Housing

Question 1

Lenin: How did Lenin redistribute housing?

Answer 1

• Issued a decree in August 1918 which allowed the redistribution of houses to the poor and homeless.
• During 1923-24 large town houses were ‘socialised’. Property owners lived in one room while families were moved into other rooms.
• Church property was nationalised and turned into stores, civic centres or housing.

Question 2

Stalin: How did Stalin try to solve the problem of a lack of housing in urban areas?

Answer 2

• Kommunalka (communal apartments) were built. It provided a space to live, however these areas were usually small.
• Factory towns. New buildings constructed under Stalin to support factory towns such as Magnitogorsk.

Question 3

Stalin: How did the war affect housing?

Answer 3

• Stalin chose to prioritise industrial buildings over housing.
• More people were crammed in smaller spaces.
• Workers scheme encouraged workers to build their own houses.

Question 4

Khrushchev: How did Khrushchev improved housing?

Answer 4

• Between 1950 and 1965 the amount of urban housing more than doubled.
• Khrushchev ordered a halt to new government buildings and invested in new materials and techniques in order to solve the housing problem.
• ‘Khrushchyovka’ or K-7 blocks
• Believed that cheap mass housing was neccessary in the short term, however was not improved in the long run.

Question 5

Brezhnev: How did the ‘Social Contract’ improve housing?

Answer 5

• The Social contract was a ‘little deal’ what promised a rising standard of living and greater social benefits in return for obedience and conformity.
• Job security through guaranteed full employment
• Low prices for essential goods
• A thriving second economy, free of government interference.
• Social benefits such as healthcare
• Some social mobility