The communist regime promised to remake society itself — the family, women's lives, education and belief. Under Stalin those early experiments were reversed, and the regime turned to terror to control the population. This lesson covers both the social transformation and the machinery of repression.
Social change under Lenin
- Women — early Bolshevik policy, driven by figures like Alexandra Kollontai, legalised divorce and abortion, eased marriage laws and promoted women's entry into work.
- Education — mass literacy campaigns and youth organisations such as the Komsomol built a generation loyal to the regime.
- Religion — the regime promoted atheism; the Russian Orthodox Church was attacked and groups like the Union of the Militant Godless campaigned against belief.
The "Great Retreat" under Stalin
From the mid-1930s Stalin reversed the social radicalism. The 1936 Family Code restricted divorce and banned abortion to raise the birth rate; the 1935 Education Law restored traditional discipline, exams and authority. The revolution in private life was rolled back in favour of stability and the state's needs.
The methods of control
- Propaganda and the arts — socialist realism made culture a tool of the state; the press glorified Stalin.
- Repression — the secret police (OGPU, then the NKVD) arrested, deported and executed on a vast scale.
- The Purges and the Great Terror (1936–38) — triggered in part by the murder of Kirov (1934), Stalin purged the party, the army and society. The Show Trials forced old Bolsheviks to confess to invented crimes; the Yezhovshchina spread terror through every level of society. Trotsky was murdered in exile in 1940.
- The cult of personality — Stalin was presented as the infallible father of the nation, the living embodiment of the revolution.
Two quick structured analyses. First, the reversal in social policy:
| Area | Under Lenin (1920s) | Under Stalin (Great Retreat) |
|---|---|---|
| Women / family | Easy divorce, legal abortion | 1936 Family Code: divorce restricted, abortion banned |
| Education | Experimental, anti-authority | 1935 Law: discipline, exams, hierarchy restored |
| Religion | Militant atheism campaigns | Pragmatic tolerance later, esp. during the war |
Then, the tools of control — classify each as aimed at the mind (persuasion) or the body (coercion): socialist realism, the NKVD, the Show Trials, the cult of personality, the Komsomol. Discuss why a regime needs both.
Q1. Describe two ways the role of women changed under the Bolsheviks in the 1920s.
Q2. Explain the purpose of the Show Trials within the Great Terror.
Q3. "The Stalinist regime relied more on propaganda than on terror to control Soviet society." To what extent do you agree? Support your answer with evidence.