The Importance of Culture and Society
- Culture had a significant place in the USSR – used to promote + instil the propaganda ideals of
the Soviet system + was part of the transformation of mass society
- On the one hand, culture = positive force, providing education, moral guidance + entertainment
for people + legitimacy for the Soviet state + its ideology
- On the other hand, culture = weapon of repression + enforced conformity
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CULTURAL AND SOCIAL REVOLUTION:
Social =
o Sudden changes to structure and nature of society
o People of the USSR accepting communism
o Mixed bag -> some social change (e.g. youth) but not across society
o Includes collectivisation -> changes structure of peasantry
Cultural =
o Attack on “bourgeois” culture
o Change of value on money as a reward
o Change in the arts
The Impact of Stalinism on the Church:
Under Lenin prosecution was different:
Lenin: allowed worship while destroying earthly power of the Church
o Church land taken by the state;
o Church schools secularised;
o Priests persecuted
Approach to Church in 1921-8 under Stalin:
The focus of this period was on seizing Church valuables. The pretext of a famine in 1922
was used by Lenin to order the Church to handover valuables to be sold for famine relief.
When some in the Church went against this ruling the secret police started arresting and
executing leading clergy such as the Metropolitan in Petrograd in 1922.
Documentary evidence from Lenin shows that he intended to provoke the Orthodox Church
into a confrontation so he could use this to attack the church further and to paint them in
propaganda as remnants of the old regime who were hanging on to their wealth.
Church came under a more sustained attack under Stalin:
Religious schools were closed down + teaching of religious creeds forbidden
o By 1941 nearly 40,000 churches had been destroyed
Sunday was abolished as a religious day of rest
o Workers worked for 6 days/week with 1/6 of all workers having their day off on any
1 day of week
Many priests were victims of the purges e.g. 4000 priests were imprisoned
However, while the power of the Church as an institution was broken, religious faith
continued to be important to many Soviet citizens
, Other religions:
Soviet Muslims suffered as their property + institutions (land, schools + mosques) seized +
their Sharia courts abolished
o Pilgrimages to Mecca forbidden from 1935 + frequency of prayers, fasts + feasts
reduced
o Lead to backlash in Central Asian regions where some traditionalist Muslims
murdered those who followed the Soviet orders
o Many Muslim priests were also imprisoned or executed
Jewish schools + synagogues were closed down + there were attacks on Buddhist institutions
Similar measures taken against Buddhist + Armenian and Georgian Churches
The Impact of Stalinism on Women
Trotsky called Stalin’s social policies the ‘Great Retreat’ as they were seen as a
retreat from the radical social experiments of the 1920s which aimed to liberate
women + men from bourgeois traditions + roles. A new ‘family code’ became law in
June 1936 which:
Made abortion illegal Made divorce more difficult + expensive
Banned contraception Made adultery a criminal offence
Gave tax breaks to
mothers with 6+ children
Reasons for the ‘Great Retreat’:
The falling birth rate (fell by 25% 1928-32)
Loss of millions in famine
Youth crime, prostitution + homeless orphans resulting from broken families
Stalin’s preference for traditional family roles, which he associated with stability + discipline
Impact of the ‘Great Retreat’:
Overall limited effect
Number of abortions dropped sharply from 1.9m 1935 to 570,000 1937 but began to rise ->
755,000 1939
o This was despite abortions becoming a criminal offence 1936
After slight rise, birth rate fell from 1938 + never reached pre-revolutionary levels
Although women were encouraged to give up paid work when they married, the numbers of
women working in the USSR; by 1940 this had increased to 13m
Encouraging traditional marriage meant that in 1937, 91% of men + 882% of women in 30s
were married but the divorce rate remained high (37% in Moscow 1934)
Working women were still expected to do housework + childcare rather than these tasks
being shared by both men + women
- Culture had a significant place in the USSR – used to promote + instil the propaganda ideals of
the Soviet system + was part of the transformation of mass society
- On the one hand, culture = positive force, providing education, moral guidance + entertainment
for people + legitimacy for the Soviet state + its ideology
- On the other hand, culture = weapon of repression + enforced conformity
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CULTURAL AND SOCIAL REVOLUTION:
Social =
o Sudden changes to structure and nature of society
o People of the USSR accepting communism
o Mixed bag -> some social change (e.g. youth) but not across society
o Includes collectivisation -> changes structure of peasantry
Cultural =
o Attack on “bourgeois” culture
o Change of value on money as a reward
o Change in the arts
The Impact of Stalinism on the Church:
Under Lenin prosecution was different:
Lenin: allowed worship while destroying earthly power of the Church
o Church land taken by the state;
o Church schools secularised;
o Priests persecuted
Approach to Church in 1921-8 under Stalin:
The focus of this period was on seizing Church valuables. The pretext of a famine in 1922
was used by Lenin to order the Church to handover valuables to be sold for famine relief.
When some in the Church went against this ruling the secret police started arresting and
executing leading clergy such as the Metropolitan in Petrograd in 1922.
Documentary evidence from Lenin shows that he intended to provoke the Orthodox Church
into a confrontation so he could use this to attack the church further and to paint them in
propaganda as remnants of the old regime who were hanging on to their wealth.
Church came under a more sustained attack under Stalin:
Religious schools were closed down + teaching of religious creeds forbidden
o By 1941 nearly 40,000 churches had been destroyed
Sunday was abolished as a religious day of rest
o Workers worked for 6 days/week with 1/6 of all workers having their day off on any
1 day of week
Many priests were victims of the purges e.g. 4000 priests were imprisoned
However, while the power of the Church as an institution was broken, religious faith
continued to be important to many Soviet citizens
, Other religions:
Soviet Muslims suffered as their property + institutions (land, schools + mosques) seized +
their Sharia courts abolished
o Pilgrimages to Mecca forbidden from 1935 + frequency of prayers, fasts + feasts
reduced
o Lead to backlash in Central Asian regions where some traditionalist Muslims
murdered those who followed the Soviet orders
o Many Muslim priests were also imprisoned or executed
Jewish schools + synagogues were closed down + there were attacks on Buddhist institutions
Similar measures taken against Buddhist + Armenian and Georgian Churches
The Impact of Stalinism on Women
Trotsky called Stalin’s social policies the ‘Great Retreat’ as they were seen as a
retreat from the radical social experiments of the 1920s which aimed to liberate
women + men from bourgeois traditions + roles. A new ‘family code’ became law in
June 1936 which:
Made abortion illegal Made divorce more difficult + expensive
Banned contraception Made adultery a criminal offence
Gave tax breaks to
mothers with 6+ children
Reasons for the ‘Great Retreat’:
The falling birth rate (fell by 25% 1928-32)
Loss of millions in famine
Youth crime, prostitution + homeless orphans resulting from broken families
Stalin’s preference for traditional family roles, which he associated with stability + discipline
Impact of the ‘Great Retreat’:
Overall limited effect
Number of abortions dropped sharply from 1.9m 1935 to 570,000 1937 but began to rise ->
755,000 1939
o This was despite abortions becoming a criminal offence 1936
After slight rise, birth rate fell from 1938 + never reached pre-revolutionary levels
Although women were encouraged to give up paid work when they married, the numbers of
women working in the USSR; by 1940 this had increased to 13m
Encouraging traditional marriage meant that in 1937, 91% of men + 882% of women in 30s
were married but the divorce rate remained high (37% in Moscow 1934)
Working women were still expected to do housework + childcare rather than these tasks
being shared by both men + women
