Theme 4 (social) Flashcards
when was the Russian civil war
1918-21
war communism same timespan
decree forcing unemployed people into any offered work
1918 (war communism)
launch of NEP
1921
announced at 10th party congress (ended war communism)
rise in unemployment under NEP (since NEP didnt stress full employment like war communism)
1926: 1 million unemployed
when did the soviet government announce full employment
1930
first government to do so in peacetime
rise in hired workers under industrialisation
1926: 11.6 million
1937: 27 million
when was unemployment benefit cancelled
1930 (since ‘full employment’ had been reached)
Trade unions left to pay for sick leave / injury compensation
low productivity of soviet factories (early Stalin)
1927: average soviet worker produced half what the average British worker did
work passport system introduced
1932
Harder for people to change jobs
failure of work passport system
1937: 30% workers still change jobs 4 times a year
guarantee of employment for all soviet workers
1936 constitution
absenteeism made a criminal offence
1939
rise in gulag population after the war
1945: 1.5 million
1953: 2.5 million
prisoners of war used extensively in the reconstruction period
increase in population of Moscow (early Stalin)
1929: 2.2 million
1936: 4.1 million
increase in population of Magnitogorsk (early Stalin)
1929: 25
1932: 250,000
statistics to show low quality of rented units under Stalin
1936
only 6% had more than 1 room
5% of people lived in a kitchen or corridor
25% of people lived in dormitories
housing shortage made worse by WW2
1942-43: Stalingrad lost 90% of its housing
1941-44: siege of Leningrad, Leningrad lost 1/3 of its housing
1945: 25 million left homeless
typhus outbreak (early bolshevik period)
1918-20
6 million died
spread by lice
rise in trained doctors under Stalin
1928: 70,000 (many had fled after revolution)
1940: 155,000
cholera epidemic
1921
successfully contained by compulsory vaccination
rise in real wages under Brezhnev
1967-77
real wages rose 50%
increase in consumption under Khrushchev
consumption per capita increased 3.8%
1956-64
when was the minimum wage introduced in USSR
1957
Khrushchev
growth of party membership (caused by nomenklatura system)
1953: 7 million
1980: 17 million
increase in state welfare spending 1950-80
increased fivefold
when did peasants receive a pension
only under the Brezhnev era
increase in annual amount if housing space produced under Khrushchev
1951: 178 million square metres
1961: 394 million square meters
(1951 - 61 housing space doubled)
Khrushchev slums, so not good quality
rise in farmers wages under Khrushchev + Brezhnev
by the 1970s, collective farmers wages only 10% lower than industrial workers
uprising in Hungary leads to soviet invasion
1956
Tanks
(same year as secret speech - Hungary for change)
serious protests in Czechoslovakia lead to soviet invasions
1968
Military
high divorce rates under Brezhnev
1979
34% marriages end in divorce
attempted assassination of Brezhnev
1969
alcoholism in the 80s
1982: average adult consumes 18 litres of spirits per year (2X 1970 figure)
1987: estimated 20 million alcoholics in USSR. High levels of domestic abuse
early decrees made with the intention of gender equality
1917
divorce made easier, abortion legalised, marital permission laws abolished, equal pay, maternity leave
what % of divorces initiated by men?
70%
often to leave pregnant women (unwanted babies)
how many women fought in the Red Army (civil war)
70,000
campaign for the unveiling of women
1927 (targeted Muslim areas, difficult)
Lead to ‘honour killings’ of the women involved by their families, government forced to take a softer approach 1930
when did the party close down Zhenotdel
1930
claimed sexual equality had been achieved
rise of women in the workforce (industrialisation)
1928: 3 million
1940: 13 million
what % of university places were reserved for women
1929: government reserves 20% of higher education places for women (14% already women)
1940: 40% of those studying engineering were women
production of tanks and aircrafts in WW2
94,000 aircrafts
73,000 tanks
statistics to show low female involvement in the party
1932: 16% party members were women
1939: female delegates at party congress exceeds 10% for the first time
when were women given the vote in Russia
1917
1920s high abortion rates
Moscow 1920s
abortions outnumbered birthed 3:1
when was Stalin’s great retreat
1936
- divorce more expensive
- abortion illegal
- unregistered marriage not valid
- man gays illegal
increase in divorce price after great retreat
1935: 4 roubles
1937: 50 roubles
increase in number of creche places (pre-great retreat)
creche places doubled 1928-30
abortion legalised again (after great retreat)
1955
Khrushchev wanted to lessen financial strain on the family
decline in population growth under Brezhnev
1982: population grew 0.8% per year. Average family has 2.4 children (vs 2.9 in 1959)
reasons for not banning alcohol in 80’s (despite all the problems it made)
9% of GDP came from vodka sales
statistics to show how education was underfunded in early bolshevik years
teachers poorly paid
1 teacher per 40 children
only 1 pencil per 60 students provided by Narkompros
failures of early attempt to increase education
by 1926, the average child had just 2.77 years of education
when were church schools taken over by the government
1918
growth in number of children in education ( early Stalin)
1929: 14 million
1931: 20 million
schools destroyed by ww2
82,000
adult education under Khrushchev
1964: over 2 million adults attending Rabfaks
illiteracy under the Tsar
65% population illiterate
14/17 illiterate are women
88% children do not finish primary school
increase in literacy (Stalin - Khrushchev). urban and rural
1939: 94% and 86%
1959: 99% and 98%
(figures likely overstated but still a massive achievement)
when were all schools required to offer vocational courses
under Khrushchev
1955-65
Komsomol (Young Communist League) membership
1929: 2.3 million
1940: 10.2 million
1982: 40 million
labour exchanges (job centres) set up
1918
War communism, any unemployed must take all work offered to them
decrease in working hours
1957 Khrushchev decreases working hours
By 1960 working week 41 hours (vs 48 in 1956)
regular wages implemented for collective farmers
1966
Brezhnev
work passport system extended to rural population
1974
same year Brezhnev changes economic targets to focus on cost and profit rather than production
gender discrimination after civil war
many men returning were better trained than those who worked during civil war.
70% of those fired were women
labour shortages in first 5 year plan
1932 labour shortages
high targets + many new factories (building projects) caused labour shortage in 1932
how did Stalin combat labour shortages (first 5 year plan)
1931: wage different depending on skill level
1932: work passport system
1934: piecework introduced (paid by amount you produce) –> not great work incentive as little to actually buy with this money
living costs under Stalin
very low, most families spent less than 8% of income on rent.
Living conditions still poor (no space, electricity, hot water)
social benefits provided by Trade Unions
2 weeks paid holiday, often cheap subsidised vacations to state resorts
sick pay given
soviet healthcare
widely available, not always high quality good sanitation (sanitary inspectors given the same status as doctors) Not free, but low subsidised costs
literacy levels by 1980s
99%
caused by compulsory education for ages 7-15 (Stalin 1930)
protests in Poland over food prices
1980
had to use martial law
when was the family code
1918
gives women greater rights within marriage
postcard divorces made legal
started in 1926 (revoked 1936 great retreat)
1926: 50% of marriages end in divorce
70% divorces initiated by men to leave unwanted children
1944 extension on great retreat
- tax on single people
- divorce made more complex (must visit a councillor to try fix it)
- ‘mother heroines’ for 10+ children
first women to be a full member of the presidium (politburo)
Ekaterina Furtseva
1957
family code places restrictions on divorce (Brezhnev)
1968
- 1 month notice before a wedding can happen
- divorce illegal if woman is pregnant or has given birth within the year
the socially active woman
magazine targeted at the female social elite (1930s onwards)
women who fought in WW2
80,000
most in medical but some as pilots, machine gunners, and tank crews
first woman in space
Valentina Tereshkova, 1963
new marriage law gives equal status for registered and unregistered marriages
1927
revoked 1936 great retreat
‘double burden’ under Khrushchev
49% workforce women
Khrushchev traditional values stresses that women should still do all domestic work (double burden for working mums)
statistics to show which fields were female dominated by 1985
70% of medical doctors were women
75% of university employees were women
65% of art and culture employees were women
pay in female dominated fields was lower
statistic to show that women were only targeted for low paying jobs in late 50s/early 60s
August 1958
6400 women recruited
only 450 had well paid professional jobs
statistics to show low status of women in agriculture in 70s/80s
1970: 72% of the Soviet union’s lowest-paid farmers were women
1980: only 2% of farm managers were women
