing was denationalised
- 1923-4 large town houses were ‘socialised’
- Moscow 1930 average person had 5.5m2 of living space, 4m2 in 1940.
- Kommunalka, Moscow + Leningrad 3/4 population lived in communal apartments
- 1/3 urban housing destroyed 1941-45
- Moonlighting (working several jobs) was very common. This suggests that most members of the family were working harder than before just to survive.
Khrushchev, Brezhnev and the promotion of a stable society, 1953-85
- soviet healthcare budget more than doubled under K from 21.4 bill in 1950 to 44.0 bill in 1959.
- pensions budget quadrupled
- 1961 = free lunches in school offices and factories, free public transport and full pensions and healthcare rights for farmers.
- between 1950-65 amount of urban housing more than doubled. Housing was a flagship poly of K.
- estimates suggest in the 1970’s there was hidden unemployment of 20%
- late 70’s at least 1 mill vacancies in industry that went unfulfilled.
- around 2% of Russians were out of work by 1985
- life expectancy declines from 68-64
- 1956 reform of labour initiated, more difficult for workers to be dismissed.
- Ussr ‘went through a social revolution whilst Brezhnev slept’
- cultural gap between rulers and ruled
- ‘a population that was more mobilizable but less manipulable’
How did propaganda portray women?
-Women given nurturing/subservient roles in propaganda eg: ‘Worker and Kholkoz Woman’ (statue, 1937)
-Wartime propaganda emplored men to protect women, eg: ‘The Motherland is Calling’ (poster, 1941)
-Valentina Tereshkova, first woman in space in 1963, called ‘no less than Yuri Gagaren in a skirt’ in propaganda of 60s
How did womens role in industry change?
-Women in soviet industry increased 3m-13m (1928-40), 41% of workers were women during 5YPs
-During war, up to 75% of workforce were women in some towns
How did womens role in agriculture change?
-During NEP, only 8 female tractor drivers in whole of USSR, rose to 50k by 1940 but still only 0.5% or rural female population
-In VLS campaign, women recruited for low paid jobs like milkmaids who got 15% the wage of a male tractor driver
-72% of lowest paid farmers (1970) + only 2% of factory managers (1980) were women
How did higher education for women change?
-28% of uni students women compared to 12% + 20% in germany + britain by 1930
-By 1940, this was 40% + half by 1960s
-70% of doctors, 75% of uni staff, 65% of arts and culture by 1985
What was pay like for women?
-Pay gap: 60-65% of men’s pay pre-war
-In 60s, 45% of workforce were women but mainly in low skilled jobs that therefore had less pay + 90% of unemployed were women
What role did women play in the military?
-800k women served in active combat roles during WW2
-Respected female pilot Lydia Litvyak shot down 10 german planes before dying in combat
-Many women were demobilised after war though whereas men went on to have long military careers
What role did women play in the Party?
-5% of party delegates + 10% of party members in 1918
-In 1930s, women encouraged to become obshchesttvennista (wife activists)
-In early 1983, women rose to 26% of party membership but never went above 4% of CC
What rights were women given pre-Stalin?
-Right to vote + equal pay 1919
-Abortion and contraception available in 20s
-Postcard divorce from 1926
-Prostitution decriminalised
-Lesbianism remained legal
How did policy become more conservative in the ‘Great Retreat’?
-Abortion + contraception criminalised
-Lesbianism considered disease
-Divorce became expensive (1st divorce cost a weeks wages, later divorces cost more)
-However, divorced men required to pay 1/3 of income in child support or 60% if they had left 3+ children
-Pronatalist policy: 2000 roubles a year for 5 years for 7+ children, 5000 for 11+
literacy
- In 1914 only around 32% of the population could read and write
- in 1919 lenin issued a decree on illiteracy, it became compulsory for all citizens ages 8 to 50 to learn to read and write, the campaign continued throughout the 1920’s
by 1925 100 percent of soldiers in the red army had the ability to read and write - outside of the red army literacy campaigns weren’t as successful, government prioritised military victory over education. War distrupted education accross the country.
- the government closed 90% of the reading room network to save money after civil war.
- 55% literacy by 1928, results were uneven.
- Stalin’s government introduced a new campaign to ‘liquidate illiteracy’,
- the Sixteenth party congress set out to ensure the elimination of illiteracy during the first 5-year plan, by 1939, over 94% of citizens were literate
- 97% of men were literate, only 90% of women could read and write
- Decree on illiteracy 26 December 1919 meant all people ages 8-50 were required to study.
- difficult to control outcomes of illiteracy campaigns - many were not interested in the ideological works which were stocked in libraries and preferred travel etc
primary and secondary education
- decree in October 1918, children would spend four hours a day in factories learning skills and four hours being taught in school. Factory schools.
- in 1917 many teachers were not in favour of the regime complicating the government’s aspirations for mass education. Teachers ignored the governments request for history to be taught about class struggle and continued to teach the achievements of the Tsar.
- in 1921, under the new economic policy where fees were introduced and the number of children in education halved in the first 18 months
- Under Stalin there was a large expansion in education, enrolment of 95% of children compared to the 60% in 1928
- 40% of teachers attacked by “cultural soldiers” from the komosomol.
- Labour reserve schools were young men between 14 and 17 were trained in specialisms in industry 1940
- in 1961 K ordered a new emphasis on learning foreign languages.
- khrushchev reformed much of the curriculum but under Brezhnev it saw a return to the stalinist curriculum.
- K doubled the number of schools in towns and cities
- khrushchev education law 1959. K’s reforms more so benefited the educational elite and didn’t solve the fundamental problem of poorly maintained schools and teaching shortages.
university education
- In 1928 Stalin launched the new policy, which saw enrolments increase from 127,000 in 1927 to 812,000 in 1940, under Stalin the number of universities rapidly increased by 800%
- the second world war decimated the university sector and in 1944 only 227,000 students remained in university
- in 1953 the sector was reconstructed and in 1953 there were approximately 1.5 million students at universities across the USSR.
- From 1958 to 1980, academic staff increased from 87,000 to 380,000 to teach the growing number of students
- In 1954, Khrushchev initiated the building of 5 new universities
