Bolshevik Social Reforms

Bolshevik Social Reforms

1. Women

   • Women were given the right to vote
   • Gender equality was guaranteed
   • Zhenotdel (Communist Party's Women's Bureau) was established in 1920
     • Encouraged women to become more active in political and economic life
     • The director was Aleksandra Kollontai
     • Zhenotdel inspectors visited factories to make sure laws protecting the rights of women were enforced
   • Divorce was made easier
   • Contraception and abortion were made freely available

2. Education

   • Universal free education was introduced
   • Major campaign was launched to combat adult illiteracy
   • Trains went out to peasant areas across the country to teach people about Communism

3. Culture

   • A group of artists form the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia
     • They claimed "we will depict life of the Red Army, the Workers, the peasants and the heroes of labour"
   • Censorship - only posters that promoted the Bolshevik message
   • Bolshevik newspaper promoting propaganda - Pravada
   • The Orthodox Church
     • 1921 - teaching of religion to anyone under 18 was banned
     • Komsomol (Communist Youth Movement) handed out pamphlets encouraging atheism
     • Religious services were banned
     • Churches were ransacked and looted
     • Church lands were taken over by the state and many leaders of the Orthodox Church imprisoned

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