The Week India — November 12, 2017

THE WEEK Š NOVEMBER 12, 2017^57

many people were executed with or

without fake trials. Thousands were

exiled. But, the economy boomed,

thanks to the strict measures Stalin

brought in to increase productivity.

On October 26, 1940, he introduced

seven-day working week and eight-

hour work day. Coming late to work

was made punishable. Under Stalin,

Soviet Russia was able to stop the

German war machine in World War

II, with his army under General

Zhukov (whose statue occupies pride

of place in Kremlin, next to the eter-

nal lamp outside the president’s pal-

ace) capturing Berlin. As many as 28

million lost their lives in the war, the

most for any country.

To counter the shortage of man-

power, women were encouraged to

come out and work, and it inadver-

tently started women’s emancipation

and the idea of crèches was born to

take care of the children while wom-

en were at work. “It was also a gold-

en age for learning, and Russia made

great strides in technology,” recalled

Andrey Arkhipov, who served in the

Russian embassy in India in the 1970s.

Education was made compulsory and

free, and the teacher-student ratio

was something like 1:10. It helped

identify and channel the talent of

each student. The country produced

many great scientists, doctors and

engineers, but most of them and

their achievements remained behind

the Iron Curtain. Nikita Khrushchev,

who succeeded Stalin, denounced

his predecessor and his policies, but

the push on economy, education and

technology continued.

The Patrice Lumumba Peoples’

Friendship University was started

in Moscow 1960 for students from

friendly countries who were attract-

ed to the idea of socialism. At one time

it had students from 160 countries

and education was completely free.

Today, the state of the art university

charges for its services ($8,000 tuition

fee plus hostel and other expenses

a year for the medical course), but

foreign students continue to come

thanks to the standard of education

and infrastructure.

More than seven decades of com-

munist rule was undone by Mikhail

Gorbachev, when he pushed reforms

in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

disintegrated, giving birth to several

independent countries.

“I was 11 when the Soviet Union

broke down,” recalled Lalita. “The

principles of communism were incor-

porated into the education system

through student unions. It started

with ‘Pioneer’ movement. Officially it

was not compulsory to be part of it but

pretty much everyone would join in,

as not being accepted was considered

shameful. Students would be accept-

ed into the organisation in batches

based on academic achievements. It

was prestigious to be accepted into

the first batch. I can still remember

the feeling when I was accepted into

the first batch and wore a red necktie

for the first time. Once the Pioneer

stages were completed, you could

join the Komsomol. The party’s rep-

resentatives oversaw the activities in

school.”

Back then, the October Revolution

was celebrated with much fervour

across the country. All major cities

used to have parades and concerts.

“The new generation is not even

aware of the date of the revolution, let

RESEARCH: NEERAJ KRISHNAN; GRAPHICS: DENI LAL

Dec 15

1922

Lenin suffers second

stroke and retires from

politics

Nov

1920

Civil war ends

Mar 2

1917

Oct 26

1917

Feb 14

1918

June

1918

Jul 17

1918

Apr 3

1922

Nicholas II abdi-
cates. His brother
Mikhail refuses to
accept the throne.
A provisional gov-
ernment formed
(March 15 N.S.)

Lenin takes

control of

Russia after the

Bolsheviks evicts

the provisional

government

(Nov 8 N.S.)

The Bolshevik

government

adopts the

Gregorian cal-

endar, advanc-

ing 13 days

Civil war

begins

Tsar Nicholas II

and his family

executed

*O.S. – Old style

(Julian Calendar),

N.S. – New style

(Gregorian Calendar).

Stalin appointed

general secretary

of the party