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Did ordinary people benefit from Communist rule 1917-1985
Since the whole point of a proletarian revolution was to improve living conditions for the repressed working class, it
is interesting whether the economic and social principles within Socialism have managed to achieve a rise in the
standard of living
...
Therefore, splitting
apart the different eras allows us to distinctly analyse and critique the communist experimentation
...

2
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4
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War Communism era: 1917-1921
NEP Period 1921-1928
Stalinist era: 1928-1953
Khrushchev’s era: 1956-1964
Era of Stagnation: 1964-1985

Employment levels and conditions in work:
Overall, it was important ideologically to make the workplace friendly for the workers
...
This was done while officially maintaining virtually no unemployment, but at the expense of
productivity which degraded as the so-called worker’s state continued to exist
...
War Communism
• This was arguably the only period where conditions at work and employment levels suffered
...

• In the dead unproductive factories, workers
spent their time making pen knives out of pieces
of machinery, and shoe laces out of conveyer
belts to barter on the black market
• Workers themselves fled to the countryside thus
highlighting how little food there was in the cities Figure 1: Putiliv Factory Committee in Petrograd, 1917
• Labour duty by non-working classes was made obligatory
• However, factory committees and councils were available to voice dissent and complaints
2
...
(GDP Per capita doubled from
$600 in 1921 to $1200 in 1926)
...
This symbolises
the relative freedom Soviet workers had at the time
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3
...
6
million in 1928 to 27 million in 1937
• Employment opportunities were plentiful as
factories tried to use every source of labour they
could
• However, to increase productivity, attention to
health and safety was mostly ignored
...

• Machines were left to run 24 hours a day to
increase production
• Despite this, the average Soviet worker produced half of what a British worker produced
• Unemployment benefits were removed as the government claimed no one was unemployed
• To further combat unofficial structural unemployment (where workers were not satisfied with their
jobs) the government issues internal passports in 1932 which placed limits on where a worker could
go in the country
• On the other hand, skilled workers were still paid higher to increase the supply of skilled labourers,
but a higher wage was not able to buy much more so was not an effective incentive
• Komsomol enthusiasts were often formed into shock brigades, and awards were given to especially
productive labourers such as Alexey Stakhanov
• Absenteeism developed during this time and remained a problem for the duration of the USSR
despite harsh punishments introduced in 1931 and imprisonment in 1938
...
There
were even posters advertising that cannibalism was illegal
...

• However, during the second five-year plan, peasants were granted their own strip of land along with
the abolishment of rationing and the reduction in the price of food
...
Sick leave was also given from the start of the 1930s
...
Khrushchev’s era
• Khrushchev’s promise of ‘developed socialism’ promised the shortest working hours and generous
welfare benefits to workers
• Full employment remained apart from a rise in seasonal unemployment from recently graduated
students
• However, there were complaints of jobs that were pointless and repetitive in order to fulfil the
promise of full employment, which shows a decrease in working conditions

•
Despite a 50% increase in real wages, this just increased
repressed inflation, as price controls remained the same
...
This emphasizes that there were still
problems with payment for low level work
•
One upside for the workers was that it was hard to be
dismissed by their employers
...

Figure 4:Working conditions improved as the
Government paid more attention to health and safety
...
Era of Stagnation
• The average working hours per week was
40 hours, the same as during
Khrushchev’s era
• 15 paid holidays were officially given per
year for workers which shows that
workers were cared for but three
quarters of Soviet workers received up to
28 days paid leave per year which shows
that workers were not slaves to the
system as they were under Stalin
...
Citizens of the USSR have the right to rest and leisure
...
The length of collective farmers’ working and leisure time is established by their
collective farms
...
The fact that leisure for the working class was enshrined in the constitution shows us that
the USSR really was ruled by the proletariat and that working conditions have progressed from 1917
...
Leonid Brezhnev himself
quoted ‘Free time is not time free from the responsibility for the society’ and highlighted how free
time intended for house work
...
Perhaps this state of mind was kept to increase
productivity wherever possible thus suggesting that productivity levels were still falling behind
Western levels
...


•
The constitution also reaffirmed that the retirement age
was 55 for women and 60 for men
...
At the most they were 50% of the average wage and were
86 roubles for factory workers and 54 for collective farmers
...
Meanwhile only 40% thought
that promotions were due to merit
...
This official backing shows
us that the government truly cared for its citizens and was prepared to fulfil its legacy as the worker’s nation
...
Productivity and
absenteeism consistently worsened during the USSR as people realise they had no motivation to work
...
Therefore, this
experiment managed to leave us an important lesson that spoiling the population with welfare does not provide
incentives to work harder or for innovation to grow in the workplace
...
However, this would have left the USSR no better than the western countries in terms of its
treatment of workers and would have contradicted Soviet socialism as a whole
...


Social Security benefits
Apart from guaranteed employment, one of the other main principles of a worker’s state was the distribution of the
fruits of labour of the country’s working population
...
Despite being slow to start with as the new socialist government had
limited funds, social security rapidly advanced under Stalin and Khrushchev to become one of the developed welfare
states in the world at its time thus initially making it seem like ordinary people did progress under communism when
studying the amount of welfare and state support that was available for them
...
War Communism era
• Healthcare was made a priority as soon as Lenin came to power
...

• However, the lack of foreign currency and funds meant that many social security benefits were
slow to develop during the civil war
...

• The 1918 Labour Code banned pregnant women from working overtime and nightshifts
• Lenin signed more than 30 decrees on new social security measures from 1918 to 1921
2
...
4
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This
shows the desperation of the communist government as it struggled to look after all of its
population
...
Foster care
was also made a priority
• From 1922, any Russian woman could receive a free abortion from a state hospital
3
...
Also, it reinforced the
right to a pension and medical provision by the employer which was equal for both men and
women
• The state also paid couples to marry but taxed single adults
• Women received awards for having 5 children
•
4
...
While this may have seemed generous and a sign that
social security was a priority
...
A minimum wage further overvalued certain jobs which
paid less thus leading to an inefficient distribution of labour
...
This ultimately expanded upon the shortage economy and led to even more
queuing as theoretically people could afford goods, but there were no goods to buy
...

Pensions continued to rise at a rate faster than wages

5
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Primary care was
provided through polyclinics which could then send the patient for referral in surgery
• Between 1960 and 1980, the social security budget expanded from 71
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96 billion
• Most of the social security developments remained unchanged from 1964 to 1985
...

To conclude, ordinary people overall did benefit from communist rule in terms of social security benefits
...
Throughout the 70
years there was a massive rise in the state budget dedicated to social security, including more spending on the
provision of healthcare
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The incentive to work reduced which resulted in a rise in absenteeism and
essentially giving away money led to a massive increase in consumer demand which the inefficient planned economy
could not supply which led to the shortage economy and the infamous bread lines
...


Quality of Housing
Another important socialist principle was providing shelter for everyone without discrimination
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1
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• However, houses were distributed according to one’s rank in the Communist Party, not according to
need
...
Quite often, the hallways
remained unlit as one family was in control
of the hallway lights
• Residents often had to wait to use the
Figure 7: This picture accurately shows the cramped conditions
bathroom and kitchen sinks due to the
inside a communal apartment
amount of people living in an apartment
• Due to mistrust, many residents rarely left groceries and products in the kitchen and took toiletries
with them
...
People were encouraged to
denounce their neighbours for anti-communist speech
• Arguably these conditions remained favourable especially when the First World War and the Civil
War took its toll on the supply of houses in cities
...
NEP Period
• Due to the lack of funds, communal apartments and dormitories remained the norm for soviet urban
life
...

• No major expansion in the housing industry
3
...

Rent was kept artificially low by the
government with most families spending less
than 8% of their income on accommodation
Initially, as part of the first five-year plan,
workers had to sleep in tents and makeshift
dormitories as the urban population doubled
in Moscow and industrial centres began to
grow elsewhere
In the countryside, the peasants had to find
Figure 8: Stalinist architecture (Socialist Classicism) such as this
their own housing which was usually nothing
were common in large cities
more than a timber one room hut
After the Great Patriotic War, where cities
such as Stalingrad lost 90% of their accommodations, recovery was slow as resources were
concentrated on the Moscow metro and other transportation links

4
...

• As elevators were too expensive and time
consuming to install, Khrushchyovkas were 3 to 5
storeys tall which still made life difficult for pensioners
and people with disabilities
...

• Kitchens were usually only 6m thus were still
Figure 9: A typical Khrushchyovka in Tomsk shows exposes
cramped
the drab and grey exterior, which was pre-fabricated
5
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Doors didn’t
always fit, floorboards may not meet and handles might
come off
...


To conclude, it is overall debatable whether ordinary people benefitted from Communism in terms of housing
...
Since priority was placed on speed rather than effectiveness, lots of apartments were likely to be
unfinished and simply aesthetically unappealing
...
On the other hand, it can be claimed that under a market
economy, housing would have expanded rapidly at a higher quality due to the element of competition for money
and resources
...


Status of women in employment
To fully depart the old outdated bourgeois traditions of the Tsarist regime, the Communist Party aimed to
completely liberate women in order to claim that every Soviet citizen is born free and equal in Socialist society
...
As the Bolsheviks quickly realised, they were an
untapped source of labour and were especially useful in replacing men in the workplace during the Civil War and the
Great Patriotic War
...
War Communism Era
• Lenin pushed through many decrees, such as equal pay for
men and women but this took a long time to implement
• Communally organised childcare meant that women can now
go out and have a career
• The constitution in 1918 reaffirmed that both men and women
are equal
• However, the real driving factor for improving the status of
women in employment was the Civil War which demanded
industrial workers
• The government promised crèches for all children, but at this
stage they did not have enough resources to fulfil this
• Furthermore, women lost their jobs when the men returned to
civilian life since they were usually unskilled
• Women were still viewed as being unsuitable for manual
labour and were more likely to be replaced if they sought
maternity leave
Figure 11: Alexandra Kollontai was the
• Therefore, it can be argued that the emancipation of women
main driving force behind the sweeping
was mostly done in the interests of the Bolsheviks who would reforms to emancipate women
gain from the extra labour
...

• Over 20% of places in Higher Education were reserved for women
2
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Stalinist Era
• The number of women who entered the work force rose from 423,200 in 1923 to 885,00 in 1930
• The number of women that were gulag prisoners rose from 30,108 to 108,898 from 1934 to 1940
• This shows that women were becoming more integrated in society, but also meant that they were
• Collective farms also came to rely more on women as men fled the countryside in search for work
• more likely to be held responsible for any misdemeanours
...
800 000 served in various detachments
89 women received the Hero of the Soviet Union award and In 1940, 40% of engineering students
were female

4
...
This attitude remained unchanged until
Perestroika
5
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Queuing,
domestic work, and in some cases tending to the dacha was the expected norm for women, apart
from work
...
This does show that women did benefit in employment as despite
obvious flaws, they were still better off than they would have been elsewhere

To conclude, the social developments in female employment was the most progressive seen in the 20 th century
...
Women were officially seen as
equals, with propaganda honouring the success of women and the rights of women as equals guaranteed in the
constitution
...
Women were also expected to be a domestic housewife along with being a worker thus meaning
that women were not liberated, but instead oppressed even further
...
The fact that most of these social policies, such as maternity leave, are
retained by the current Russian government shows that the legacy of the Soviet era still remains and was effective in
transforming attitude towards women
...
However, the woman was
now seen as an equal, not as an obedient slave in the family
...

1
...
Lenin sought to dismantle the family as he may have viewed the family as a
carrier of old traditions and lessened the influence of the government on the offspring
• The legalisation of abortions further extended upon the image of women being child bearers for the
socialist society
• Women also did not need her husband’s permission to gain an education or a job which further
established women as an independent figure which breaks down the structure of the family
• Making it easier to divorce also helped to break down the family structure, but 70% of divorces were
initiated by men which shows that women were not liberated as such
2
...
The resulting
1926 marriage law underlined the obligations for men
• Men were now sharing the burden of the family more
• However, the rise in homeless children, as the government had no funds to care for all children,
led to a call for a return back to traditional family values
3
...
Khrushchev era
• After Stalin’s death, the government revoked the 1936 laws, and also made abortion legal
• However, this wasn’t in order to destroy the family, as Khrushchev encouraged women to care for
the rest of the family and the home while working at the same time
...


Socialist theory makes us believe that society would prosper if the government took over the role of
the upbringing of children thus fully liberating individuals from the burden of childcare while
indoctrinating the next generation
...
By
repealing abortions while at the same time strengthening the role of the woman in the family,
Khrushchev hoped that a woman would only have children when she is married and in a financially
stable condition which would have instilled order and stability in a growing child as much as Stalin’s
family policies
5
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8% growth rate in cities
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The state enforced laws
that ensured women were supported so they could be productive child bearing citizens
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Therefore, under Stalin, the rollback to the family was seen as an important
cornerstone of socialist society where men and women had different roles, but were still equal
...


Quality of Primary and Secondary education
It was seen that education was initially too utopian as schools did not have enough resources to teach children
complex themes instead of individual subjects
...
The traditional style of education was enforced
under Khrushchev, as education was separated into blocks such as in the Western World and individual subjects
were taught
...

1
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It was a demanding career, with class sizes of 40
people and extra time needed to clean the school
...

• Libkez was the policy that Lenin proposed which demanded the elimination of illiteracy from 1919
• Students were not taught independent subjects, but instead complex themes which based itself around
social sciences
• Schools were made co-educational in 1918, a move away from the traditional bourgeois method of
separating the genders due to religious purposes
...
NEP period
• Schooling remained neglected as in rural
areas an average child only attended
school for 2
...
Stalinist era
• Many teachers were deported in 1928 or simply shot during the collectivisation process who were seen
as being part of the old world
• Quality aside, the number of pupils in full time education increased from 14 million in 1929 to 20 million
in 1931
• But many didn’t stay after the first two years in school
• Rural standard of education increased as teachers were deported to Siberia during the Great Purge
• Quality increased after 1934 as a programme was adapted whereby four years of academic education
was completed followed by a choice of further education or vocational work which benefitted many
students who had little education
• In 1943, Urban schools introduced gender segregation, as 82 000 schools were destroyed and countless
teachers were killed which dropped the quality of education

•

•

Overall from the 1930s to 1950s, quality of education did decline as education was mostly dominated by
Marxist-Leninist Doctrine
...
False theories like Lysenko’s theory on plant genetics was taught in schools
instead
Schools were seen as a vehicle for russification, and were distrusted by the Muslim communities
...
Khrushchev’s era
• The fifth five-year plan (1951-1955) set about creating a compulsory 10-year education for urban schools
in 1955 and rural schools in 1960
• There was some restoration of previously banned school topics such as genetics but Soviet propaganda
was instilled in textbooks with often inaccurate information
• Special schools were also introduced for mentally
and physically handicapped children which
improved the quality of education as children in
need were given special attention
• Before, 8-10% of school pupils in elementary
schools were held back a year
...

• The education of a second language was strictly enforced, with all students learning either English or
German or a different language
• The specialisation of some schools into technical or language schools led to a more focused education
for the brightest which improved the quality as the brightest pupils were given further opportunities
• Overall, the educational system was highly praised by Western visitors and by the parents themselves
• Another reason for the success was for the good relationship between teachers and parents who were
equals
...

• One ideological feature of classes was that brighter pupils were expected to help the stragglers which
was often organised through the pioneers
• The pioneer palace became a fundamental part of a child’s upbringing with equipment available such as
printing presses, workshops, swimming pools and film making equipment which encouraged healthy
development outside school

5
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7% which
was higher than average Western levels
• However, less and less facilities became
available as funds started to run out
...
Despite
Lenin initially being over optimistic and progressive on education which attempted to expand the availability of
education at the sacrifice of quality, education continued to improve as Stalin realised its importance in promoting
uniformity and discipline from birth
...
However, it was heavily plagued with references to socialism and teachers were
not allowed to express their own creativity thus while increasing uniformity, it discouraged independent thought and
critical analysis which can be argued is key to a child’s education
...
Therefore, along with the benefits of having a highly-educated society, the Bolshevik government
prioritised the eradication of illiteracy
...

1
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Lenin realised that knowledge breaks the chains of slavery
• Therefore, even before the October revolution, the Bolsheviks through
the Petrograd Soviet organised evening classes for factory workers
teaching them Marxist literature along with reading and basic
numeracy skills which continued on after October
• Lenin himself stated that without literacy there can be no
Figure 16: This poster states that if you
politics, only rumours gossip and prejudice
don't read books, you will forget the
th
• The Libkez campaign was started on December 26 1919 which
grammar
...
NEP Period
• The Libkez campaign failed to eradicate illiteracy by 1923, which was the original goal
• Narkompros was struggling to receive funding from the Politburo thus was limited in its expansion to
the countryside
• Narkompros funding dropped to 2
...
6% in 1928
• Many teachers were also unwilling to live in the countryside
• The state funded the writing of short stories and pamphlets which usually talked about the plights of
domestic women
• However, despite the extensive efforts, the literacy rate was only 51% in 1926
3
...

Therefore, without state support they taught themselves how to read and write thus questioning
whether government intervention was really needed
...
Khrushchev era
• By the 1950s, literacy rates were approaching 100%
• Khrushchev, himself being taught in a Rabfak, recognised the importance of adult education
• He set up additional courses for adults in full time employment, which was undertaken by 2 million
people by 1964
5
...
The USSR essentially managed to eradicate illiteracy by the 1950s thus taking it
only 33 years to educate the entire population of the Soviet Union
...
However, some may disprove and say that the literacy rate was
improving in Russia anyway as the peasants started to see the benefit of reading and writing in an industrialising
world thus were starting to educate their communities
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University Provision
While primary and secondary was a priority as it was the fundamental basis for indoctrinating the students,
university provision was ideologically not a priority since it was often seen as bourgeois and unnecessary as the
priority was to provide vocational skills to consolidate the industrial working class
...
However, in contrast to its excellent provision
to anyone who wishes, the Communist Party’s ideological meddling reduces its effectiveness, perhaps out of
suspicion as historically, universities are a breeding ground for new fresh ideas
...
War Communism Era
• Narkompros declared that higher education was available to anyone and set about making courses
accessible to those without formal qualifications
• When universities resisted, the Bolsheviks took over the provision of higher education and placed a
communist rector in every university
• University provision was also encouraged for women
2
...
This led to an overall drop in quality of university education
• It did not help that universities themselves were treated with suspicion since they were seen as a
product of Tsarist aristocratic society
...

3
...
This switch to a system which selects based on background, instead of merit
highlights the ideological meddling in universities and overall resulted in a lower standard of
education in universities
• The Great Purge removed many scholars and professors from their posts, thus further hampering
the provision of tertiary education
4
...

• Places were extremely competitive with up to
20 students fighting for a place on some
courses, thus meaning that quality of
secondary education had to be high to prepare
students for life in universities
Figure 17: The Moscow State University was especially
• The high standard of education meant that
prestigious
...
They had to pay only a small part for their rent
• They receive a monthly grant from the government which covered the basics
• This grant increases every year, but various faculties used the grant system to lure promising
students by offering higher grants
• Students were kept motivated by the fact that if he did not work hard enough, his stipend would be
cut, or could be expelled from the university

•
•
•

•
•
•

Almost every university had every course available, except agriculture and medicine which needed
specific colleges
Every degree was taught with elements of educational theory and psychology, thus anyone could
have potentially become a teacher
All courses have compulsory Marxist Leninist theory to learn where the student was assessed on
every year
...
The accessibility and availability of places to all without regard to background or wealth emphasizes how it
is a dramatic change from the Universities of the Tsarist era, which were considered to be privileged for the
Aristocratic Class
...
It is therefore no wonder that 8 Soviets won the
Nobel Prize in the 1970s in economics and science
...
Ideological meddling prevented the teaching of politically incorrect
topics and students often had to do labour completely unrelated to their degree thus highlighting that despite the
impressive availability of higher education (To this day Russia has the most university graduates in the world with
53% finishing university) there were some drawbacks in the quality of this provision
...
Despite each having its downsides, such as the ever-increasing repressed inflation due to full
employment and generous government support and ideological meddling in the education system, society was more
progressive than Western nations and the Communist Party continued to support its people throughout the USSR’s
existence
...
However, it
can be argued that ordinary people only benefitted in the short term from Communist rule as the system itself was
unsustainable in the long run
...
Meanwhile,
everyone being employed resulted in inflation, but the price controls meant that this was repressed thus meaning
that soviet citizens were well off financially, but there were little material goods to purchase which resulted in a
shortage economy
...

Additionally, it can also be argued that over the 70 years that socialism has existed in Russia, living conditions were
bound to improve whether or not Russia was socialist
...
Therefore, it can
be said that ordinary people did indeed benefit from Communist rule, but given the extensive time frame, they could
have just as easily overall benefitted from Tsarist, or Democratic rule
...
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Author Unknown, Soviet Social Reforms, Alpha History, < http://alphahistory

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