How Did These Changes Affect the Soviet People? (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE History)

Stalin's economic policies helped the USSR industrialise rapidly. This created job opportunities for many workers, including minorities. Industrialisation helped to modernise the USSR. This improved living standards for some people, particularly those living in urban areas.

Stalin's policies aimed at promoting gender equality in the workforce. More women participated in the labour force. Alongside this, women gained access to education and employment opportunities. Women were encouraged to take on roles in industry and agriculture. This contributed to the overall economic development of the USSR.

Despite these improvements, Stalin's economic changes did not bring benefits to everyone. Many people opposed the regime. The government stopped dissent and limited the rights of minorities, women and workers. Minority groups, such as ethnic minorities and religious groups, faced discrimination. Workers often faced harsh working conditions and low wages.

Unskilled workers

• Better housing in towns and cities

• Improved access to healthcare and education as it was free for all

• Unemployment was nearly non-existent

• Popularity of the Stakhanovite movement

• Collective farms had better access to healthcare and education

• After the Second World War, peasants suffered less from famine

Skilled workers

• Better training and wages for managers

• More access to skilled professions such as engineers and doctors. By 1940, the USSR had double the number of doctors per head than Britain

• The nomenklatura became the new ruling class. They had top government jobs

• New farming machinery and methods allowed workers to farm more efficiently

Women

• More women entered the workplace. By 1940, they made up 40% of the workforce

• Women could pursue skilled professions

• Businesses established creches to help female employees

• Paid holidays allowed women to split their time between work and home

• Women continued to be a key part of the labour force in the countryside

Unskilled workers

• Workers could not meet their production targets. This led to fines, the loss of jobs and, in severe cases, arrest

• Wages fell from 1928 to 1937

• Housing was expensive. Many lived in a komunalki. This was a communal apartment typically shared by multiple families

• Peasants had no choice but to collectivise. They lost their private farms and their freedom

• The state suppressed peasant opposition with violence and propaganda

Skilled workers

• The state gave internal passports to non-Soviet workers. This monitored workers who came to help with the Five-Year Plans

• Workers with more disposable income did not have much choice in consumer products

• Many people had to queue to buy clothes and food

• Kulaks no longer existed as a class

• Many victims of dekulakisation were not kulaks. The government had a quota of kulaks to persecute

Women

• The state expected women to continue their domestic duties and work

• Women were not treated equally to men in the workplace

• Women became a key opposition group to collectivisation

• Many women left the countryside to work in urban areas

Minorities

• Jewish people continued to face persecution. The Doctors' Plot in 1953 arrested nine doctors accused of murdering several party officials. At least six of these doctors were Jewish

• Many minorities were deported or used as slave labour in the GULAG system

• Many minority groups were victims of collectivisation. An example of this is the Holodomor