Source: https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/3-2-3-social-and-economic-consequences

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# Social & Economic Consequences

History: AQA GCSE Russia, 1894-1945, topic 3.2.3

## Living and Working Conditions in Towns and the Countryside

Living and working conditions varied hugely across the Soviet Union. It depended upon where you lived and who you were.

### The towns

![The towns](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-04/ab0ef610-6daf-4a76-a891-545ab58774db/shutterstock_242816347.jpg)

- Housing in towns was low quality and living standards were low. Many people lived in barracks or communal accommodation.
- Between 1928 and 1933, fruit and meat consumption went down 66% in Leningrad. Queuing for food was a daily experience in the Soviet Union during the 1930s.

### The workplace and international movement

![The workplace and international movement](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-04/ee057b9f-e49e-46b4-9004-bb1533dac90b/shutterstock_184008509.jpg)

- There was no concern for health and safety in the workplace, and industrial accidents resulted in many deaths. 
- One day off work without good reason could lead to a worker losing their job. Early ideas about equality of wages were abandoned.
- Internal passports were introduced in 1932 to stop the free movement of people around the country. 
- Arrest and imprisonment could result from failing to prove a ‘right’ to be in a particular city.

### The countryside

![The countryside](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-04/8eef9e4e-a375-4607-bda4-074c948b9d3e/shutterstock_170157710.jpg)

- In the countryside, there was only basic housing, with outside toilets and no running water. There were rations in the countryside too, allowing Stalin to confiscate excess food to take to the cities. 
-  Productivity was so poor in the countryside that in 1939 the government allowed peasants to sell produce from garden plots for a profit to incentivise them to produce more. 
- Peasants were not allowed to leave their farms, and also had internal passports.

### Party officials

![Party officials](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-04/ddeb5184-74db-4211-8886-018a049b5479/shutterstock_785840902.jpg)

- Party officials, by contrast, lived in relative luxury. This included access to special shops for consumer goods. This was how loyalty was rewarded. 
 - This created a new ruling class within a ‘classless society’. 
- Although the quality of life for some workers improved, these elites had become more important than the workers.

## Kulaks

Kulaks were one of the supposed enemy groups of the regime. They were 'wealthy' peasants who had benefited from the New Economic Policy (NEP).

### Who were kulaks?

![Who were kulaks?](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/courseImages/biology/6.2.1%20-%20Variation%20and%20evolution/wheat-field-640960_640-min.jpg)

- Bolsheviks believed that the NEP had led to kulaks emerging.
- Kulaks were peasants who benefited more than others from the grain trade.
- They were also known as 'Nepmen' after the New Economic Policy.

### Very few kulaks

![Very few kulaks](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/memory-location-images/Stone%20Town,%20Zanzibar-min.jpg)

- Historians have found that almost no peasants actually held large amounts of extra grain.
- The small improvements in nutrition in Russian villages led to the Bolsheviks accusing those with extra grain of trying to sabotage communism.

### Land ownership

![Land ownership](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-06/2bb66676-7c9c-4c44-a4e9-b8fd423c9eab/shutterstock_706564369.jpg)

- Many peasants believed that they should be left alone on the land they had seized in 1917. 
- They did not want the state to interfere in their farming.

### Finding kulaks

![Finding kulaks](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/courseImages/physics/AQA%20New%20Modules/7.4.1/magnifying%20glass.jpg)

- Many revolutionaries believed that the government should do more to bring villages under control. 
- This led them to look for more kulaks to use as examples of enemies of communism.
- Overall, this caused peasants to be even more sceptical of outside interference.

## Test yourself on Social & Economic Consequences

- What percentage did fruit and meat consumption fall by in Leningrad between 1928 and 1933?
- Which of the following are correct of living conditions in Russia under Stalin?
- What does NEP stand for?
- Who were kulaks?
- Were there really any kulaks?

[Practise this topic for free](https://app.senecalearning.com/classroom/course/68cb5c28-b4d9-41f3-a315-2a7d3e63fc5e/section/b6502966-c05a-4307-a377-08d06551904d/session)

- Previous topic: [3.2.2 Five Year Plans](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/3-2-2-five-year-plans.md)
- Next topic: [3.2.4 Social & Economic Consequences 2](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/3-2-4-social-and-economic-consequences-2.md)

## History: AQA GCSE Russia, 1894-1945 contents

### 1 The End of Tsardom
- 1.1 Russia's Economy & Society
  - [1.1.1 Industrialisation](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/1-1-1-industrialisation.md)
  - [1.1.2 Living & Working Conditions](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/1-1-2-living-and-working-conditions.md)
- 1.2 Nicholas II's Autocracy & the Court
  - [1.2.1 Growth of Revolutionary Opposition](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/1-2-1-growth-of-revolutionary-opposition.md)
  - [1.2.2 The 1905 Revolution & the October Manifesto](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/1-2-2-the-1905-revolution-and-the-october-manifesto.md)
  - [1.2.3 Reforming Russia Before 1914 - Stolypin](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/1-2-3-reforming-russia-before-1914-stolypin.md)
  - [1.2.4 The Duma & Political Stalemate](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/1-2-4-the-duma-and-political-stalemate.md)
- 1.3 The First World War
  - [1.3.1 The Impact of Military Defeats](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/1-3-1-the-impact-of-military-defeats.md)
  - [1.3.2 Social & Economic Effects of WW1](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/1-3-2-social-and-economic-effects-of-ww1.md)
  - [1.3.3 Romanov Unpopularity](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/1-3-3-romanov-unpopularity.md)
  - [1.3.4 The Tsar's Abdication](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/1-3-4-the-tsars-abdication.md)
  - [1.3.5 Top Grade AO2/3 - The End of Tsardom](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/1-3-5-top-grade-ao23-the-end-of-tsardom.md)

### 2 Lenin's New Society
- 2.1 The Provisional Government
  - [2.1.1 The Failure of the Government](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/2-1-1-the-failure-of-the-government.md)
  - [2.1.2 Social & Economic Problems](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/2-1-2-social-and-economic-problems.md)
  - [2.1.3 Lenin & Trotsky](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/2-1-3-lenin-and-trotsky.md)
  - [2.1.4 The Growth of the Bolsheviks](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/2-1-4-the-growth-of-the-bolsheviks.md)
  - [2.1.5 The October / November Revolution](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/2-1-5-the-october-november-revolution.md)
  - [2.1.6 Top Grade AO2/3 - The Provisional Government](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/2-1-6-top-grade-ao23-the-provisional-government.md)
- 2.2 The Impact of Lenin's Dictatorship
  - [2.2.1 The End of the First World War](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/2-2-1-the-end-of-the-first-world-war.md)
  - [2.2.2 The Cheka](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/2-2-2-the-cheka.md)
  - [2.2.3 Red Terror & Centralisation](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/2-2-3-red-terror-and-centralisation.md)
  - [2.2.4 The Civil War & The Red Army](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/2-2-4-the-civil-war-and-the-red-army.md)
  - [2.2.5 Propaganda](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/2-2-5-propaganda.md)
  - [2.2.6 Top Grade AO2/3 - Early Bolshevism & the Civil War](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/2-2-6-top-grade-ao23-early-bolshevism-and-the-civil-war.md)
- 2.3 Social & Economic Developments
  - [2.3.1 War Communism](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/2-3-1-war-communism.md)
  - [2.3.2 The Kronstadt Rising](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/2-3-2-the-kronstadt-rising.md)
  - [2.3.3 The New Economic Policy (NEP)](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/2-3-3-the-new-economic-policy-nep.md)
  - [2.3.4 The Achievements of Lenin & Trotsky](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/2-3-4-the-achievements-of-lenin-and-trotsky.md)
  - [2.3.5 Top Grade AO2/3 - Social & Economic Developments](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/2-3-5-top-grade-ao23-social-and-economic-developments.md)

### 3 Stalin's USSR
- 3.1 Stalin the Dictator
  - [3.1.1 The Power Struggle to Succeed Lenin](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/3-1-1-the-power-struggle-to-succeed-lenin.md)
  - [3.1.2 The Communist Party & Government](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/3-1-2-the-communist-party-and-government.md)
  - [3.1.3 The Terror & the Purges](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/3-1-3-the-terror-and-the-purges.md)
  - [3.1.4 The Secret Police](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/3-1-4-the-secret-police.md)
  - [3.1.5 Cult of Personality](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/3-1-5-cult-of-personality.md)
  - [3.1.6 Propaganda & Censorship under Stalin](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/3-1-6-propaganda-and-censorship-under-stalin.md)
  - [3.1.7 Top Grade AO2/3 - Stalin's Dictatorship](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/3-1-7-top-grade-ao23-stalins-dictatorship.md)
- 3.2 Stalin's Modernisation of the USSR
  - [3.2.1 Collectivisation](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/3-2-1-collectivisation.md)
  - [3.2.2 Five Year Plans](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/3-2-2-five-year-plans.md)
  - [3.2.3 Social & Economic Consequences](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/3-2-3-social-and-economic-consequences.md)
  - [3.2.4 Social & Economic Consequences 2](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/3-2-4-social-and-economic-consequences-2.md)
  - [3.2.5 The Extent of Modernisation](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/3-2-5-the-extent-of-modernisation.md)
- 3.3 Impact of the Second World War
  - [3.3.1 Stalin's Wartime Leadership](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/3-3-1-stalins-wartime-leadership.md)
  - [3.3.2 Political, Economic & Social Consequences of War](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/3-3-2-political-economic-and-social-consequences-of-war.md)
  - [3.3.3 Top Grade AO2/3 - Modernisation of the USSR](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/gcse/history/aqa/3-3-3-top-grade-ao23-modernisation-of-the-ussr.md)