1928-45 to what extent did the great patriotic war change the development of Soviet Society?

The period 1928-45 transformed Russian society, but, the outbreak of war did little to alter the courseof development of Soviet society, instead taking themes in its development to their extreme. The1930s saw a restatement of traditional values, particularly in the lives of women and the plight of thenational minorities. A return to traditionalism was furthered during the war, as Stalin’s massivepropaganda machine portrayed the Soviet war offensive in patriotic terms to galvanise the loyaltynecessary for victory. The feeling of many that it brought them close to the state than before, was,unfortunately, only an effect of Stalin’s emphasis of a more traditional ‘Russianness’, which awokethe nationalistic fervour which served as a guise for the extreme hardship of Soviet life.The Great Patriotic War, for the workers, marked a period where many claimed to be closer to thestate than ever before: this was comprised in a spontaneous outbreak of patriotism seen at the start ofthe war. Indeed, a Jewish scientist claimed the war was the best time of his life, because ‘it was nottheir country then, but our country’. The siege of Leningrad meant that Leningraders developed astrong sense of independence from the centralised government in Moscow, encouraging theromanticism of the vibrant literary culture rooted in the values of the nineteenth century:Shostakovich’s seventh symphony captures both the resilience against Nazi militarism and the spiritof patriotism epitomised by the scientist’s words. However, paradoxically, the feeling of closeness tothe state for the ordinary worker was accompanied by a continuity, indeed an increase, in the brutalhardship which had been the main theme of their lives since 1928. Standards of living from 1928-41,during the Five-Year Plans, were shocking: the intense overcrowding which resulted from themigration of 20 million peasants to urban areas meant that 25% of workers lived in mud huts theybuilt themselves. Not until Khrushchev’s era was anything done to improve the terrible overcrowdingthat characterised Stalin’s time; nor was the real wage level of 1925 regained until the late 1950s, orthe levels of consumption in 1922 reached before Stalin’s death. Standard of living decreased as focuson heavy industry resulted in a decline in consumer goods; and many NEP men were squeezed out ofthe economy because of shortages in fuel and raw materials. The period 1934-6 came to be known asthe ‘three good years’ because of relaxation in rationing: that people understood change in terms ofhardship demonstrates that this was the most pervasive theme across the period 1928-1941. Nor didthis change. Indeed, the Great Patriotic War proved to be the hardest years of the entire Stalinistperiod. In December 1941 a new law was introduced that mobilised all undrafted workers for warwork, making overtime obligatory and suspending holidays, increasing the average working week tobetween 70 and 77 hours. Already strict discipline was tightened as factories were placed undermartial law, with severe punishments for negligence, lateness or absence. Unauthorised absence fromwork was understood in terms of desertion, and was punishable by death. Chronic food, fuel andhousing shortages persisted. Living standards fell on average by two-fifths: in one relocated tankfactory, 8,000 female workers lived in holes in the ground. Therefore, the lives of the workers from1928, during the five year plans was characterised by brutal privation; and during the Great PatrioticWar, hardship only intensified – a continuity across the period inseparable from the experience ofworkers in Stalin’s Russia.