Working and Living Conditions of Industrial Workers+ Economic Reforms

Question 1

Living Conditions- Czarist (1855-1905)- Negative Developments

Answer 1

Rapid urbanisation, especially towards the end of the period; St Petersburg grew from 928k in 1881 to 1.9m in 1910- Slum accommodation, overcrowding (1904- average Petrograd apartment housed 6 people per room, one third of houses with running water). Poor sanitation- 200k died from cholera in 1892-94

Question 2

Living Conditions- Czarist (1855-1905)- Positive Developments

Answer 2

Low wages, albeit better than in the country- workers enjoyed some freedom of movement

Question 3

Living Conditions- Czarist (1905-1917)- Negative Developments

Answer 3

More urbanisation and persistent poor conditions- 11 million urban working class by 1913. Worker influence very limited- one gentry vote worth 45 worker votes. Government repression- 200 killed in Lena Goldfields Massacre, 1912. Exacerbated by war- more urbanisation- (Petrograd- 2.1mil in 1914 to 2.7mil in 1917). Food and fuel shortages- Petrograd receiving 48% of its grain requirements by 1917

Question 4

Living Conditions- Czarist (1905- 1917)- Positive Developments

Answer 4

Free trade unions legalised- 1905, Duma system introduced- gave peasants a voice

Question 5

Living Conditions- State Capitalism & War Communism (1917-1921)- Negative Developments

Answer 5

Food shortages, industrial production collapsed, massive urban depopulation (Moscow and St Petersburg halved, 1917-1920)
Loss of democratic freedoms e.g. free speech, political party

Question 6

Living Conditions- State Capitalism and War Communism (1917-1921)- Positive Developments

Answer 6

Housing in cities confiscated- poor families relocated, civil marriage and divorce made easier, all titles and ranks abolished

Question 7

Living Conditions- NEP (1921-28)- Negative Developments

Answer 7

High prices, unemployment, continued overcrowding and poor accommodation

Question 8

Living Conditions- NEP (1921-28)- Positive Developments

Answer 8

Food shortages largely eliminated until late 1920s

Question 9

Living Conditions- Stalin (1928-53)- Negative Developments

Answer 9

Urbanisation- poor accommodation, 25% of Moscow families in 1930s lived in one room, 25% in communal dormitories, 5% in corridors and hallways. Living space fell from avg. 8.5 sq metres in 1905 to 5.8 in 1935
Food shortages common (rationing until 1935)

Question 10

Living Conditions- Stalin (1928-53)- Positive Developments

Answer 10

Some workers granted Stakhanovite status- better accommodation
Women given more opportunities, provision of creches, increased provision of hospitals, clinics (90% of city babies born in hospitals)
Increased provision of sports clubs, facilities

Question 11

Living Conditions- Khrushchev (1953-64)- Negative Developments

Answer 11

Quality of new housing often poor, consumer goods remained expensive, Russia lagged behind West, food prices increased- led to discontent and Novocherkassk Massacre- 26 killed in 1963

Question 12

Living Conditions- Khrushchev (1953-64)- Positive Developments

Answer 12

Khrushchev took an interest in working and living conditions- competition with the West. Established poverty line- number living below it fell from 100m in 58 to 30m in 68. Available housing doubled in 55-64. More consumer goods and entertainment

Question 13

Working Conditions- Czarist (1855-1905)- Negative Developments

Answer 13

Poor working conditions, long hours, low wages, dangerous (556 deaths in metallurgy in 1904), independent trade unions illegal

Question 14

Working Conditions- Czarist (1855-1905)- Positive Developments

Answer 14

Some effort by the government- ban on employment of children under 12 and introduction of factory inspectorate (1882), introduction of 11 hour working day (1896)

Question 15

Working Conditions- Czarist (1905-1917)- Negative Developments

Answer 15

Industrial relations deteriorated- 1.337m people on strike in 1914 compared to 47k in 1910. Increased discontent over wages and conditions. War produced inflation of 400%- wages only increased at half the pace

Question 16

Working Conditions- Czarist (1905-1917)- Positive Developments

Answer 16

Introduction of social insurance scheme
Trade unions legalised, statutory holidays introduced, working day 9-10 hours by 1914

Question 17

Working Conditions- State Capitalism and War Communism (1918-21)- Negative Developments

Answer 17

Hyperinflation- wages made worthless, 2% of 1913 levels, party officials retook control of factories in 1918, reintroduction of harsh workplace discipline. Demonstrations and strike action in the cities by 1921

Question 18

Working Conditions- State Capitalism and War Communism- Positive Developments

Answer 18

8 hour working day, social insurance system introduced, workers briefly took over the running of factories

Question 19

Working Conditions- NEP (1921-8)- Negative Developments

Answer 19

Real wages only passed pre-war levels in 1928

Question 20

Working Conditions- NEP (1921-8)- Positive Developments

Answer 20

8 hour working day, trade unions had influence in running of factories, though still largely controlled by the state

Question 21

Working Conditions- Stalin (1928-53)- Negative Developments

Answer 21

1940 wages only 56% of 1928 value. Harsh workplace conditions and discipline, strike action banned, internal passports, forced labour (14-18m imprisoned between 1929-52, 1.6m died). WW2 exacerbated poor conditions- rationing, 12 hour working day

Question 22

Working Conditions- Stalin (1928-53)- Positive Developments

Answer 22

None

Question 23

Working Conditions- Khrushchev (1953-64)- Negative Developments

Answer 23

Worker discontent- Novocherkassk Massacre, 1963 (26 killed)

Question 24

Working Conditions- Khrushchev (1953-64)- Positive Developments

Answer 24

Gulag system closed

Question 25

Czarist (1855-1905)- Notes

Answer 25

Very poor conditions- workers have no voice or influence, neglected by leaders, not viewed as their responsibility. No labour shortage- no concern for safety

Question 26

Czarist (1905-17)- Notes

Answer 26

No significant change, despite 1905 reforms. Conditions deteriorated due to WW1- parallel with deterioration in other periods

Question 27

Communist (1917-1928)- Notes

Answer 27

Much more aid and attention given to workers- Bolsheviks are Workers’ Party, ideological commitments. Conditions worsened in practice due to need to hold on to power, esp. during War Communism

Question 28

Stalin (1928-53)- Notes

Answer 28

Conditions worsened overall, Stalin prioritised rapid industrial growth over worker welfare, impact of WW2, no opportunity for effective worker opposition. Improvements in living conditions- Stalin still believed workers were at least in part his priority

Question 29

Khrushchev (1953-64)- Notes

Answer 29

Conditions improved- Khrushchev opposed worst excesses of Stalin’s era, wanted to show power of communism in competition with West (as opposed to 30s)
Limited achievements when compared with West

Question 30

Czarist Economic Policies- Agriculture- Positive Developments

Answer 30

Migration under N2, crop area doubled from 12 to 24m acres, Stolypin allowed consolidation, better machinery, Land Captains, Zemstvo and Duma, emancipation, mechanisation from industry

Question 31

Czarist Economic Policies- Agriculture- Negative Developments

Answer 31

Famine- lack of government action. Land hunger- 35 acres to 28. Backwards farming methods for most of period, control of Mir, barrier to agricultural innovation and development

Question 32

Czarist Economic Policies- Industry- Positive Developments

Answer 32

Large population, potential growth. Foreign investors (LUDWIG KNOOP, Hughes), encouraged by Reutern and Witte, production growth (300k tons of coal in 1800 to 3m in 1880). 8% economy growth rate (best in Europe)- Great Spurt. Infrastructure growth- T-S Railway

Question 33

Czarist Economic Policies- Industry- Negative Developments

Answer 33

Foreign investment- vulnerable to foreign emigration (2.5k companies bust in 1902-03), still lagging behind Europe, weak internal market

Question 34

Czarist Economic Policies- Worker Conditions- Positive Developments

Answer 34

Emancipation- freedom to own property, marry, move, etc. Educational improvements under A2 and N2. Stolypin ended redemption payments, introduced citizenship, peasant inheritance, etc. 1905

Question 35

Czarist Economic Policies- Worker Conditions- Negative Developments

Answer 35

Population increase- poverty. Land hunger- 52% unable to survive on land in 1990, 350k dead in 1891 famine. Poor education and illiteracy, no political power, limited effect of emancipation, major internal migration (15% of population between 1881 and 1897). Low wages, harsh work discipline in factories, poor living conditions, strikes, Lena Goldfields, conscription (10m in 1914