Russia 1917 - 1924: Bolshevik Social Reforms

Women
1. Women were given the right to vote
2. Gender equality was guaranteed
3. Zhenotdel (Communist Party's Women's Bureau) was established in 1920
  1. Encouraged women to become more active in political and economic life
  2. The director was Aleksandra Kollontai
  3. Zhenotdel inspectors visited factories to make sure laws protecting the rights of women were enforced
4. Divorce was made easier
5. Contraception and abortion were made freely available
Education
1. Universal free education was introduced
2. Major campaign was launched to combat adult illiteracy
3. Trains went out to peasant areas across the country to teach people about Communism
Culture
1. A group of artists form the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia
  1. They claimed "we will depict life of the Red Army, the Workers, the peasants and the heroes of labour"
2. Censorship - only posters that promoted the Bolshevik message
3. Bolshevik newspaper promoting propaganda - Pravada
4. The Orthodox Church
  1. 1921 - teaching of religion to anyone under 18 was banned
  2. Komsomol (Communist Youth Movement) handed out pamphlets encouraging atheism
  3. Religious services were banned
  4. Churches were ransacked and looted
  5. Church lands were taken over by the state and many leaders of the Orthodox Church imprisoned

Resource summary

	Created by Andrew Burke about 7 years ago