Cultural Revolution Essay Example

Cultural Revolution Essay Example Cultural Revolution Essay Cultural Revolution Essay à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Began end of 1920sà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Signalled return to socialist ideals of Revolution and class warfareà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Non Marxists working in social areas such as education and the arts were denouncedà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ There would be a new Soviet Man and a transformed society that was truly socialistYouthà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Young Communists took a lead in thisà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Komsomol (1918) members aged 14 to 28.à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 1927 2 million members. Had to apply to joinà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Attacked religion in the villages, booed and criticised painters and writers who did not follow party lineà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Enforced collectivisation, labour discipline, reporting on mood of the peopleReligionà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Link between kulaks and churchgoers, accused priests of holding back collectivisationà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Priests hounded out of villages, churches raided, bells melted down, imposed taxes on churchesà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ By end of 1930 80% of countrys village churches closedà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 1/40 functioning by end of 1930s à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ No new churches in new towns and citiesEducationà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Traditional teaching, homework, textbooks and testing came under attackà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Shulgin, headed educational research institute, said children could be educated to be useful. Delivering leaflets, gathering firewood etcà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Schools should be linked to factoriesà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Non party teachers driven out and replaced by red specialistsà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Party members were sent to college to study for technical and political degrees.à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Some factory managers found they had ill disciplined and poorly educated workers who could only do one job as result of thisEducationà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 1931 Stalin was outraged by state of schools, Komsomol and Shulgin had done great deal of harm to system.à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Stalin needed educated workersà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Central Committee ordered change of policyà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Physics, chemistry and maths had to be taught and taught well.à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Exams, homework textbooks and rote learning re appearedà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Discipline brought back, by end of 1930s uniforms were brought backà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ History had been banned under Bolsheviks because it was seen as irrelevant, this was brought back by 1934 and new school history books brought in in 1937Artsà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Russian Association of Proletarian artists 1931.à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Old masters and traditional paintings criticised. Should be proletarianà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Writing was controlled by RAPP ( Russian Association of Proletarian writersà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Soviet cinema was used to raise the cultural level of the masses, straightforward and realistic films about cows with TB and overcoming problems inn the collective farm.Women and Familyà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Abortion and divorce was easier under the Bolsheviks so family unit weakened by the time Stalin in powerà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ quicksand society created by rapid industrialisationà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Falling birth rate, juvenile crime, homeless childrenà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ The Great Retreat developed in 1930 sà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Family Code 1936 made abortion illegal except certain circumstances, harder to get divorced, child support payments and mothers with 6 children had bonus payments each year, increased up to 11 children.à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Prostitution and homosexuality illegalà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Birth rate rose from 25 per 1000 1933 to 31 per 1000 1940à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Marriage/divorce rate did not alter muchà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Many families had been deserted by the fathersà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ April 1935 decree allowed violent crimes committed by the over 12s punishable as an adultà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ NKVD cleared homeless children from towns and citiesà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Parents could be fined for their childrens hooliganism