Living in Towns and the Countryside, 1924-41

What were living conditions like in the Soviet Union?

Living conditions in the Soviet Union varied hugely. It depended on where you lived and who you were.

What were the living conditions in the Soviet Union countryside like?

In the countryside the living conditions were poor in 4 main ways:

• ❖ There was only basic housing, with outside toilets and no running water.
• ❖ Peasants were not allowed to leave their farms and had passports for internal travel.
• ❖ There was rationing, which allowed Stalin to confiscate excess food for distribution in the cities.
• ❖ The peasants received less food than the workers in the towns and cities and so had to travel to buy food.

What were the living conditions like in the Soviet Union towns?

In the towns the living conditions were poor in 8 main ways:

• ❖ There was insufficient housing in towns and cities because industrialisation led to a rapid increase in the number of workers.
• ❖ Housing was of low quality and living standards were poor.
• ❖ Most lived communally, with several families sharing one apartment. Each family had one room for their whole family to live, but shared the kitchen and bathroom.
• ❖ Some people were 'corner dwellers' as they lived in a shed, a cupboard or, literally, the corner of a corridor.
• ❖ Food was not plentiful - queuing for food was a common occurrence in the Soviet Union during the 1930s. Food rationing was introduced between 1929 and 1935.
• ❖ There were shortages in everyday consumer goods such as toiletries and clothes.
• ❖ There were long queues for consumer goods when they were available.
• ❖ The Second World War made the situation worse as approximately 1/3 of urban housing was damaged or destroyed.

What did the government do to improve living conditions in towns in the Soviet Union?

The government tried to improve the towns and cities by providing leisure activities such as cinemas, parks and various sporting facilities.

What were the living conditions like in the new factory towns in the Soviet Union?

The living conditions in the new factory towns created by industrialisation were awful in 4 main ways:

• ❖ Many people lived in barracks or other forms of communal accommodation with not enough furniture.
• ❖ Sanitation was inadequate with insufficient washing facilities, running water or toilets. Disease thus spread quickly, leading to high sickness rates.
• ❖ There was little infrastructure such as proper roads, sewers or electricity.
• ❖ Living conditions were very slow to improve during the 1930s.

What were the living conditions of the party officials of the Soviet Union?

The living conditions for the party officials were very good in 2 main ways:

• ❖ Party officials lived in relative luxury, compared to ordinary people in the USSR. Their accommodation was larger and not communal.
• ❖ They had access to special shops where they could buy consumer goods as a reward for their loyalty, and access to more and better quality food.