Women and Minorities in Stalinist Russia

Women in Stalinist Russia

1926 census showed a deficit of men due to WWI, the Russian Revolution and the Civil War (furthered by collectivization, purges, WWII)

1932-1937 women made up 82% of all newly employed workers (but even with new work responsibilities, domestic work load didn’t decrease)

Population levels dropped significantly and Stalin was trying to find a way to solve ‘family disintegration’

Women in Stalinist Russia Stalin was intent on restoring family

stability (improve economy and social structure)

- additional allowances were made for mothers who had lots of kids

- birth control/abortions were banned

(both had been legal under Bolsheviks in the 1920s)

- divorces became more difficult to obtain Women were encouraged to be an

integral part of the Russian economy and all employment opportunities were open to women.

Women in Stalinist Russia While the changes in

women’s roles in Soviet Russia never brought about the egalitarian view of the Bolsheviks, it did forever change the role of women in Russia.

International Working Women’s

Day, 1917.

Dreams of gender equality didn’t quite work out as

planned

Treatment of Minorities - Jews Bolsheviks abolished all anti-Semitic laws,

but there were many Russians (especially in rural areas)disliked Jews.

Stalin viewed Zionism as a threat and Soviet Jews openly supporting Zionism were seen as disloyal (emigration to Israel was banned) – this led to discrimination and persecution among Jews in the Communist party and many were accused of ‘subversive’ activities and ties to Israel.

Stalin’s policies can be viewed as anti-Zionist, rather than anti-Semitic.

Treatment of Minorities - Turks Stalin was concerned about the lack of unity in

numerous parts of the Soviet Union and launched a resettlement program that divided central Asia into 5 separate republics

- goal was to weaken pan-Turkish loyalties

There is historical debate over whether Stalin was a Russian nationalist or whether his policies were simply politically strategic.

- he wanted to foster a ‘Soviet identity’ and emphasized nationalism

- this may have been a reaction to the growing threat of a hostile Germany and Japan

The Great Terror The Great Terror wasn’t a domestic policy of Stalin’s, but

was woven into every aspect of the planned economy and was one of the most important methods by which domestic policies were achieved and opposition suppressed.

For Stalin, terror was one of his most used methods of ruling the USSR. It made people afraid, and people who were frightened were more likely to be obedient.

- fear of invasion, fear of a counter-revolution, fear of Stalin being removed from power by his enemies

The terror increased as Stalin became more powerful and as his ‘cult of personality’ grew.

“The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic.”

-Joseph Stalin

The Great Terror - Purges There has been much historical debate surrounding the

intent, size and scope of Stalin’s purges. - it is difficult to know the real impact when statistics from the period are so unreliable and when many eye-witnesses were reluctant to write or speak the truth for fear of punishment

The purges carried out in the 1930s:1. purges of engineers and managers (goal was to build labor discipline and punish those who failed to meet quotas)2. purge of the Communist party (designed to ensure full loyalty to both Stalin and the party)3. purge of party leadership4. purge of military in 1937 (targeted officers)5. Random quotas issued to local party branches with instructions to arrest a certain number of “enemies of the state”, whether they actually existed or not. By this point even Stalin admitted events had gone beyond his control and began to scale back.

Factory workers in 1937 vote in favor of arresting Trotskyite labor

spies during the Great Terror.

The Great Terror - PurgesEconomic interpretation of the labor camps (Polish economist, Stanislaw Swianiewicz):

Relating to the strong public support and identification with Stalin (Historian Orlando Figes, The Whisperers, 2007

“… offers us a materialist explanation…Economic development necessitates the finding of resources for investment, for holding back of consumption. How could this

be done? One way to reduce consumption was to withdraw consumers from the market, place them in labor camps where they worked and consumed almost

nothing…The labor camps had an economic rationale.”

“Immersion in the Soviet system was a means of survival for most people, including many victims of the Stalinist regime, a necessary way of silencing their doubts and

fears, which, if voiced, could make their lives impossible. Believing and collaborating with in the Soviet project was a way to make sense of their suffering, which without this higher purpose might reduce them to despair…believing the justice of Stalin…

made it easier to accept our punishments, and it took away our fear.”