No More Learning

If you do not recall it, review his work by referring to some history
text. Why have the Soviets been able to accomplish much more in
the way of cultural transformation than Peter the Great was able to
do in his life time? Put your reasons down on paper so that you will
have them for ready reference. A class discussion will be held on this
topic
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? 60 MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS
3. A visitor to the Soviet Union heard a woman say, "I liquidated my
illiteracy in 1934. " What did she mean? Construct two bar graphs,
showing on one the percentage o? illiteracy in 1914, and on the other
the percentage of illiteracy in 1939. (See Life magazine, March, 1943. )
The abolition of illiteracy is one of the aims of the Soviet Govern-
ment. What methods are being used to bring this about?
4. You are a Soviet citizen, twenty years of age. Write a careful account
of the educational training you have had to date, and tell what plans
you have for continuing your education. You will find material in
Beatrice King's book, Changing Man: The Education System of the
U. SS. R.
5. Lunacharsky, Commissar of Education in the Soviet Union, after lead-
ing the attack on the church, made the following remark: "Religion is
like a nail, the harder you hit it the deeper it goes into the wood. "
Review the persecution of the early Christians by the Romans, and
study the effects of the persecution of religion by the Soviets. This
topic is discussed in the books by Pares, Timasheff, Anderson, and in
Margaret Bourke-White's Shooting the Russian War. Write a brief
summary of your conclusions about the effects of religious persecutions
in each of these two instances.
6. You may be interested in the official correspondence between President
Roosevelt and Maxim Litvinoff at the time of our recognition of the
U. S. S. R. You will find this exchange of letters on pages 31-33 of the
American Quarterly on the Soviet Union for November, 1940. Pre-
pare a list of the rights respecting religious freedoms which the U. S. S. R.
agreed to guarantee.
7. In Life magazine for January 11, 1943 you will find an article by
Walter Graebner, who had just returned from a four months' stay in
Moscow. The article is entitled "Moscow Today. " Study the pictures
and read the article. Select a few of the dramatic highlights of the
article to tell to the class.
8. Paul B. Anderson, in his book, People, Church and State in Modem
Russia, says, "It has become abundantly clear that the Church and
the believers generally are wholeheartedly behind the Red Army
and its Commander-in-Chief, Stalin. . . . "
Make a list of the items of evidence you are able to find in support
of this statement. Refer to the books by Anderson, Timasheff, Pares,
or others.
9. In Survey Graphic, February, 1944, is an article entitled, "Cannon Have
Not Silenced the Muses. " Read this article and make a report to the
class on how the arts are being used in time of war.
10. If you are interested in photography, you will no doubt be interested
in Margaret Bourke-White's book, Shooting the Russian War. After
some other students have read it, hold a group discussion with those
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? MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS 61
who are interested. Let the group decide whether or not to make a
brief report to the class on it.
11. Read the pamphlet entitled Drama in Wartime Russia by Henry Wads-
worth Longfellow Dana. Give a brief report to the class on the way
the Soviets are using drama to help win the war.
12. In the magazine, Art News, for May 15, 1942, is an article describing
an exhibition of Russian icons at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Study
the pictures of icons, and read the article. Would you care to study
this topic further and write a brief report on it? Perhaps you can
include a sketch of an icon that you liked especially.
13. Arrange to play a recording of a piece of modern Russian music which
you like. Find out what you can about the composer and tell the
class before you play the record.
14. Soviet scientists have "caused rain to fall in Ashkhabad, the dryest
spot in the country by sprinkling passing clouds with chemicals from
airplanes. " Many other interesting developments of Soviet science
are described in Chapter 45 of Albert Rhys Williams' book, The
Soviets. Read this chapter and any other interesting material you find
on this subject, and answer the following questions in writing:
a. How do the Soviets attempt to enlist all citizens in "storm-
ing the fortress of science"?
b. List some of the unusual achievements of Soviet science in
the following fields: synthetic products, weather control, devel-
opment of new plant life.
15. The Soviets believe that science is their ally in building a new life
for themselves. Science was assigned definite duties in the Five-Year
Plans. List the ten key problems assigned to the Academy of Science
in the Third Five-Year Plan. Prepare to explain to the class one of
these problems which interests you. (See Albert Rhys Williams, The
Soviets. )
16. Read H. P. Smolka's book, 40,000 Against the Arctic, or Ivan Papanin's
Adrift on an Ice Floe, to get a picture of the Soviet Arctic. After sev-
eral of you have read one or the other of these books, get together for
a discussion.
17. "We must not wait for the favors of nature," Michurin, Soviet scien-
tist, said in 1922. "We must wrest them from her. " To what extent
has the Soviet Union struggled against nature in: (a) the Arctic;
(b) desert areas; (c) adapting vegetation to the climate; (d) adapting
the climate to vegetation. Prepare an oral or written report on one of
these. See the chapter on science in Albert Rhys Williams, The Soviets.
18. "An empty futile amusement," said Nicholas II, the last of the Tsars,
in speaking of the cinema (motion pictures). "Only an abnormal per-
son would put this vulgar circus on a par with art. "
Lenin said, "For us the cinema is the most important of the arts. "
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? 62 MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS
Consult the available references and see what you can find about the
cinema in the Soviet Union, and the Soviet "Hollywood. "
Write a few generalizations on how films have been used in the Soviet
Union.
19. Have you ever seen a Soviet-made film? If so, what was it? Write a
paragraph or two giving your reaction to it.
20. In the violent phase of the Bolshevik Revolution, Lunacharsky, a great
Bolshevik art critic, was so upset by rumors of the demolition of the
famous Basil Cathedral that he became ill. Lenin went to see him
and appointed him to head a special commission to protect and pre-
serve the cultural inheritance of the past. You will find in Williams,
The Soviets, a section entitled, "What Happened to the Art Treasures
in the Revolution? " Find any other material on this topic you can,
and write an interesting paper on it. Members of the class will be in-
vited to read your paper if they wish to do so.
21. "Art," said Lenin, "belongs to the people. " Find out how the Soviets
have made the arts a part of everyday life. Form a group to discuss
some of the things the Soviets have done to accomplish this. Do you
think we should try to make the arts a more common experience for
Americans?
22. Beatrice and Sidney Webb say, in speaking of censorship in the Soviet
Union, "In the first place, nothing is permitted that is deemed 'counter-
revolutionary. ' This does not mean that no criticism is allowed. On the
contrary, there is, as the student will have concluded, no country in
the world in which there is actually so much widespread criticism of
the government, and such incessant revelation of its shortcomings, as in
the U. S. S. R. "
Read the article on "Self Criticism" in Soviet Communism: A New
Civilization? by the Webbs. What are the limits within which criti-
cism must remain? Does this article help explain how so much unfavora-
ble comment on the Soviet Union originated? Write a few general state-
ments on this topic, giving your conclusions.
23. "Russian music in the second half of the nineteenth century entered
into a period of great creative activity. "--Vernadsky. One group of
musicians formed an organization for the purpose of developing Rus-
sian music. This organization contained many persons whose names
are known all over the world. Find out who these men were (Vernad-
sky, 210-211) and see if you are familiar with their compositions. A
group of you may be able to collect a record of a piece by each, and
play it for the class.
24. Tchaikovsky, 1840-1893, wrote many great masterpieces. Ask your music
teacher to discuss his work with you, and play several of his compo-
sitions.
25. Rachmaninov, one of the famous modern Russian composers, died in
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? MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS 63
1942. Koussevitsky is the Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Who are some other famous Russians in the field of music?
26. Shostakovich is the best known in the United States of any of the
contemporary Soviet composers. You may recall that his "Seventh
Symphony" was written during the siege of Leningrad. Read an ac-
count of his life, and arrange to hear one or more of his symphonies.
27. Many people think that Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace is one of the
greatest books of all time. This book tells the story of Napoleon's
defeat by Tsar Alexander I. The modern Russian book which has been
compared to that great epic is Mikhail Sholokov's The Silent Don, of
which there are two volumes, And Quiet Flows the Don, and The Don
Flows Home to the Sea. Read either of these books and discuss them
orally either with your teacher or with another student who has read
them.
28. Maxim Gorky is a much-loved Russian author who died in 1936.
One of his most famous books is entitled Mother. Read this book and
report to the class whether or not you think they would like to read
it, and why. You may enjoy discussing it with your English teacher
also.
29. The "middle school" in the U. S. S. R. offers a ten-year course of study
for pupils from the ages of eight to seventeen. Since 1943 these schools
have not been coeducational for students in large cities. Can you find
out why this change was made? Chapter XII in Beatrice King's
Changing Man: The Education System of the U. SS. R. describes the
ten-year school. You may want to read it so that you can compare
and contrast life in the Soviet schools with that of your own school.
30. The Soviets have become tremendously interested in athletics. You
may be interested in making a special study of this topic. A detailed
report on Soviet athletics by Eric A. Starbuck is soon to be pub-
lished as a pamphlet by the National Council of American-Soviet
Friendship.
F.
The Position of Women
The vocational opportunities and special protection afforded
women in the Soviet Union are best stated in the words of
Article 122 of the Constitution of 1936: "Women in the U. S. S. R.
are accorded equal rights with men in all spheres of economic,
state, cultural, social, and political life. The possibility of exer-
cising these rights is ensured to women by granting them an
equal right with men to work, payment for work, rest and
leisure, social insurance and education, and by state protection
of mother and child, pre-maternity and maternity leave with
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? 64 MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS
full pay, and the provision of a wide network of maternity
homes, nurseries, and kindergartens. " In 1940 there were eleven
million women wage-earners in the Soviet Union, representing
thirty-seven per cent of the total number of wage-earners. Nine-
teen million more were working on collective farms. More and
more women are becoming technicians and are entering the
professions. With the coming of the present war the number of
women in industry increased from eleven million to fifteen
million. Soviet women are not only at work on farms, in mines,
and in factories in increasing numbers; they are also serving
as nurses, as guerilla fighters, pilots, ambulance drivers, and in
many other types of work. While the Soviet Union does not
encourage women to join the fighting fronts, they may do so if
they wish, and many of them have performed great feats of
daring.
References on the Position of Women:
Halle, Fannina, Woman in Soviet Russia, The Viking Press, N. Y. , 1935.
Maurer, Rose, "Those Russian Women," Survey Graphic, February,
1944-
Williams, The Russians, Chapter 16.
Some Suggested Activities on the Position of Women:
1. You will be interested in the contrast between the attitude toward
women in the Soviet Union and in Nazi Germany. Form a committee
to study this question, and arrange to report your findings to the class
in a panel discussion. See the pamphlet, Soviet Russia versus Nazi
Germany by Corliss Lamont.
2. Prepare a paper on the subject, "The Status of Women in the Soviet
Union. " Refer to the book by Fannina W. Halle, Women in Soviet
Russia.
3. Collect a set of clippings from newspapers and magazines on how the
women of the U. S. S. R. have contributed to victory in the war. Mount
these clippings and place them in a folder so that they may be of
use to others who are studying this topic. Remember that the source
and date of each clipping should be given.
4. The pamphlet, Soviet Women in the War Against Hitlerism, contains
highly dramatic descriptions of the exploits of individual Soviet hero-
ines. Read several of these, and select one to tell to the class. A group
may plan this together, and present one or more brief, interesting ac-
counts to the class.
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? MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS 65
5. Using the pamphlet mentioned above, write the script for a radio
interview with one of the famous Soviet heroines.
6. Prepare an exhibit of pictures showing how Soviet women have helped
to promote victory in the war. You may wish to include sketches of
your own. (Pictures may be obtained for a modest rental fee from
the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship, ' 232 Madison
Avenue, New York City. )
G. Family Life
In the early years of the post-revolutionary period family
relationships were unstable. The tendency toward the disinte-
gration of the family was accentuated by the new economic in-
dependence of women, the socialization of many of the functions
of the home, and the decline of religion. The war, the Revolu-
tion, and the famine were disruptive forces, and many of the
old standards were discarded. The economic independence
of women required new ways of caring for children, and new
methods of feeding people. Nursery schools were set up to
care for infants up to two or three years of age, thus releasing
the mother for, work. Public kitchens and dining halls were
organized. At present the main meal of the day is usually eaten
at the place of work. However, many women still do double
duty in carrying on household duties as well as a job. This is
especially true of women over twenty-five years of age.
The Soviets have come to regard the home and family as the
central agency for child care, with public institutions supple-
menting this work. Members of the family all have the same
free day, and all go to the club for amusement together. A
tightening up of the marriage and divorce laws has tended to
strengthen the family as a social institution. When divorce
occurs, any children of the marriage must be protected from
hardship. In spite of the loss of some of its social functions,
the family is held together by love for the children and by the
common bond of work, as well as by the mutual affection of
husband and wife. During the war every effort has been made
to protect the family. When large numbers of people and fac-
tories were moved eastward, whole families were moved as a
unit when possible.
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? 66 MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS
References on Family Life:
Kingsbury and Fairchild, Factory Family and Woman in the Soviet
Union, G. P. Putnam's Sons, N. Y. , 1935, pp. 238-250.
Maurer, Rose, "Recent Trends in the Soviet Family," American Socio-
logical Review, June, 1944.
Maurer, Rose, Soviet Children and Their Care, pamphlet.
Sigerist, Henry E. , Socialized Medicine in the Soviet Union.
Some Suggested Activities on Family Life:
1. "The air is good in the country because the peasants use so little of
it" goes an old Russian saying. Housing in the Soviet Union has been
pitifully inadequate, but even so the majority of the people are better
housed than they were in the past.
Read Section 49 in Albert Rhys Williams, The Soviets, and you will
find some amusing anecdotes on the subject of housing. After you have
read this, draw a series of cartoons illustrating some of the ideas which
interested you.
2. The Russian people take a particular delight in festivals and holidays.
Make a calendar of important holidays in the Soviet Union, identi-
fying each. Make a similar calendar for our own national holidays.
3. The "Young Pioneers" is an organization of Soviet children from ten
to sixteen years of age. Read the section in Williams, The Soviets, on
the Young Pioneers. You will also find information on this organiza-
tion in Beatrice King's Changing Man: The Education System of
the U. S. S. R. What similarities and differences do you note between
this organization and our own Scout organization? Form a group of
students who are interested in discussing this topic.
4. Lenin said, "The actual building of the new society will begin only
when women are freed from petty, dreary, futile drudgery. Housework
in itself is utterly inconsequential and stultifying. "
As a preparation for a class discussion on home life and the position
of women in the Soviet Union, answer the following questions:
a. How have the Soviets tried to free women from household
duties?
b. What effect does such a provision have upon home life?
c. How has the independence of women affected the U. S. S. R. dur-
ing the present war?
5. Arrange an attractive bulletin board exhibit of the pictures in the set,
"Life of a Family in Russia. " (Obtainable from The East and West
Association, 40 East 49th Street, New York City, for fifty cents. )
6. The film, "One Day in Soviet Russia," was written and narrated by
Quentin Reynolds. It gives a very complete account of many phases of
life in the Soviet Union. If this film is available, a small group may
preview it and mention to the class points of importance to be noted.
After the showing of the film, be prepared to discuss it with the class
and try to answer the questions it has provoked.
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? MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS 67
V. Foreign Relations
A. Pre-Revolutionary Policy
Russia had little influence upon general European history
before the end of the seventeenth century. Her isolation was
due, among other factors, to two centuries of Tatar rule, and
to her geographic position. Peter the Great ascended the throne
in 1689, after the Tatars had been driven eastward into Siberia
and southward into the Black Sea region by his predecessors. It
was his ambition to make Russia into a great European power.
He annexed Azov, a seaport on an arm of the Black Sea, and
succeeded in expanding Russian territory toward the north-
west, securing strategic porti in the Baltic Sea. He acquired
Latvia and Estonia in 1721; he also sent Vitus Bering to explore
the region now known as the Bering Sea and Bering Strait.
Peter the Great did not, however, succeed in securing a sea-
port in warm water which would be a secure outlet to the main
ocean routes.
Catherine II annexed the Crimea, and shared in the parti-
tioning of Poland, along with the rulers of Austria and Prussia.
In the nineteenth century, imperialistic Russia gained territories
in the Middle and Far East, and in the Caucasus region. During
the Napoleonic wars she secured Finland, and gained a larger
portion of Poland at the Congress of Vienna. Russian influence
over the Slavic peoples of the Balkans became extensive.
These activities naturally aroused antagonism among the
other powers. Great Britain feared Russian expansion toward
India, Japan opposed her expansion down the Pacific coast,
and Austria-Hungary feared the growth of Russian influence in
the Balkan states. Moreover, Russia's desire for an outlet to the
sea brought her into armed conflict with the Ottoman Empire,
which continued to hold Constantinople.
In the system of alliances which preceded the First World War,
Russia and France were bound in a military alliance, while
Russia and England settled their differences in the Anglo-Rus-
sian Agreement of 1907, thus completing the Triple Entente.
Russia's entrance into the war came, not only because of this
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? 68 MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS
alliance, but because of obligations she had assumed toward
Serbia.
The coming of war in 1914 intensified the domestic problems
of Russia; losses in the war were very great. These tremendous
casualties, successive military defeats, growing shortages of food
and other goods, and widespread dissatisfaction led to the abdi-
cation of the Tsar in March, 1917. The Provisional Government
then established was overthrown by Lenin and his followers in
November, 1917, thus leaving the Bolsheviks in control of the
government. They advocated peace with Germany, and in March,
1918, withdrew from the war under the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
As a result of this treaty and of later developments, Russia lost
all of its western provinces, Poland, Finland, the Ukraine, Lithu-
ania, Latvia, Estonia and Bessarabia. However, acceptance of
the terms of the peace gave the Bolsheviks the opportunity to
strengthen their own position. The revolutionary government,
in order to seize and hold power, resorted to harsh and ruthless
means, which led to resentment and further civil strife within
the country. Revolution and counter-revolution, foreign inter-
vention and economic stress combined to produce a period of
great turbulence and struggle.
B. Policy from 1918 to 1941
The Soviets were excluded from the Versailles Conference, but
Allied intervention and blockade continued until 1920. From
1922 to 1933, a primary concern of the Soviets was the stabili-
zation of their system of government, and they were successful
in establishing diplomatic and commercial relations with the
major powers. The United States was the last of these powers to
recognize the Soviet government, in 1933. Treaties were nego-
tiated with all neighboring countries, including Germany. The
Soviets participated in the disarmament conferences, and in
August, 1928, they became a signatory of the Kellogg-Briand
Treaty to outlaw war as an instrument of national policy. In
the Far East they abrogated extra-territorial privileges and es-
tablished friendly relations with Japan and China; but, in 1929,
due to difficulties with Manchurian troops, relations with China
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? MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS 69
were broken. After the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931,
friendly relations with the Chinese Republic were resumed.
The Soviet Union attempted to cooperate in building up a
system of collective security when it joined the League of
Nations in 1934. It favored sanctions when Italy invaded Ethi-
opia, and also aid to China in its difficulties with Japan. The
Soviets consistently advocated the value of collective security, but ?
at Munich, when collective security was threatened, they were
not consulted. The Soviet Union was ready and willing to par-
ticipate in invoking sanctions, and sent substantial aid to the
Loyalists in Spain and to the Chinese after the Japanese attacks
on Manchuria and China proper.
During the uncertainty of 1939, negotiations with Great Brit-
ain and France were unsuccessful, and in August of that year,
the U. S. S. R. entered into a non-aggression pact with Germany.
The conclusion of this pact resulted in greater suspicion of the
Soviet Union by the western democracies.