User:Bbro36/sandbox

I plan to contribute to the article first by researching and exploring the ideological origins of the soviet family.

The Bolshevik vision of family

Marxist theory on family established the revolutionary ideal for the Soviet state and influenced state policy concerning family in varying degrees throughout the history of the country. The principals are: The nuclear family unit is an economic arrangement structured to maintain the ideological functions of Capitalism. The family unit perpetuates class inequality through the transfer of private property though inheritance. Following the abolition of private property, the bourgeois family will cease to exist and the union of individuals will become a “purely private affair”.  

The Soviet state’s first code on marriage and family was written in 1918 and enacted a series of transformative laws designed to bring the soviet family closer in line with Marxist theory.

1918 Code on Marriage, the Family, and Guardianship

One year after the Bolsheviks took power, they ratified the 1918 Code on Marriage, the Family and Guardianship. The revolutionary jurists, led by Alexander Goikhbarg, adhered to the revolutionary principals of Marx, Engles, and Lenin when drafting the codes. Goikhbarg considered the nuclear family unit to be a necessary but transitive social arrangement that would quickly be phased out by the growing communal resources of the state and would eventually “wither away”. The jurists intended for the code to provide a temporary legal framework to maintain protections for women and children until a system of communal support could be established.

The 1918 code also served to recognize the legal rights of the individual at the expense of the existing patriarchal system of family and marriage. This was accomplished by allowing easily obtainable “no-grounds” divorces. It abolished “illegitimacy” of birth as a legal concept and entitled all children to parental support. It abolished the adoption of orphans; orphans would be cared for by the state to avoid exploitation. Individual property would be retained in the event of divorce. An unlimited term of alimony could be awarded to either spouse, but upon separation each party was expected to care for themselves. Women were to be recognized as equal under the law. Prior to 1914, women were not allowed to earn a wage, seek education, or exchange property without the consent of her husband.

Family Code of 1926

The 1918 code accomplished many of the goals that the jurists had sought to set into motion, but the social disruption left in the wake of World War I exposed the inadequacies of the code. The 1926 code would revive a more conservative definition of the family in a legal sense. In 1921 alone, seven million orphans were displaced, roaming town and countryside. Government agencies simply did not have the resources to care for the children. An adopted child could be cared for by a family at virtually no cost to the state. The 1926 code would retreat from many policies that served to weaken the family.

The role of the woman in the Bolshevik household

Diet and Nutrition of the Prewar Soviet Union Family

The history of the Soviet Union diet prior to World War II encompasses different periods that have varying influences on food production and availability.Periods of low crop yields and restrictive distribution of food in the early 1920's, and again in the 1930's brought about great famine and suffrage in the Soviet Union. The traditional types of food found in the Soviet Union were made up of various grains for breads and pastries, dairy products such as cheese and yogurt, and various meats such as pork, fish, beef and chicken.Vegetables were less in abundant than the other forms of food due to the strain on resources and poor crop yields. Malnutrition was a prominent factor in the poor health conditions and individual growth during this period in the Soviet Union. Much like the Western tradition of 3 daily main meals, the Soviet meals consisted of breakfast (Zavtrak), lunch (obed), and dinner (ouzhin). Soups or broths made of vegetables or meat were common meals in the Soviet Union. (Wayway2025 (talk) 18:00, 8 April 2018 (UTC)).

Reproduction and Family Planning

The primary form of contraception practiced in the early USSR was coitus interruptus. Scarcity of rubber made condoms and diaphragms unavailable, and contraception was rarely discussed by political figures.

The U.S.S.R. was the first country in the world to legalize abortion. For many years prior to the October Revolution, abortion was not uncommon in Russia, although it was illegal and carried a possible sentence of hard labor or exile. After the revolution, famine and poor economic conditions led to an increase in the number of “back alley” abortions, and after pressure from doctors and jurists, the Commissariats of Health and Justice legalized abortion in 1920. Abortions were free for all women, although they were seen as a necessary evil due to economic hardship rather than a woman’s right to control her own reproductive system.

Through the 1930's, a rising number of abortions coupled with a falling birthrate alarmed Soviet officials, with a recorded 400,000 abortions taking place in 1926 alone.  In 1936 the Soviet Central Executive Committee made abortion illegal once again. This, along with stipends granted to recent mothers and bonuses given for women who bore many children, was part of an effort to combat the falling birthrate.