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Social & Cultural developments 1918-1928 (Education (The NEP had…
Social & Cultural developments 1918-1928
Women and the Family
The aim was to give women
economic independence
, they should have a job and receive some help looking after the home and the family. The Bolsheviks wanted to introduce
socialist kindergartens
to relieve them from the 'cross of motherhood'. Laws were passed to make
divorce easier and to allow abortion
on demand, all by 1920.
Alexandra Kollontai
was the Commissar for Social Welfare. Her plans were well underway for the socialist dream for women, but they were soon to encounter serious disadvantages.
By the mid 1920s, Russia had the
highest divorce rate
in Europe, 25x that of Britain. Easy divorce meant men would leave their wives when they became pregnant, which was not in women's favour. One survey revealed that
70% of divorces were initiated by men
. Because of the housing shortage, divorced couples often remained living together and this fuelled a rise in domestic violence and rape.
The plan for socialist kindergartens didn't kick off. Many youths were in
gangs
, supported by begging, scrounging, stealing and prostitution. In the 1920s, there were an estimated
7-9 million orphans
, most of whom were under 13.
A knock-on effect of the
NEP
was that there was a
rise in unemployment.
This often bumped women down from skilled work to low-skilled work, mainly still in textiles and domestic service. This also fuelled an
increase in prostitution
and crime. By 1929, the percentage of women in industrial labour was virtually the same as back in 1913.
It still wasn't customary for men to help with domestic work.
Education
The NEP had caused the idea of universal free education to be abandoned. By 1923, the
number of schools had dropped by 50%
compared with two years earlier.
Teachers were badly paid, they earned a fraction of an industrial worker's wage.
The Bolshevik's aim on indoctrination for their cause was not throughouly established. By 1927, a survey of 11-15 year-olds showed they had become
increasingly negative towards communist ideals
and 50% still believed in God.
Universal literacy, however, was a success. Before the revolution, the literacy rate was 65%. In 1919, the '
Liquidation of Illiteracy'
was declared for everyone between the age of 8 & 50. If you didn't attempt to learn to read and write, then you could face criminal prosecution. The Bolsheviks set up 'liquidation points' where citizens could learn Russian- between
1920 and 1926 5 million people
took literacy courses.
Youth Organisation
The Bolsheviks set up two organisations to capture the minds of young people. The first, '
the Pioneers for children
' for kids under 15, and the
Komsomol
, for 14/15 year-olds and to people in their early twenties.
The aim of these organisations was to
instill communist values
into the youth, and to promote loyalty to the working-class. In later years, however, they would be used as instruments of social control and to promote discipline in schools.
The Pioneers were very similar to the classic 'Boy Scouts', going on campaigning trips and other activities.
Komsomol was much more serious
, delivering communist propaganda into towns and villages. and to attack religious beliefs and bourgeois values.
Bolshevik impact on Religion
The Bolsheviks were aggressively athiest. They passed the decree on the separation of Church and State, meaning the Church could not own property and religious instruction in schools was outlawed.
In 1921, the Bolsheviks launched the
Union of the Militant Godless
to challenge the Church directly. In 1922, the Bolsheviks attacked the Orthodox Church which was central to the lives of millions of peasants. Violent clashes occured when clergy and peasants tried to defend their churches, and more than
8,000 people were executed or killed
in the anti-Church campaign.