SGQ #7

IBSL2 SGQ7

QWs:

Compare and contrast the economic and social policies of one left wing and one right wing single-party ruler.

Examine the status of women in two single-party states, each chosen from a different region.

In what ways did one ruler of a single-party state try to use education to support his regime?

MWH 369-378


4. What was everyday life and culture like under Stalin?
a. Why was life hard?
i. food - shortage due to concentration on heavy industry, famine and bad harvests. Amount of bread eaten by average worker in 1933 was half what it was in 1900, and average wages were 3/5 what they had been in 1928.
ii. housing - shortage caused by rapid urban population growth (31 mill increase b/w 1926-39). local Soviets controlled housing -> Middle class families had to share their homes, and workers lived in barracks.
iii. the nomenklatura - the existence of special elite groups such as government officials made ordinary people angry that they were suffering while the elite had all these privileges (bread delivered to their house, a country house...); there was a "them and us" attitude.

b. What signs of improvement were there?
i. food supplies improved and all rationing was abolished in 1936 (provision of free meals in factory canteens and free work clothes helped)
ii. education and healthcare were free, and the # of schools and medical centers was increasing
iii. more recreation facilities-by the end of the 1930s there were almost 30,000 cinemas
iv. 'culturedness' spread its way into the workplace and shops; workers were made to take care of hygiene, and sanitation regulations were introduced into bread shops etc.

c. The state, women, and the family
i. Why was life hard for women?
1. so many men had disappeared during collectivization, the famine, and the Purges -women were left to work + parent
2. by 1940 about 2/3 of the workforce in light industry was women and many did men's work such as construction
ii. What two goals did the government have for women?
1. provide much of the workforce for the industrialization drive
2. encourage and strengthen the family unit
iii. What policies did the government adopt towards women?
1. build daycares and nurseries (# doubled in 2 years 1929-30)
2. mid 1930s: laws were passed encouraging women to have as many babies as possible; abortion made illegal except if woman's life was in danger
3. maternity leave up to 16 weeks was allowed and there were various subsidies and other benefits for pregnant women
iv. What was life like for upper-class or well-educated women?
they had professional jobs and were seen by the state as part of the campaign to 'civilize' the masses... their main duty was to make a comfortable home life. The Wives' Movement eventually encouraged them to learn to drive lorries, shoot, and fly planes so they could be ready to take men's places if they had to go to war.


d. Education
i. What improvements were made to education?
1. January 1930 law passed that all 8-11 yr. olds have to be enrolled in school -> # of students increased from 14-20 million
2. by 1940 there were 199,000 schools, and many new training colleges were set up for teachers
3. literacy rate went up from 94->99 (towns) and 86->98 (rural)

ii. What were some of the goals of education?
1. turn the younger generation into good, orthodox soviet citizens; religion and 'bourgeois' practices were presented as superstitious
2. strict discipline enforced by teachers with emphasis on science and math

e. Religion
i. Was was the Communist view of religion?
they were atheists who accepted Marx's claim that religion was invented by ruling classes to keep people under control. Bolshevism is only religion; people should worship communist state not god.
ii. What actions did the government take towards religious organizations?
-lenin had attacked Orthodox church: seizing of all property, arresting of priests -church/state relations were bettering but then when some priests opposed collectivization, Stalin started secretly organizing destruction of thousands of priests, muslim/jewish leaders, and churches (by 1941 barely any churches left)
iii. What was the people's reaction to those policies/actions?
outrage, esp. in rural areas where priests were popular parts of the community. But then in 1942 when they were losing the war, Stalin decided they could use the church, and allowed them all to re-open

f. Literature and theater
-1928-1931 'Cultural Revolution' (rise of writers etc, against 'Bourgeoise' intellectuals)
-government dissolved AUV (All-russian union of writers) for being accused of publishing anti-soviet works, then Stalin passed law saying no material could be published portraying Party in bad light, so RAPP writing group was dissolved too
-in late 1930s many writers and theatre people were arrested and sent to labour camps or even executed

g. Art, architecture, and music
-strict rules on what artists could produce as well (mainly paintings/busts of Lenin/Stalin), architecture was boring (classical)
-Western music was condemned until mid 1930s

h. The cinema
-Stalin loved films and demanded that soviet films should be 'intelligible to the millions'
-films makers had a hard time because there were so many different languages in russia and the regime wanted so many (sometimes contradictory) themes incorporated into the movies (e.g. the glorious communist future)
-increase in movies and cinemas from 1933-40