THEME 4 - SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTS

Question 1

soviet constitution

Answer 1

1917

• all soviet citizens had the right to work, rest, leisure, health care, education and cultural benefits
• Stalin’s push for industrialisation caused consumer goods industries to massively underperform

Question 2

results of civil war on economy

Answer 2

• collapse of industrial production

- gift of workers to the countryside where food supplies were reliable

Question 3

labour conscription 1918

Answer 3

• take the job you were given - meant Red Army was always supplied

Question 4

labour exchanges

Answer 4

• made to supervise the hiring of workers

- some feared getting jobs they didn’t want - didn’t sign up

Question 5

demobilisation of Red Army post civil war

Answer 5

• millions returned to cities and there was a surplus of workers
• 1926 unemployment reached over 1 million
• skilled workers under NEP had increasing job security and secure wages

Question 6

arteli groups under NEP

Answer 6

• workers in same trade who offered services as a group and got paid as a group
• govt thought they were backwards and did not encourage their use
• shock brigades introduced in 1929 - young workers would go and work on construction projects - essentially he same thing as the arteli

Question 7

results of NEP

Answer 7

• wage differences between skilled and unskilled workers grew - made more prominent by the shortage of skilled workers

Question 8

conclusion of labour market under Lenin

Answer 8

• shortage of workers during civil war
• surplus of workers post war
• difference in wages for skilled and unskilled workers
• increasing use of arteli - despite govt’s dislike

Question 9

USSR’s goals for full employment

Answer 9

• 1930 - USSR announced it was first country to achieve full employment
• workers rose from 12 million in 1928 to 17 million in 1937

Question 10

full employment impact

Answer 10

• divisions in work place between skilled and unskilled workers
• productivity was low - 1927 soviet worker produced half of what a British worker produced
• 1932 - internal passport produced - harder to move around jobs because labour shortages was becoming an issue
• 1932 - bonuses and better rations introduced for skilled workers and in 1934 piecework introduced - good for skilled workers
• 1939 - absenteeism made a criminal offence
• gulags used more - from 1945 1.5 million prisoners to 2.5 million in 1953

Question 11

conclusion of full employment

Answer 11

• whilst full employment was achieved there was still:
• poor living standards
• poor treatment of workers
• material benefits did not reach the workforce

Question 12

housing 1917

Answer 12

• bolsheviks began splitting up large houses of rich and giving them to workers
• HOWEVER houses not allocated based on need - up to rank in Party
• not enough housing to meet everyone’s needs

Question 13

housing results of 5YPs

Answer 13

• housing was low priority - industrialisation meant workers needed houses
• Moscow population grew from 1 million to 4 million 1936
• magnitorsk grew from 25 to 250,000
• workers slept in tents or in factories at new industrial centres
• later 1930s housing got better - barracks built with communal kitchens
• in 1936 - 24% of people rented a part of a room, and 25% lived in corridors

Question 14

impacts of WW2 on housing

Answer 14

• stalingrad lost 90% of housing

- leningrad lost 33% during the siege of 1941-44

Question 15

social benefits under Lenin and Stalin

Answer 15

• workers given free clothes and food
• workers given 2 weeks paid holiday
• by 1953 soviet worker was likely to be employed, housed ad receiving social services but life was very harsh

Question 16

healthcare under Lenin and Stalin

Answer 16

• compulsory vaccination in 1921 against lice-spread typhus - serious problem resulting in 6 million deaths
• doctors fled russia during revolution - problem for healthcare provision
• doctors increased from 70,000 in 1918 to 144,000 in 1940 - govt increased number of training places on offer

Question 17

Khrushchev and the promotion of a stable society

Answer 17

• 1961 - Khrushchev declared that the soviet public would benefit from socialism

Question 18

developed socialism

Answer 18

• a society that had become instilled with the values of socialism

Question 19

soviet constitution 1977 employment

Answer 19

• full employment was guaranteed - was some seasonal unemployment - guaranteed job satisfaction by being employed
• limited gap between best and worst paid - people could buy material items but there was outrage over pay inequality
• increased wages by 50% from 1967 to 1977- gave people more spending power - but they had to save because there was no point in spending - no shops

Question 20

job security under Khrushchev

Answer 20

• difficult to dismiss people that were not good in their job
• managers ignored absences and low standards - absent due to being in queues of food
• targets would be met by intense labour work
• 1956 - minimum wage introduced - good meant nobody was below poverty line but also meant people struggled with families living on minimum wage
• 1957 - working week reduced and paid holiday introduced

Question 21

improved material benefits under Khrushchev and Brezhnev

Answer 21

• both followed the trend of moving investment away from heavy industry to light industry
• ninth 5YP 1971-75 saw a greater investment in consumer goods than heavy industry
• targets for production were not met but progress was sufficient for the population to see improvement
• economic improvements were based on skilled work - meant people could have social mobility

Question 22

the nomenklatura system

Answer 22

• partly controlled every element of employment
• workers employment depended on securing a place with an internal passport
• period of ideological study was also good way to gain promotion
• party membership grew from 6.9 million in 1953 to 17 million in 1970
• by the 1970s 20% of all males over 30 were party members

Question 23

differences + similarities between Khrushchev and Brezhnev’s nomenklatura systems

Answer 23

• Brezhnev - people often promoted where they lived - no social mobility - unlike Khrushchev era
• simular in encouraging their successors being successful
• nepotism was prominent - Brezhnev’s son became minister of foreign trade

Question 24

education system under Brezhnev and Khrushchev

Answer 24

• to get a good job, the usual route as to complete secondary education before going onto higher education
• equal opputinity for boys and girls - 1980s the number of women going into higher education was equal to that of men
• schools in large urban areas got better teachers - especially in elite areas
• played key role in creating a soviet elite
• youth groups were a key way of maintaining party membership

Question 25

the provision and range of social security benefits under Khrushchev and Brezhnev

Answer 25

• 1950-80 state welfare spending increased by 5 times
• 1956 - pension scheme for old and sick was expanded and retirement age was reduced
• peasants did not receive a pension until Brezhnev era

Question 26

housing under Khrushchev and Brezhnev

Answer 26

• annual amount of housing space by state increased from 180 million square metres in 1951 to 400 million square metres in 1961
• most housing was created directly by the state
• Khrushchev created Khrushcholby (slums) - they were cheap to build but poorly finished to meet targets
• although housing was poor - still long waiting lists

Question 27

healthcare under Khrushchev and Breznhev

Answer 27

• hospitals available but the quality of health was a problem
• polyclinics available and used by many
• sanatoria - rest homes used with medical facilities
• workers were entitled to take time at polyclinics or sanatorias for most medical complaints
• better medical facilities in large cities - still bad conditions in rural towns - in Central Asia most hospitals did not have running water by 1988

Question 28

living conditions in the countryside under Khrushchev and Brezhnev

Answer 28

• increased investment in agriculture was continued under Brezhnev - some investment used to build homes, medical facilities and healthcare services in rural areas
• 1966 - income of collective farmers increased
• 1970s - rage of rural workers was only 10% less than industrial workers

Question 29

examples of protest under Khrushchev and Brezhnev

Answer 29

• protests over food prices in 1962 - 70 killed
• komosol workers were called up to develop temirtau in 1959 - protests over food shortages and lack of clean water
• terrorist attacks in 1977 bomb left on Moscow metro - killed 7
• strikes and riots in Gorki in 1980 over houses meant that local police had to be involved

Question 30

examples of social problems

Answer 30

• WW2 killed lots of men - children grew up without father figures - 1979 - divorce rate was 34%
• insufficient economic basis also affected social cohesion
• 1975 - govt introduced principles of the soviet state and law to make youth aware of obligations of state
• alcoholism was a serious problem - soviet population grew by 25% alcohol consumption was 600% - 20 million alcoholics in USSR by 1987

Question 31

communist outlook on women

Answer 31

• lenin said that marriage was a type of capitalist slavery
• radical communists called for the emancipation of women - ideas were not always favoured by conservatives in party
• in the great retreat 1935 women moved away from their maternal roles

Question 32

changing status of women under Lenin

Answer 32

• 1917 - zhenotdel was set up with the communist ideology of equality between the sexes - communists argued that extra argued that extra help would liberate women from their maternal roles
• decrees 1917:
• made divorce easier and abortion was legalised
• law that said a woman must obey her husband & take his name was abolished
• women didn’t need their husband’s permission in studying or taking a job
• equal pay passed for women

Question 33

results of Lenin’s changes for women

Answer 33

• 70% of divorces were initiated by men who normally left women who were pregnant
• attitudes of the male population were slow to change because the laws on equal pay were not implemented very quickly

Question 34

women during civil war

Answer 34

• 70,000 women fought in Red Army - few had high rank
• millions of women recruited into factories
• govt lacked resources to implement creches

Question 35

results of women in civil war

Answer 35

• many lost their jobs when men returned from war - they were unskilled
• rise of prostitution - due to the disruption of the war

Question 36

islamic women under Lenin

Answer 36

• resistance where polygamous and male dominated families were entrenched in culture
• young women went into Central Asian parts and educated muslim women on childcare, basic contraception and hygiene
• 1927 - campaign to unveil
• opportunities for islamic women increased - still resistance - in Baku a Zhenotdel meeting was attacked by men with dogs

Question 37

collectivisation and industrialisation in countryside 1928

Answer 37

• 1930s - Zhenotdel shut down in russia - declared men and women were equal
• 50% of the population was women
• during collectivisation men left the countryside to work in towns
• women worked in countryside on lower wages - traditional attitudes to women slow to change in rural areas

Question 38

women during WW2 1941

Answer 38

• men conscripted into army - women left to do agricultural work
• post war there was few able men to work on farms - soldiers moved to towns
• no livestock - women tied themselves to shackles and plowed the fields

Question 39

collectivisation and industrialisation on women in towns - 5YPs

Answer 39

• women had to work out of economic necessity
• number of women working increased from 3 million in 1928 to 13 million in 1940
• women began working in typical men’s jobs - praskovia Angelina used to motivate female workers
• 1929 - govt reserved 20% of education for women - 1940 40% of engineering students were women - more women involved in higher jobs - but highest still dominated by men

Question 40

women in politics

Answer 40

• under represented at all levels - despite declaring equality
• 1932 16% of party membership was female
• before 1939 female delegates were under 10%
• one seven female members of central committee
• only one to ever be full candidate - Ekaterina Furtseva in 1957 under Khrushchev

Question 41

family code of 1918

Answer 41

• under socialism the family ‘ceases to be necessary’
• divorces could be dissolved
• abortion legalised
• creches more available
• attack on traditional family and role of church
• 1927 - registered and unregistered marriage was given equal status

Question 42

results of family code

Answer 42

• divorce rate highest in Europe
• 1926 - 50% of marriages ended in divorce
• ‘postcard divorces’
• abortion rates increased - 75% of pregnancies aborted

Question 43

the great retreat 1936

Answer 43

• divorce made expensive
• free marriage lost legal status
• abortion and gay rights made illegal
• pregnant women guaranteed job security, maternity leave extended to 16 weeks and men imprisoned if didn’t pay child maintenance
• number of nursery places doubled during the second 5YP 1933-37
• 1944 mother awards for women who had 10+ children, single person tax and divorce made more complicated - had to go to court and work it out

Question 44

changes for women under Khrushchev

Answer 44

• double burden - women had to look after family as well as have a job
• 49% of workforce was female
• older women looked after domestic duties because the grandmothers were greatly respected
• family benefits were promoted such as pensions - still train put on families
• 1955 abortion legalised to reduce strain on families

Question 45

women under Brezhnev

Answer 45

• continued khrushchev’s emphasis on importance of family
• family code 1968
• emphasis on tradition
• restrictions placed on divorce - illegal to divorce pregnant women

Question 46

growth rates under Brezhnev

Answer 46

• 1982 - growth rate of population declining by 0.8%

- Russian birth rate declining but in Islam areas - focus on tradition was strong - birth rate increasing

Question 47

housing under Brezhnev

Answer 47

• shortage of housing put strain on family relations

Question 48

drinking under Brezhnev

Answer 48

• alcoholism significant factor that undermined family
• 1982 average soviet adult consumed 18L of spirit a year
• Nerntsov argued that alcoholism was cause of 25% of death in 1980s - health campaigns focused on alcoholism but rarely any desire to stop heavy drinking

Question 49

divorce under Brezhnev

Answer 49

• rate high - 1/3 of marriages anded in divorce - generation lacked role models due to WW2

Question 50

October 1917 education decrees

Answer 50

• transformed schools into polytechnic
• free education and breakfast
• no religion taught in schools
• ended gender segregation
• no corporal punishment
• no homework or exams
• church buildings used as schools
• secondary vocational schools - some children went to factories 3 days and school 2 days

Question 51

education during civil war stats

Answer 51

• for every 60 children there was 1 pencil
• 7 million orphaned
• first 18 months of Civil War education was reduced to 50%

Question 52

education during NEP

Answer 52

• schooled closed in 1921 to save money and fees for schools that opened - 1927 fees abolished
• big inequalities in system - 90% of bourgeois children started school and 25% finished - whereas 40% of working class children started school and 4% finished
• trade unions literacy went from 86% to 96% in 1926 - 99% in 1927
• 97% students paid fees
• 1928 60% of children in education - 10% more than 1917

Question 53

komosol

Answer 53

• 14-28
• by 1982 over 40 million members
• handed out pictures of Lenin and stalin
• sent into markets to monitor trade
• talks from local factory workers

Question 54

illiteracy under lenin

Answer 54

• 1919 decree on literacy - everyone from 8-50 must be able to read and write
• 50% of soldiers literate in 1918 - 100% in 1925
• 1924 lipunkty introduced - 6 week intensive course - teachers didn’t like it - based near secondary schools not illiterate areas leading to low attendance

Question 55

purpose of the curriculum in schools

Answer 55

• help instill socialist values

- stalin wanted to abolish progressive methods and have discipline and return to core subjects

Question 56

expansion goals for education

Answer 56

• wanted 100% of 8-12 year olds to be in school by 1932 - reached 95% - better than 1928 60% in schools
• fees needed - govt unwilling to spend on education during 5YPs
• scholarships and party grants offered
• July 1943 - gender separated schools - stalin thought it would lead to inappropriate behaviour

Question 57

obstacles to expansion of education

Answer 57

• bed resources

- low wages put people off being teachers

Question 58

university under Stalin and Lenin

Answer 58

• 1917 Commissariat of Education said unis should be open for all
• great turn 1936 - bourgeois specialists were expelled and replaced with red specialists
• stalin launched enrolment in 1928 for uni - 70% of places were saved for working class
• 1930s all uni staff purged

Question 59

results of WW2 on unis

Answer 59

• bad - 1944 only 227,000 students were in uni

- HOWEVER uni increased by 800% from 1914 to 1939

Question 60

Khrushchev’s attitude towards schools

Answer 60

• enabled a policy that meant that people who were working could return to school
• abandoned need for the non-russian states to learn Russian
• emphasis on vocational schools - controversial part of his reforms

Question 61

Brezhnev’s attitudes towards education

Answer 61

• throughout ’70s adults could continue education through extensive programme for adult education
• diplomas and degrees were offered at vocational schools - helped updating workers skills
• stalin ignored from curriculum
• changes made to basic structure - some schools turned specialist
• opened to boys and girls - participation of girls low
• children of graduates most likely to gain place
• Brezhnev undid Khrushchev’s reforms in focusing on vocational education