The People
The USSR was a land of great ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diversity. It was also a land of large cities. In 1989 the Soviet Union had 57 cities with populations of 500,000 or greater. (In 1990 the United States had 24 cities with 500,000 or more residents.) The population of the Soviet Union in 1989 was 386,717,000; only China and India had larger populations.
There were more than 120 nationalities and ethnic groups in the Soviet Union. Chief among these were Slavs, which included Great Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Poles, and Ruthenians. Turkic peoples formed the second largest group. Included in this group were Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Turkmen, Tatars, Azerbaijanis, Bashkirs, and Yakuts. Finno-Ugrians, including Estonians, Finns, Karelians, and Udmurts, made up the third largest group. Other large groups were Baltic peoples, including Latvians and Lithuanians; Japhetic peoples, including Georgians, Armenians, and Circassians; and Iranian peoples, including Tajiks and Ossetians.
The Soviet Union's many nationalities provided the basis for its administrative framework. Most of the 15 soviet socialist republics were inhabited by a majority of one of the main nationality groups.
Great Russian was the Soviet Union's predominant language. Many other languages were also used. Each nationality was allowed to preserve its own language, but most nationalities were required to write their language in the Cyrillic alphabet, the one used for Great Russian.
Russification—the process of transforming the national identity of non-Russian peoples to an identity culturally similar to that of Great Russians—was a dominant theme throughout Soviet history. Great Russians, and those adopting Great Russian culture, frequently received preferential treatment in education, business, government, and the military. Russification was the source of strong resentment among many non-Russians.
The Soviet educational system emphasized training people to be useful to the state rather than fostering individual intellectual development. Decisions concerning curriculum, educational materials, and teaching methods rested with the Communist party. Ideological training in Marxist-Leninist doctrine and the inclusion of practical training at all levels were primary characteristics of the Soviet system.
The main goals of the Soviet system were to provide free, compulsory education for all, to eliminate illiteracy, and to abolish religious influences in education. Soviet schools were especially strong in mathematics and the physical sciences. The teaching of the social sciences and humanities generally suffered because of the dominance of Marxist-Leninist doctrine in these fields.
Prerevolutionary society in Russia had advanced only slightly beyond the feudal stage. Most of the people were peasants and there was a wide social and economic gap between them and the privileged classes (the nobility and the clergy).
Russian society was transformed after the Russian Revolution. It gradually changed from an agriculturally based society to one built upon industry. Private property was nationalized and the Soviet Union, in theory, became a classless society.
A class system, however, did develop. The relatively few members of the Communist party, especially those in high positions in government, industry, and the military, were the most privileged. Other favored groups included scientists, educators, and person engaged in the arts. The privileged enjoyed better housing, better pay, and greater prestige than the typical Soviet citizen.
The standard of living in the Soviet Union was generally lower than that of other industrialized nations. Housing was scarce and apartments were usually overcrowded. Because of the emphasis on heavy industry, consumer goods that were widely available in the West, such as automobiles and washing machines, were difficult to obtain for most Soviet citizens. The government provided basic health care for all, but the privileged had access to facilities that were far superior to those available to the general public.
Until Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in 1985 and instituted his policy of glasnost (openness), the Soviet people had few freedoms. Before glasnost, the government was intolerant of dissent, and secret police enforced ideological discipline throughout the country. Political prisoners were often sent to gulags (labor camps, usually located in Siberia and other remote areas). Travel, both foreign and domestic, was restricted. Religious practices, although not illegal, were repressed by the government.
The Soviet Union inherited a rich culture from the Russian Empire. Russian music and literature had experienced a flowering in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Many cultural institutions, such as the Hermitage Museum, continued to be among the best in the world.
Except under glasnost, the Soviet government generally exercised strict control over the arts. Socialist Realism was the only approved style of artistic expression. All forms of art, including painting, literature, theater, and photography, were required to extol the virtues of socialism. Socialist Realist painting served as propaganda more than art, and generally depicted various aspects of labor. There were, however, those who went beyond the restrictions of Socialist Realism, especially writers. These included Boris Pasternak, Joseph Brodsky, and Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Many of their works were long banned in the Soviet Union, and some were initially published in the West.
Despite government controls, Soviet composers carried on the tradition of excellence inherited from czarist Russia. Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Aram Khachaturian were among the many accomplished composers of the Soviet era. Dance and ballet also flourished. The Bolshoi and Kirov ballets were internationally acclaimed. Several Soviet filmmakers, notably Sergei Eisenstein and Andrei Tarkovsky, also won international esteem.
The study of science in the Soviet Union was emphasized to a notable extent. Soviet achievements were particularly great after World War II, especially in high-energy physics, molecular biology, and space and laser technology. The Soviets were the first to launch an artificial satellite and the first to send a person into space.
In some areas, however, the Soviets lagged behind the West because, at one time or another, the study of certain subjects—including relativity, Mendelian genetics, and Freudian psychology—was suppressed as being incompatible with Marxism.
