radical Bolsheviks - family was an outdated institution that needed to be swept away
reality- complete destruction of the traditional family unit was never a serious policy, still attacks on the ideas of a traditional family
youth groups encouraged to attack the 'capitalist tyranny of parents'
Party sections set up to educate women about becoming more independent and assertive
wives encouraged to refuse obedience to their husbands
Alexandra Kollontai called for greater sexual freedom for women - proposed 'new proletarian morality' in place of 'bourgeois marriage', sex should not be based on marriage but on 'union of free love'
attitudes shocked more traditional Bolsheviks including Lenin - attempted to impose a more resistant attitude
attempts to remould the family - encouragement for communal spaces in housing blocks, would break down traditional family unit
many of these measures led to the creation of the Family Code made by the Bolsheviks
The Family Code1918 - targeted women, made divorce easier (requested by the husband or wife, no need to give grounds for divorce), abortion legalised, attack on traditional oppression and maltreatment of women, reduce hold of Russian Orthodox Church on family unit
marriage traditions weakened further (1927) - new marriage law gave equal status to registered and unregistered marriages (those who were couples/lived together as a family but not formally registered with authorities)
some success with Family Code - urban population took advantage of divorces and abortions (Russia's divorce rate highest in Europe), 1926 - divorce made even easier through 'postcard divorces' (husband or wife could divorce their partner by simply notifying them with a postcard), abortion commonplace as contraception not widely available, birth rate low, break up of families led to increases in orphans wandering the streets (concerned the authorities), government now under pressure from critics and the poor
What significant policy change did Stalin introduce in 1936 regarding divorce costs?
Divorce costs increased from 4 roubles to 50 roubles.