1. Religion, education and the arts in Stalinist Russia

2. “Religion is an opiate of the masses.”
- Karl Marx
1917: Starting with the Bolsheviks, the Party limited the activities of the church - seizure of church lands, arrest/murder of Russian Orthodox clergy (initially only Christians were the real targets, but this changes after 1930)
1926: the Communist Party sought to eradicate all religious belief through the propaganda use under direction of the League of Militant Atheists (this increased as collectivization grew)
1929: Churches were banned from participating in any social activities except actual church services (a few churches - 2% - were allowed to stay open so Stalin could claim freedom of worship was being observed)
This didn’t mean that religious belief had been eradicated – according to a 1937 census, 57% of Russians still considered themselves religious.

3. education Equal opportunity for all students
One aspect of the crusade against religion was education. This was vital for a productive workforce and to ensure future party loyalty. The initial goal was mass provision of primary education
Equal opportunity for all students
Free, comprehensive and coed
No initial political restrictions on arts and science
Creativity, individuality encouraged with physical punishment banned
Tremendous rate of expansion
8 million students/115,000 schools (1927) to 11 million/175,000 (1932)
Literacy rate jumped to around 85-90% by 1939 from less than 50% pre-1917

4. education
Stalin’s main aim concerning young people was to ensure that future workers would be skilled enough to play their part in Russia’s industrial and scientific development. Another aim was to create a new type of ‘socialist citizen’ who accepted collectivist, rather than individualistic, ideals. Teachers and professors were arrested if they were suspected of teaching oppositionist principles.
Early 1930s: Stalin insisted that education become more strict – uniforms, report cards, test results and formal teaching. In many areas, coed was replaced by gender-based education.

5. culture
Early 1920s: Flourishing of modern art (Lenin, Trotsky and numerous other leaders encouraged avant-garde artists). There weren’t many cultural restrictions. 1930s: Under Stalin, state control was tightened. All writers had to belong to the Union of Soviet Writers and have their writing deemed “compatible” with state ideals Newspapers, novels, poems, songs and plays all had to show support for Stalin, the Party and nationalism. This was applied to all creative artists- including music, film.

6. Soviet art