housing

• What was a continual problem for the Soviet people?

  Housing shortages
• What events destroyed housing in the Soviet Union?

  Civil War and Second World War
• Why did a large number of people move to cities in the 1930s?

  To seek better job opportunities
• What did Soviet authorities do in the 1920s regarding property redistribution?

  They took property from the rich for the poor
• What was the process of property redistribution from 1918-28?

  • Working people took property from aristocrats
  • Former owners were killed or evicted
  • Local soviets redistributed property to the poor
• What happened to workers by the end of the Civil War?

  They fled cities in search of food
• Why did the government authorize the destruction of houses?

  To provide timber for fuel
• What percentage of urban housing was denationalized under the NEP?

  60-80%
• What happened to property redistribution after Lenin's death?

  Fresh attempts to redistribute housing occurred
• What happened to large town houses in 1923-24?

  They were socialized
• How did authorities view room size for families in the 1920s?

  One room was enough for a whole family
• What happened to church property during this period?

  It was nationalized
• When was rent reintroduced in the Soviet Union?

  In 1921
• What percentage of house building was taken over by private companies under the NEP?

  89%
• What were the Zuev Club and Rusakov Club designed for?

  • Socialist buildings
  • Educational and cultural centers for workers
• What happened to housing under Stalin?

  Housing became a significant problem
• How much did the urban population increase between 1929 and 1940?

  It trebled
• What was the government's approach to the housing budget under Stalin?

  They kept it deliberately low
• What are kommunalka?

  Communal apartments shared by families
• What was the average size of a kommunalka in the 1930s?

  5.5 square metres
• How did the size of kommunalka change by 1940?

  It was divided to 4 square metres
• What was the condition of communal facilities under Stalin?

  They were poorly invested in
• How many people lived in the Liubertsy district without a bathhouse?

  650,000 people
• What was the priority of the government regarding urban centers?

  Modernization was a low priority
• What was the condition of housing in new factory towns?

  Often inferior to kommunalka
• What materials were used to build new factory towns?

  Timber and straw
• What was the model town built under Stalin?

  Magnitogorsk
• What happened to the initial housing plans in Magnitogorsk?

  They were abandoned
• How did the Second World War affect housing?

  It worsened the housing situation
• What fraction of housing was damaged or destroyed from 1941-45?

  1/3
• What was the average space for a worker in a kommunalka after the war?

  Four square metres
• What was the average space for a worker living in a dormitory?

  Three square metres
• What was the furniture situation for workers in dormitories?

  Very scarce
• What scheme did the government initiate for workers?

  To encourage self-built homes
• Why was the self-built homes scheme ineffective?

  Due to scarcity of resources
• What was the status of housing under the Fourth FYP?

  It was still not a priority
• What percentage of Moscow's budget was spent on housing projects?

  40%
• What was the quality of houses constructed in the early 1950s?

  Extremely poor
• What was the condition of roofs in the houses built in the early 1950s?

  They leaked
• What type of housing was prioritized on collective farms?

  Houses on collective farms