Working-Class Youth in the Vanguard: Youth Surveys and their Implications

In order to revel in their success in raising this new generation of youth, the state launched a survey of young industrial workers and students. Although Gosplan's Central Administration of Economic Accounting (TsUNKhU), did not specifically state that the survey's results were to be used as propaganda, its requirement that Komsomols poll the "best" workers and students certainly suggests that it was interested in creating an optimistic rather than a realistic and practical survey of young workersProvedeniia obsledovaniia kul'tury i byta rabochei i studencheskoi molodezhi // Rossiiskii gosu- darstvennyi arkhiv ekonomiki (hereafter - RGAE). F. 1562. Op. 15. D. 847. L. 113.. The survey endeavored to present a productive, cultured, well-educated, politically engaged, and materially well-off working class. It focused on major points of the Soviet Union's first two FYPs, the idea being that young workers from areas that received more educational, cultural, and economic investment would return better results (Tab. 1)Ibid. L. 113-113 ob..

Table 1. Composition by City

Source: [(Blanki obsledovaniia kul'tury i byta rabochei i studencheskoi molodezhi // RGAE. F. 1562. Op. 15. D. 848. L. 1-363 ob.; young workers and students].

The party mobilized local Komsomols to conduct a survey of young workers under the age of 26. The vast majority (91.6 %) of the workers surveyed were older than 17, and 63.6 % were between 18 and 22 years of age (Tab. 2).

Table 2. Age of Workers Surveyed

Source: Survey of young workers and students.

Although the surveys were ostensibly random, Gosplan instructed local Komsomols to poll young workers at the Soviet Union's largest and most technologically advanced factories in order to enhance its propagandic effect, the hope being that workers at those factories would reflect better on Soviet upbringing and local Komsomols' workProvedeniia obsledovaniia kul'tury i byta rabochei i studencheskoi molodezhi. L. 113.. The majority of workers surveyed were from factories engaging in heavy industrial production: only 22.54 % worked in light industry and a disproportionate amount came from prestigious and highly technical lines - machine building, metallurgy, and automotive (Tab. 3).

Table 3. Representation in Sample, by Industry

Source: Survey of young workers and students.

Gosplan also instructed Komsomols to poll workers in "large main shops." That focus expedited the survey process, but also ensured that the Komsomol could target workers in "leading occupations." In the case of machine work, a TsUNKhU directive - approved by Stalin - required Komsomols to survey "machinists, turners, forgers, mechanics, drillers, millers, and riveters"Provedeniia obsledovaniia kul'tury i byta rabochei i studencheskoi molodezhi. L. 86.. Local Komsomols also targeted young workers who had more education and who attended the best performing schools. For example, the majority of Krasnoe Sormovo workers polled either attended the factory apprenticeship school (shko- la fabichno-zavodskogo uchenichestva - hereafter FZU) or two schools which primarily served the sons and daughters of the plant's intelligentsiaBlanki obsledovaniia kul'tury i byta rabochei i studencheskoi molodezhi // RGAE. F. 1562. Op. 15. D. 848. L. 1-363 ob.; D. 849. L. 1-277 ob.. As a result, the educational level of the workers surveyed was much higher than the average education of young Soviet workers (Tab. 4).

Table 4. Education Level of Young Workers in the USSR

Source: Survey of young workers and students; TsUNKhU. Kul'turnoe stroitel'stvo SSSR: Statisticheskii sbornik. Moscow, 1940. P 51.

In order to inflate the study's educational and technical results, Gosplan instructed Komsomols to give "preference to workers enrolled in an institute of higher education (Vysshee uchebnoe zavedenie - hereafter VUZ)" - technical institutes (tekhnikumy), FZUs, and universitiesTelegram ot narodnogo komissariata zdravookhraneniia RSFSR tsentral'nogo nauchno- issledovatel'skogo instituta okhrany zdorov'ia detei i podrostkov v TsUNKhU, sector truda otdel biudzhetov // RGAE. F. 1562. Op. 15. D. 847. L. 109.. In contrast to the 4.26 % of youth who attended VUZes between 1928 and 1936, 26.14 % of workers surveyed attended these institutions (Tab. 5).

Table 5. VUZ Attendance among Respondents

Source: Survey ofyoung workers and students; TsUNKhU. Kul'turnoe stroitel'stvo SSSR: Statisticheskii sbornik. Moscow, 1940. P 111; Zhiromskaia V., Kiselev I., Poliakov Iu. Polveka pod grifom "sekretno": vsesoiuznaia perepis' naseleniia 1937 g. Moscow, 1996. P 67.

Although educational statistics reflect selective sampling, they also reveal greater trends. They highlight a difference in the educational level of heavy industrial and light industrial workers: over 40 % of young workers in the USSR had 7 or more years of education, but only 5.63 % of Ivanovo youth had 7 or more years of schooling. The data also reflects a center-peripheral divide in regards to educational infrastructure (Tab. 4). While Moscow had many ten-year schools (desiatiletki), other regions had seven-year schools (semiletki), with Ivanovo having primarily four and five-year schoolsBlanki obsledovaniia kul'tury i byta rabochei i studencheskoi molodezhi // RGAE. F. 1562. Op. 15. D. 848. L. 1-363 ob.; D. 849. L. 1-277 ob.; D. 850. L. 1-538 ob.; D. 851. L. 1-378 ob.; D. 853. L. 1-500 ob.; D. 854. L. 1-407 ob.. High VUZ attendance among Gorky workers reflects the fact that Gorky - called the city of VUZes (gorod VUZov) - had more VUZes per capita than any other province in the USSR. The heightened number of VUZ students among Krasnoe Sormovo youth reflects the fact that the plant's FZU was the oldest and largest in the region (with the exception of the university)TsUNKhU. Kul'turnoe stroitel'stvo SSSR: Statisticheskii sbornik. Moscow, 1940. P. 116..

Ensuring that respondents had a high political level was also critical. As a result, Gosplan instructed the Komsomol to poll more of its own members - considered the political and cultural vanguard of the youthProvedeniia obsledovaniia kul'tury i byta rabochie i studencheskoi molodezhi // RGAE. F. 1562. Op. 15. D. 847. L. 113.. Whereas 12 % of youth in the country between 15 and 24 years of age were Komsomol members, 47.81 % of polled workers were Komsomol members (Tab. 6)Bernstein S. Raised under Stalin: Young Communists and the Defense of Socialism. Ithaca, 2017. P. 229.. The party and the Komsomols hoped that a disproportionate representation of Komsomol members would reflect greater political and cultural activism among the youth.

Table 6. Komsomol Members among Respondents

Source: Survey of young workers and students.

The results demonstrated that the Komsomol had a stronger presence in heavy industrial regions and at new factories like GAZ. Part of the reason for heightened Komsomol membership in these regions was investment; Komsomol organs in Moscow - the political capital - and GAZ - a focal point of the FFYP - were better funded and thus attracted more youth. Such regions also typically appealed more to party activists because they had better living conditions and offered activists greater opportunity for advancement. These were not the only reasons why certain areas and plants had more Komsomol members than others; much like the party, the Komsomol privileged workers engaging in heavy industry over those in light industry. Membership was typically higher among youth in newer plants as well. Komsomol membership at older plants was lower because long established hierarchies, based on one's connections in the region, were often more determinant of advancement than one's status in the Komsomol. As a result, young workers at old plants often chose to forego Komsomol membership because they benefitted less from it than workers at newer plantsVystuplenie sekretariata Gor'kovskogo obkoma VKP(b) AN Burova na IV plenume obkoma VLKSM ot 18 fevraliia 1937 g. // GOPANO. F. 3. Op. 1. D. 48. L. 18..

The survey demonstrated that Soviet youth were productive. More education also resulted in greater norm fulfilment, even though more educated workers were typically in higher ranked positions with higher quotas (Tab. 7). Since factories as a whole were not meeting quotas, high rates of norm fulfillment among the youth suggested that older experienced workers were not meeting their norms and were improperly ranked. Seniority-based promotion, a common practice at many plants, drove down norms, production rates, and stifled initiative. The state had long been trying to curtail such practices, most recently with the promotion of Stakhanovism and the implementation of standardized technical exams in 1933Rech' na prieme tiazheloi promyshlennosti o perspektivakh razvertyvaniia stakhanovskogo dvizheniia v tiazheloi promyshlennosti pri narkomtiazhprome 13 noiabria 1935 goda // Rossiiskii gosudarstvennyi arkhiv sotsial'no-politicheskoi istorii (RGASPI). F. 85. Op. 29. D. 100. L. 1-5..

Table 7. Education and Norm Fulfillment

Source: Survey of young workers and students.

The state also hoped to revel in its youth's skill as demonstrated by their scores on the state technical examination (gosudarstvennyi technicheskii ekzamen) (hereafter - GTE). The GTE standardized skill rankings and occupational placements were designed to curtail blat, patronage, and seniority-based hiring practices. The examinations also promoted the education of common workers at factories. Local factory officials claimed that the state devoted much attention to the training of specialist cadres during the FFYP, but "ignored the education of ordinary workers," an important task given the expansion of the workforceSostoianie raboty po tekhminimu i sdache sotstekhekzamenov na predpriiatiiakh gor'kovskogo kraia // Gosudarstvennyi obshchestvenno-politicheskii arkhiv Nizhegorodskoi oblasti (hereafter - GOPANO). F. 4523. Op. 2. D. 324. L. 119.. Early attempts to promote the GTE were unsuccessful: by February 1935, only 6.32 percent of the 4,254 Krasnoe Sormovo workers eligible to take the exam had taken itSvodka rezul'tatov gostekhekzamena po zavodu Krasnoe Sormovo na 21 fevralia 1935 goda // Krasnyi sormovich. 1935. No. 45. P. 1.. Through public shaming and socialist competitions, the state compelled workers to take the examinationsO rabote s komsomolom // Krasnyi sormovich. 1935. No. 80. P. 1; Svodka khoda podgotovki i rezul'tatov gostekhekzamena zavoda "Krasnoe Sormovo" na 19 marta 1935 goda // Krasnyi sormovich. 1935. No. 64. P. 1; Svodka khoda podgotovki i rezul'tatov gostekhekzamena zavoda "Krasnoe Sormovo" na 25 marta 1935 goda // Krasnyi sormovich. 1935. No. 70. P. 1.. The number of workers studying for and taking the exams expanded rapidly: by March 25 1935, 44.14 percent of Sormovo workers were studying to take the exams, and 34.93 percent had taken them, with 90.29 percent of those workers passing itIdid..

The state expected that the survey's results would demonstrate similar success on the examinations, but this did not prove to be the case.

Table 8. Exam Result among Respondents

Source: Survey of young workers and students.

The results were disheartening, especially given the fact that these were supposedly the best young workers. Most young workers had taken the exam but did not perform well: 36.85 percent failed the exam, underscoring limitations in educational training (Tab. 8). The results were worse in Ivanovo because less attention was devoted to training workers in textiles, an industry which continued to rely disproportionately on apprenticeships to instruct the younger generation. Education also seemed to have a marginal impact on how young workers performed on the GTE (Tab. 9). In the USSR, workers with 7 or more years of education only scored 8.6 percent better than workers with 0 to 3 years of educationBlanki obsledovaniia kul'turyi byta rabochei i studencheskoi molodezhi // RGAE. F.1562. Op. 15.

D. 848. L. 1-363ob.;D. 849.L. 1-277ob.;D. 850.L.1-538ob.;D. 851.L. 1-378ob.;D. 852.L. 1-472ob.;

D. 853. L. 1-500ob.;D. 854.L. 1-407ob.;D.855.L.1-262ob.;D. 856.L. 1-337ob.;D. 857.L. 1-260ob.;

D. 858. L. 1-128ob.;D. 859.L. 1-170ob.;D.860.L.1-365ob.;D. 861.L. 1-180ob.;D. 862.L. 1-416ob.;

D. 863. L. 1-438 ob..

Table 9. Education and State Technical Exam (GTE) Results

Source: Survey of young workers and students.

Even those young workers with VUZ training scored below expectations. The party expected that all VUZ graduates would score a 4 or higher on the GTE because the courses trained young workers in the material on the GTEs, exams which regular workers should pass. VUZ graduates did not average a 4 or higher on the exams and many of them only scored marginally better than workers without higher education (Tab. 10).

Table 10. VUZ Attendence and GTE Results

Source: Survey of young workers and students.

Not all VUZ graduates even passed the exams: 13.33 percent at Krasnoe Sormovo failed, 22.53 percent in Gorky failed, and 31 percent in the USSR failed the examinationsBlanki obsledovaniia kul'turyi byta rabochei i studencheskoi molodezhi// RGAE. F.1562. Op. 15.

D. 848. L. 1-363 ob.;D. 849. L. 1-277ob.;D. 850.L. 1-538 ob.; D. 851.L. 1-378ob.;D. 852.L. 1-472ob.;

D. 853. L. 1-500 ob.;D. 854. L. 1-407ob.;D. 855.L. 1-262 ob.; D. 856.L. 1-337ob.;D. 857.L. 1-260ob.;

D. 858. L. 1-128 ob.;D. 859. L. 1-170ob.;D. 860.L. 1-365 ob.; D. 861.L. 1-180ob.;D. 862.L. 1-416ob.;

D. 863. L. 1-438 ob..

The party also hoped all workers, but especially young ones, would continue their education after graduating from secondary schools or VUZes. The survey's results demonstrated that youth rarely pursued further education. Although Komsomol members were more likely to continue their education because it furthered their advancement within the party, only a little more than 50 percent of them did so (Tab. 11).

Table 11. Respondents Continuing to Study

Source: Survey of young workers and students.

Youth continuing their education was less common at factories like Krasnoe Sormovo, where one's education had less to do with advancement in the factory's ranks. The location of youth housing was also critical. Whereas youth at GAZ lived near the factory in the utopian sotsgorod, most young workers at Krasnoe Sormovo lived in working-class districts (poselki) 8-13 kilometers from the factoryStenogramma XI raionnoi partiinoi konferentsii s 3 maia po 5 maia 1937 g. // GOPANO. F. 34. Op. 1. D. 1508. L. 73-74.. Given the poor state of public transportation, getting to and from work and school was difficult for many, and made them less likely to pursue further education.

The regime was also bothered by the low material level of respondents. In some regards the survey's results were promising: they demonstrated that young workers earned about the same amount as older counterparts. At Krasnoe Sormovo the average worker in 1936 earned 242 rubles and the average youth polled earned a little more than 226 rublesIbid. L. 15.. It is important to remember, however, that the workers polled were the most successful youth, and even among them there was much differentiation in salaries that demonstrated how difficult life could be. The upper 10th percentile of young workers earned 3 times as much as the lower 10th percentile of workers, and 25 percent of young workers only earned a little more than 150 rubles (Tab. 12). Youth earnings seem particularly low, considering that a Sormovo party member claimed that "the majority of youth cannot afford enough food if they earn under 300 rubles"Soveshchaniia zhen inzhenerno-tekhnicheskikh rabotnikov predpriiatii gor. Gor'kogo ot 5-go aprelia 1936 g. // GOPANO. F. 30. Op. 1. D. 1421. L. 2-4..

Table 12. Salary of Respondents

Source: Survey of young workers and students.

The survey also demonstrated that the housing crisis remained a reality of young workers' lives.

Table 13. Living Situation for Respondents

Source: Survey of young workers and students.

Even though the sample targeted well-off workers, a significant portion of them rented a corner in an apartment. Only in the most developed and crowded regions - Moscow, Leningrad, and the Donbass - had a large number of workers moved into dorms; most continued to reside in apartments or corners. Old industrial regions, such as Gorky, depended on existing housing stock when possible to avoid devoting scant resources to new construction (Tab. 13). This was especially the case in the Sormovo district, where most workers lived in cramped housing in the villages surrounding the factory.

Although consumer production and distribution increased, the survey showed that Soviet youth owned less clothing than prerevolutionary workers. The average youth polled owned roughly 4 changes of clothing, with some owning much less and others owning much more (Tab. 14). Such results demonstrated no improvement from the prerevolutionary period, during which time young single workers spent enough money on their clothing to purchase two to three new changes of clothes each yearProkopovich S. Biudzhety peterburgskikh rabochikh, 1909 g. St. Petersburg, 1909. P. 15-17; Srednie godichnye tseny na glavneishie zhizennye pripasy v g. Moskve za 1913-1815 i 1922-1925 gg..

Table 14. Number of Clothing Items Owned by Respondents

* Women only.

Source: Survey of young workers and students.

Industrialization and the increased production of consumer products did, however, lead to youth owning more consumer goods (Tab. 15).

Table 15. Percent of Respondents, who Owned Products

Source: Survey of young workers and students.

The most concerning result of the study was youths' cultural level. In order to assess the political and cultural education of young workers, the survey asked whether they had read party literature and literary works assigned in schools. The regime expected to relish in young workers' political and cultural education, but the results were disappointing.

Table 16. Percent of Respondents, who Read the Following Works

Source: Survey of young workers and students.

The survey revealed that workers seldom read political literature, particularly older works. Stalin's speech to the most recent party congress (the XVII) was the only one that more than half of the respondents had read. Nearly half of the youth had also read Lenin's Speech to the 3rd Komsomol Congress, which outlined the organization's roles and goals. Despite Lenin's and Marx's theoretical works being assigned in schools, few workers read these texts, so critical to understanding the economic relations undergirding Soviet communism (Tab. 16). While working-class youth read literary fiction more often than Marxist-Leninist cannon, the party expected the vast majority, if not all workers, to have read the works included in the survey because they were assigned in schools (Tab. 17).

Table 17. Percent of Respondents, who Read the Following Works

Source: Survey of young workers and students.

The state was also interested in how often young workers attended various cultural institutions, whether they be museums, lectures, or the theatre. Many in the party believed unengaged youth would drink and commit petty crimes. As a result, it encouraged youth to visit cultural institutions not only because they distributed propaganda, but also because they pulled youth off the streets. Overall, the results discouraged the party because they hoped youth would visit cultural institutions more often. The survey's results were quite informative as well: they illustrated limited youth interest in lectures, sporting events, and museums, but also demonstrated the propagandic potential of film as a medium (Tab. 18).

Table 18. Visits to Cultural Institutions over 3 Months

Source: Survey of young workers and students.

Although the overall survey yielded disappointing results, the party published carefully selected individual responses to celebrate the cultural and material level of the youth and their political engagement. Material from the survey appeared frequently in Soviet newspapers and occasionally in communist party literature abroadSormovo rabotat' luchshee, byt vperedi // Leninskaia smena. No. 19. P. 3; Life is More Joyous // The New Masses. June 16. 1936. P. 17-18.. TsUNKhU also ensured that the survey's unfavorable results would not be published. The party permitted the Institute for the Protection of the Health of Youth and Adolescents to analyze the results of the survey, but required the organization to sign a statement affirming that they would not "publish any information from the survey without the prior consent of TsUNKhU"Telegram ot narodnogo komissariata zdravookhraneniia RSFSR tsentral'nogo nauchno- issledovatel'skogo instituta okhrany zdorov'ia detei i podrostkov v TsUNKhU, sector truda otdel biudzhetov, 27-go oktiabriia 1936 g. // RGAE. F. 1562. Op. 15. D. 847. L. 111..

Responses to the Survey