The New Soviet Man
The idea of shaping a new psychology within the Russian population to meet the Bolshevik Utopia was one of the central topics cherished by the Communist Ideologues. They were very keen to extirpate from any normal citizen any behavioral traits that could be related to the bourgeois class. They felt that it was the best way to control ideologically the masses. Class-conscious work in this case means unconditional submission to the Marxism-Leninism principles.
Lenin, the Mastermind of the 1917 Revolution knew that in spite of the abolition of esclavage in 1861, throughout Russia many bourgeois had still very large estates with committed liberated-serfs trusting their old masters.
Moreover, one of the Nicholas II ministers, Stolypin, promoted a far-reaching agricultural reform in 1905 that …show more content…
Lenin’s way to rebuild some productive capacity within USSR was to call upon a workforce neglected prior to the revolution, women.
Rebalancing gender equality became then one of the cornerstones of the 1917 Soviet Revolution. Rapidly, major changes took place to ensure women could participate to the social and industrial life and potentially become economically free from men.
To achieve a rapid inclusion of women into the workforce, a Family Code was enacted legalizing many aspects of women everyday's concerns: civil marriage was instituted, illegitimate children were given the same rights as legitimate ones, paid maternity leave was granted, abortion was legalized, divorce was allowed, rights were given in case of illness and minimum wages were set. All these measures led to a sharp increase of women participating in the productive