EVERYDAY LIFE OF SOVIET CITIES IN THE 1920S – 1930S

Abstract

The study of many scientific works, the structure of the research objectively presented in them and the available empirical material have enabled the author of the article to actualize the issue of everyday life of the urban population between the second half of the 1920s and the first half of the 1930s. At that time, the country was creating a new political system and developing elements of a new everyday life. In turn, the establishment of a new type of society had entailed radical changes in its social structure, material environment and the spiritual sphere of social life. The research on the everyday life of Soviet cities in this historical period is of considerable scientific interest for a comprehensive understanding of the profound transformations of the era, which had laid the foundations of the Soviet system for many decades. The importance of studying the then everyday life of Soviet cities allows one to fully reveal the complex creation of a special personality, that is “a Soviet person”. These years represent an important transition which had significantly affected all aspects of the life of the state and society. Such “transition” also lies in the emergence of millions of residents of Soviet cities, including capitals, regional centres and peripheral towns, who needed to change their usual way of life, namely, to participate in large-scale internal migration and socio-economic changes and experience all the housing problems. Moreover, it found its reflection in the structure of the everyday life and mentality of citizens. Such aspects as social changes and the quality of life of the population significantly influenced the historical process, creating a very new person, his or her way of life and the corresponding culture. The origins of many of today’s problems in the post-Soviet society indeed date back to the second half of the 1920s and the first half of the 1930s.