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The mileage is very low, the Soviet Union having one-fifth the
railway mileage of the U. S. A. Most of the trackage, too, is still
located in Soviet Europe, and there are sections of the
U. S. S. R. where there is no railroad transportation for a distance
of hundreds of miles. Good roads are also relatively scarce in
the country. It is easy to understand why, with lack of good
rail and road transportation, the U. S. S. R. has taken great in-
terest in air transportation. Across Arctic and wooded areas,
where no other method of transportation is easily used, air-
planes are of especial value. The Soviet Union in 1932 was
eighteenth in the world in air transport; by 1938, the country
was ninth in this respect. As part of the transportation develop-
ment, many canals have been dug connecting rivers or inland
waterways with seas, thus making a continuous water route
through the country. The Stalin Canal between the White and
Baltic Seas has shortened the distance between those bodies of
water by 2,160 miles. Another large canal under construction is
the Volga-Don Canal, which will connect those rivers and open
the Volga to the Black Sea.
Agriculture, too, was part of this gigantic economic scheme of
the Five-Year Plans. All but a fraction of the peasants, after
much opposition from wealthier peasants, known as "kulaks,"
were organized as groups on the collective farms (kolkhozes) and
on the state farms. Provision was made for individual ownership
of houses and other articles for personal use, so long as these were
not used for profit. And "the law permits the small private econo-
my of individual peasants and handicraftsmen based on their per-
sonal labor and precluding the exploitation of the labor of others. "
(Article 9 of the Constitution. ) As a result of the efficiency and
modernization of agriculture, 71 f0 of the work of tilling the land
was mechanized in 1937 as compared to 1% in 1928.
Science was applied, not only in speeding up industrial and
agricultural efficiency, but in draining the marshes, such as
the Pripet marshes in Eastern Poland; sending explorers to
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? 46
MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS
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? MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS 47
. the Arctic, and opening up a northern sea route with the aid
of ice-breakers; using airplanes to spray certain regions, thus
ridding them of malaria-carrying mosquitoes, or locusts which
damaged the crops; discovering herds of seals and guiding ships
to them by plane and in countless other ways.
Success in the tremendous economic development of the
U. S. S. R. is a result, not only of the planned economy, but also
of the attitude of the Soviet citizens, including the new motives
that they have adopted. The people have discovered that
when they work for others, they work also for themselves, and
the motto, "Each for all and all for each" has real meaning
for them. Their personal ambitions, even of criminals in jail,
are channeled into useful work for the community. With their
standard of living raised, these motives of group welfare and
social prestige impel the citizens to work with zeal, without the
motive of profit. Wendell Willkie, Eric Johnston, and other
Americans who have visited the Soviet Union recently, have com-
mented on this spirit among the people.
In the cities, the factory is the cultural and recreational cen-
ter, as the collective or state farm is in the rural areas. A differ-
ential wage scale is used, depending on the amount of work
produced in the factory; also the share of each collective farmer
varies with his output. The trade unions play an important
role in industry, administering social security benefits in each
factory, and representing the workers' interests. Women have
entered industry in greater numbers, and hold important
positions on the collective farms, particularly during the war,
with most of the men in the armed forces. As a result of
the planned economy, the standard of living has been raised
throughout the country, though it is still low as compared to
that of the more advanced industrial countries.
The industrial efficiency of the U. S. S. R. was demonstrated dur-
ing the German invasion in 1941 when production was increased,
the army supplied with necessities; the transportation system,
which was supposed to be weak, functioned well, proving a
great contrast to the inefficient transportation system in Russia
in World War I during the Tsarist regime. In addition to these
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? 48 MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS
proofs of efficiency, whole industrial plants, with their machinery
and workers, were transported from the invaded areas to places
of safety farther east. Today, far-reaching plans for reconstruc-
tion are being made, and as soon as areas are reconquered, these
plans are being put into effect.
References on Economic Life:
Constitution of 1936.
Williams, The Soviets, pp. 134-158; 172-188.
Mikhailov, Land of the Soviets, p. 26 to end of book.
Davies and Steiger, Soviet Asia, whole book.
Some Suggested Activities on Economic Life:
1. Make a map of the Soviet Union, naming and indicating the regions
where industry was carried on before 1917, and those which are in-
dustrialized today. Show with appropriate symbols the mineral and
agricultural resources, as well as the forested sections of the Soviet
Union. Write in the name of one important city in each industrial
region.
2. Misha, a Soviet peasant, owns his dwelling-house, a pig, and some
sheep, but the State Farm on which he works, and the machinery on
the Farm are owned by the Soviet Government. How would you answer
someone who says that private ownership has been abolished in
Russia? Write a paper citing articles from the Constitution of 1936
to show the truth or fallacy in this statement.
3. The chief product necessary for industry, lacking both in the U. S. A. and
in the U. S. S. R. , is rubber. Find out what each country has done about
this shortage and report to the class. (References for U. S. S. R. :
Mikhailov, Land of the Soviets, and Steiger and Davies, Soviet Asia. )
4. Read about the Stakhanov Movement in Williams, The Soviets, p. 220,
or in the pamphlet by Alexie Stakhanov entitled The Stakhanov Move-
ment Explained. Write a short paper about this, and show how it ex-
plains the industrial development in the U. S. S. R.
5. Look up the figures on industrial production in 1914 and 1933 in
Soviet Russia, on pages 34-35 in Mikhailov, Land of the Soviets, and
make two circle graphs showing how the Soviet Union has increased
her proportion in relation to other countries.
6. Cite from Chapter I of the Constitution the article explaining the atti-
tude of the State toward people who work. Be ready to discuss this
article in class, explaining how it is carried out. Consider whether the
attitude toward useful work has changed since 1917, and give ex-
amples from the events of 1917-1920 to support your discussion.
7. Imagine yourself a worker in a factory in the U. S. S. R. You have a
cousin who came to the U. S. A. twenty years ago, and he is employed
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? MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS 49
in a local factory. Write a letter to your cousin comparing the two
systems of management and the workers' relation to them.
8. Arrange for a showing of the films entitled '"Harvest Festival" and
"Impressions of Moscow. " (See Brandon Film catalogue. ) After the
films have been shown, have a class discussion about the modern farmer
and the industrial worker in the Soviet Union.
9. 19OO 1939 NAME OF TOWN
5,000 405,590 Novosibirsk
6,000 500,000 Sverdlovsk
o 70,000 Komsomolsk
Draw figures of men proportionate to the size of these populations in
1900 and 1939. Prepare a statement for the class explaining why each
of these particular cities grew with such rapidity. (See Survey Graphic,
February, 1944. )
10. Was the Stalin Canal as long, as costly, or as difficult to build as the
Erie, the Panama, or the Suez Canals? Find the important facts con-
cerning these canals, and draw a bar graph showing the mileage of
each and cost of building.
11. Read in the Survey Graphic for February, 1944, the article on the
Soviet Far East. Make a report to the class on this.
12. How would your father's business, or the business in which your
father is employed, be conducted in the Soviet Union? Make a chart
comparing such a business in the U. S. A. and the U. S. S. R. as regards:
profits, management, inventions, employer, trade unions.
13. "The pioneer movement in the U. S. A. westward is similar to the east-
ward expansion of the U. S. S. R. In fact, Siberia is sometimes called
'Russia's middle west. '"
Write a paper giving examples from American and Russian history to
illustrate this statement. Name regions developed in each migration.
For reference, read Pares, Russia and the Peace, Chapter 2o, and Hindus,
Russia and Japan, Chapters 8, 9, and 10.
14. Walter Duranty in an article in the magazine section of the New
York Times for July 30, 1944, stated:
"Three years of war have clearly and tremendously hastened and em-
phasized Russia's progression toward nationalism and patriotic unity,
and its apparent retrogression from the original principles of com-
munism or Marxist socialism. " In another part of the same article,
Mr. Duranty says: '"Russia has definitely, if not Wholly successfully,
adopted a socialist or collective system. "
Read the whole article from which these quotations are taken, and
write an explanation of the apparent contradictions in these two state-
ments.
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? 50 MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS
D. Provision for Social Welfare
Article 120 of the Constitution of 1936 provides for free medi-
cal services for the working people. Practically all nurses and
doctors are civil servants. Special provisions of the labor code
protect women workers, and special grants are made for the care
of mother and child. Social insurance is provided for in Article
120. It includes compensation because of illness or injury, and
provision for old-age pensions. Funds are set aside by the en-
terprise where the worker is employed, and are not built up
by deductions from wages or salaries. These funds are admin-
istered by the trade unions. Group and individual insurance
to cover other hazards may be bought. Rest homes are provided
where workers may rest under medical supervision, although
the number of these is not yet adequate to serve all workers.
Special aid is being provided for the rehabilitation of war veter-
ans, and for the care of veterans' families.
The Soviets claim that neuroses and mental disorders have de-
creased sharply because of the provision of economic security.
They cite figures to show that their proportion of mental dis-
orders is lower than that of the western countries. This is due,
they say, to the removal of worry over loss of employment, over
a poverty-stricken old age, and over the inability to provide
medical and hospital care in case of illness. The number of
mental disorders in the army has been lower than in World
War I. This is attributed to the better conditioning of the
nervous systems of the people and the strengthening of morale
by an understanding of the issues of the war. The death rate in
the Soviet Union has been reduced by forty per cent in compari-
son with Tsarist Russia.
The remarkable success of the health program has been dem-
onstrated by the war. In spite of the terrific problems involved
in the care of the wounded, the evacuation of large numbers of
people eastward, longer working hours for everyone, and an
inadequate food supply, not one disease has reached epidemic
proportions. In 1941, at the height of the German attack, the
infant mortality rate in Moscow was less than ten per cent,
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? MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS 51
whereas in 1914 in that city the rate was twenty-three per cent.
Although this is a remarkable advance, the figure is still about
double the infant mortality rate in the United States. Soviet
medical research has contributed many new practices, only one
of which is the blood bank now being generally used.
References on Social Welfare:
Kingsbury, John, "Soviet Health Lines Ahead," Survey Graphic, Feb-
ruary, 1944.
Maurer, Rose, "Soviet Health Care in Peace and War," American Rus-
sian Institute pamphlet.
Sigerist, Henry E. , Socialized Medicine in the Soviet Union.
Webb, Beatrice and Webb, Sidney, Soviet Communism: A New Civili-
zation? Part II, pp. 805-862.
Some Suggested Activities on Social Welfare:
1. An American visitor to the Soviet Union developed a cough and she
decided to buy some cod liver oil at a drug store. She was told that
she must have a doctor's prescription, and when she had secured it,
the cod liver oil was given to her free of charge.
Several of you may like to study the subject of health protection in the
Soviet Union, and present a discussion to the class. For this presenta-
tion, be sure that group members present both the favorable and
unfavorable aspects of the program.
s. Arrange for a showing of the Russian film, "The Road to Life. " This
film depicts the problem of homeless children in the Soviet Union
in the period after the dvil war. You will need to preview the film
and also find some material on this topic in reference books. Tell the
class something in advance about the problem of the "wild boys. " After
the film has been shown, conduct a class discussion on it. Do you
know what the Soviets are doing now to try to prevent a recurrence of
the problem of homeless children?
3. Read We Didn't Ask Utopia by Harry and Rebecca Timbres to get
an idea of one man's experience in the medical profession in Russia.
Write a brief discussion of the things in this book which interested
you most. Would you recommend it to other members of the class?
Why, or why not?
E. Cultural Life
1. Education
The Soviet Government has placed particular emphasis upon
public education and the development of schools. It has been
anxious to introduce universal, free, compulsory education
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? 5* MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS
throughout the Soviet Union as rapidly as possible. Elementary
education is compulsory for everyone, and among all peoples.
Until the war interfered, plans were well under way for making
education compulsory for everyone up to the age of eighteen.
Soviet education aims primarily to give all the people of the
U. S. S. R. a many-sided individual development, an understand-
ing of socialism, and preparation for taking their places in a
collective society. Education is for the whole population, and
every institution is utilized to that end. Educational opportuni-
ties of many kinds are provided by the factory and by the farm.
Illiteracy has been reduced from seventy per cent in Tsarist
Russia to nineteen per cent in the Soviet Union. It is especially
important to note the growth of literacy among the peoples in
the northern and eastern regions, and among women. One of
the most important measures for the establishment of equal
rights for women has been the opening of all types of education
to them.
Expansion of schools has been so rapid that at times there has
been difficulty in providing adequately trained teachers. There
has been a great increase in the number of secondary schools in
country districts and in the new industrial settlements. Until
the end of 1939 tuition was free in all primary and secondary
schools and in most of the institutes for higher education, but
this provision was modified as war approached. Character de-
velopment and the development of a well-rounded personality
are emphasized as well as mastery of subject matter. Pupils are
given physical training, aesthetic training, and moral training.
The latter includes a cultivation of the love of country.
Emphasis has been placed upon adult education, rural educa-
tion, the education of minor nationalities, and upon vocational
information in its broader sense. There has been a great increase
in the number of institutions of higher learning, and an even
greater increase in vocational and apprenticeship schools. There
is constant interaction between formal education and community
work, with stress upon the education of the average citizen in
science and in machine techniques. This training of the whole
population in machine techniques and modern technical devel-
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? MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS 53
opments has been of invaluable service in the present war. The
ability of Soviet men and women to operate tanks, airplanes,
and other complicated equipment characteristic of industrial-
ized nations has surprised the world. This ability is all the more
remarkable when one recalls their relatively short acquaintance
with modern machines, the rapidity of industrialization, and the
oft-repeated stories about the ineptness of the Soviets in hand-
ling machines in the early years of industrialization.
References on Education:
Erskine, Dorothy, and Roberts, Holland, "What 36 Million Children
are Learning," Survey Graphic, February, 1944. ?
King, Beatrice, Changing Man; The Education System of the U. S. S. R.
Medynsky, Eugene, "Schools and Education in the U. S. S. R. " American
Sociological Review, June, 1944.
2. Religion and Philosophy
The Soviet attitude toward religion is rooted deep in Com-
munist philosophy, which is anti-religious and materialistic. It
teaches the evolutionary character of human and natural life,
and that nature alone is real. All belief in God, in the super-
natural, or in any type of mysticism is ruled out. The stress on
science is part of this opposition to the supernatural, and often
rulings that are thought by other countries to be primarily anti-
religious are intended to abolish peasant superstitions by edu-
cation in science. Christianity is anti-social in the eyes of the
Communists because they claim that it teaches acquiescence and
lessens man's urge to improve conditions in this life. Lenin is
said to have declared that a real Communist could not be a
Christian. Membership in the Communist Party is not open to
those who have religious affiliations. In spite of the development
of better relations between the government and the church
groups, the fundamental orientation of Communist philosophy
is away from religious belief.
On January 23, 1918, the Soviet Government issued a decree
which separated the Church and the State. All church property
was nationalized, and the church lost all control over education.
Many restrictions were placed upon the activities of the clergy.
Priests were disfranchised, and were not allowed to give religious
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? 54
MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS
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? 56 MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS
instruction to groups of young people under eighteen years of
age. A series of persecutions followed in which many bishops
and priests were exiled or executed. In 1925 the League of
Militant Atheists was founded, and it started a propaganda cam-
paign against the church. In 1929 an amendment to the Con-
stitution proclaimed "freedom of religious worship and freedom
of anti-religious propaganda," thus preventing freedom of re-
ligious propaganda. This phrasing has been retained in the Con-
stitution of 1936, although priests, along with all other citizens,
secured the right to vote in this constitution. There is, in spite
of these activities, ample evidence of the survival of religion in
the Soviet Union, and since 1939 the Soviets have been increas-
ingly liberal in their attitude toward the Orthodox Church. This
friendly attitude brought about the reestablishment of the Patri-
archate of Moscow in September, 1943. The Soviet Cabinet
now has a Committee on Religion. The Orthodox Church is
supporting the government in its war activities.
References on Religion and Philosophy:
Anderson, Paul, People, Church and State in Modern Russia.
Iswolsky, Helen, "Spiritual Resurgence in Russia," Survey Graphic, Feb-
ruary, 1944,
Melish, William Howard, "Religious Developments in the Soviet Union,"
American Sociological Review, June, 1944.
Timasheff, N. S. , Religion in Soviet Russia.
3. Science
The Communist Party and the Soviet Government have put
their faith in science as the instrument by which man can
achieve greater control over the forces of nature. Science is
financed by the government, and dominates the whole educa-
tional system.
The All-Union Academy of Sciences directs all the scientific
work of the country. Science is not confined to the laboratories;
the interest of the masses of people has been enlisted in re-
search and invention. In the factories and on the collective
farms many thousands of workers study in science clubs. The
achievements of Soviet science have been impressive. While
critics say that science has had to operate within the confines
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? MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS 57
of socialism, Communists hold that science is stimulated by
making the discoveries accessible to all, with no fear of rival
interests securing the advantage.
References on Science:
Davies and Steiger, Soviet Asia.
Mikhailov, Nicholas, Land of the Soviets.
Williams, The Soviets, pp. 201-211.
4. The Arts
The Soviet government considers art to be an important part
of everyday life, and subsidizes the arts in many ways. Great
recognition is given to creative artists, and cultural workers are
among the highest paid of all workers. The Soviets make wide
use of art galleries and museums, not just as repositories for
valuable collections but as a means of arousing the conscious-
ness of the people to their rich cultural heritage. Theatres have
been as much a part of the Five-Year plans as have been dams
and steel mills; drama and opera are performed in sixty differ-
ent languages; and over a hundred children's theatres have been
opened. The arts are not limited to professionals. Five thousand
non-professional theatres are run by clubs and collective farms
for amateur performers. The best amateur musicians and dancers
come to Moscow from all over the Soviet Union to compete in
the Moscow Olympiads of Music.
In architecture the revolt against the past has produced a
style that features rather severe, straight lines. No great dis-
tinction has been won by Russians in sculpture or painting, ex-
cept for the early icons. The work of pictorial and graphic
artists has attracted considerable attention. While the Soviets
hold the literary man in high regard, little has been produced
by Soviet writers which is comparable to the work of the great
masters of the past. Until 1932 the work of writers was hampered
by the rulings of the Russian Association of Proletarian Writers.
Hostile critics say that Soviet artists are serving propaganda pur-
poses. The Communists admit the truth of the statement, but
hold that artists always do reflect the point of view of the ruling
class from which they earn most of their living.
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? 58 MEET THE SOVIET RUSSIANS
References on the Arts:
Vernadsky, A History of Russia, Chapter 19.
Williams, The Soviets, Sections 71-76.
5. Publications and the Radio
Since the masses have acquired the ability to read, their appe-
tite for learning is tremendous. The supplying of enough books
and papers to satisfy the demand has become a problem. At the
end of the First Five-Year Plan, book production exceeded that
of England, France, and Germany combined.