Social & Economic Consequences 2

Changes in Family Life and the Role of Women

Women had access to jobs in a similar way to men, although party officials were mostly male. But, women were often paid less than men and continued to shoulder responsibility in the home.

The ‘Zhenotdel’

The ‘Zhenotdel’ (the women’s section of the Communist Party) was closed down in 1930, as many of the male leaders felt that it was no longer needed.
Equal rights ‘in theory’ were deemed enough, even if women remained underrepresented in politics.
- Only 13.5% of party members were women when their party section was closed.

Marriage

The state was now a supporter of marriage, and ended access to divorce and abortion.
Stalin believed that marriage breakdown had led to abandoned children roaming the streets. Fees were introduced for divorce which workers could not afford.
Male homosexuality was made illegal in 1933.

Abortion

Abortions were made illegal in 1936 in order to boost population growth in an attempt to create the next generation of workers.
Many women resorted to illegal, unregulated abortions, which led to long-term health damages.
Contraceptives were hard to find in Russia.

Women in work

In 1928, there were 3 million women were in work. By 1940, this number had reached over 13 million.
Between 38% and 42% of industrial workers were women.
- Although there were many posters showing women, most workers in heavy industry were men.

Ethnic Minorities in the Soviet Union

Tales of equality and liberation in Soviet propaganda did not match the real lives of ethnic minorities. The government still viewed ethnic Russians as being superior, and did not treat ethnic minorities equally.

Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia

In November 1917, the Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia promised equality and self-determination for national minorities, as an attempt to bond the regions to the Soviet Union.
- Stalin, although Georgian, was happy to see Russians dominate.

A 'federation of nationalities'

Technically, the Soviet Union was a ‘federation of nationalities’. Each group was supposedly self-governing.
The first census listed 172 nationality options. Only 55% of the population was Russian.
There were 15 large Soviet Socialist Republics. All had many ethnic groups within them.
Yet the regime really wanted to centre power in Stalin’s hands.

The dominance of Russia

By the 1930s the government required Russian language and culture to be supreme. Promotion of other cultures was seen as disloyal.
During the Great Terror, cultural leaders were arrested, and languages of minority groups were suppressed in schools.
Minorities were often referred to as ‘bourgeois’ nationalists to be distrusted. This sense of distrust contributed to the persecution of ethnic minorities throughout Stalin’s rule.

The outbreak of war

Groups were forcibly removed from the border areas, and after the invasion of Poland in 1939, approximately one million Poles were sent to the gulag in Siberia.
The same approach was taken in other invaded countries such as Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland.

1The End of Tsardom

1.1Russia's Economy & Society

1.1.1Industrialisation

1.1.2Living & Working Conditions

1.2Nicholas II's Autocracy & the Court

1.2.1Growth of Revolutionary Opposition

1.2.2The 1905 Revolution & the October Manifesto

1.2.3Reforming Russia Before 1914 - Stolypin

1.2.4The Duma & Political Stalemate

1.3The First World War

1.3.1The Impact of Military Defeats

1.3.2Social & Economic Effects of WW1

1.3.3Romanov Unpopularity

1.3.4The Tsar's Abdication

1.3.5Top Grade AO2/3 - The End of Tsardom

2Lenin's New Society

2.1The Provisional Government

2.1.1The Failure of the Government

2.1.2Social & Economic Problems

2.1.3Lenin & Trotsky

2.1.4The Growth of the Bolsheviks

2.1.5The October / November Revolution

2.1.6Top Grade AO2/3 - The Provisional Government

2.2The Impact of Lenin's Dictatorship

2.2.1The End of the First World War

2.2.2The Cheka

2.2.3Red Terror & Centralisation

2.2.4The Civil War & The Red Army

2.2.5Propaganda

2.2.6Top Grade AO2/3 - Early Bolshevism & the Civil War

2.3Social & Economic Developments

2.3.1War Communism

2.3.2The Kronstadt Rising

2.3.3The New Economic Policy (NEP)

2.3.4The Achievements of Lenin & Trotsky

2.3.5Top Grade AO2/3 - Social & Economic Developments

3Stalin's USSR

3.1Stalin the Dictator

3.1.1The Power Struggle to Succeed Lenin

3.1.2The Communist Party & Government

3.1.3The Terror & the Purges

3.1.4The Secret Police

3.1.5Cult of Personality

3.1.6Propaganda & Censorship under Stalin

3.1.7Top Grade AO2/3 - Stalin's Dictatorship

3.2Stalin's Modernisation of the USSR

3.2.1Collectivisation

3.2.2Five Year Plans

3.2.3Social & Economic Consequences

3.2.4Social & Economic Consequences 2

3.2.5The Extent of Modernisation

3.3Impact of the Second World War

3.3.1Stalin's Wartime Leadership

3.3.2Political, Economic & Social Consequences of War

3.3.3Top Grade AO2/3 - Modernisation of the USSR

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