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| Title | The New phase in the Soviet Union |
| Creator (LCNAF) |
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| Contributor (LCNAF) |
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| Publisher | Workers Library Publishers |
| Date | 1931 |
| Subject.Topical (LCSH) |
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| Subject.Topical (Local) |
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| Subject.Geographic (TGN) |
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| Genre (AAT) |
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| Language | English |
| Type (DCMI) |
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| Original Item Extent | 55, [1] pages; 22 cm |
| Original Item Location | DK267.M6242 |
| Original Item URL | http://library.uh.edu/record=b8321015~S5 |
| Original Collection | Socialist and Communist Pamphlets |
| Digital Collection | Socialist and Communist Pamphlets |
| Digital Collection URL | http://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/scpamp |
| Repository | Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries |
| Repository URL | http://libraries.uh.edu/branches/special-collections |
| Use and Reproduction | In Copyright |
| File Name | index.cpd |
| Title | Image 31 |
| Format (IMT) |
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| File Name | uhlib_14582000_030.jpg |
| Transcript | position in the villages to-day is such that we shall undoubtedly fulfil everything we have planned." Granted all the exceptional optimism of the writer, his words reflect all that is new in the state of mind of the villages. But I shall yet have to speak of the vast efforts required, precisely because of the rapid growth of the collective farming movement, if the collective farms are to be transformed into genuinely socialist undertakings. 3. THE RISING TIDE OF CULTURE. The enthusiasm making itself felt amongst the working class and the great mass of the peasantry finds its outlet also in the sphere of culture. Cultural standards are rising at an exception- all}' rapid rate. Nothing else was to be expected in a country in which Socialism is being built. In the sphere of culture we are terribly backward. It is sufficient to say that, even in 1920, and even in the R.S.F.S.R.—the relatively most cultured part of the Soviet Union—there were only a little over 30 per cent, of the people literate. We have most backward regions in the East, such as Turkmenistan and Tadjikistan, where the literates in the villages number only one or two per cent. But during the revolutionary years a tremendous work of education has been carried out. The liquidation of illiteracy has made particular strides during the last two years. In the R.S.F.S.R. alone, in 1929, it embraced about 2,000,000 people. This year, this scale is being enlarged by roughly 400 per cent. in all directions an intense cultural effort is proceeding. In addition to the schools for liquidating illiteracy there has been a noticeable increase in the number of elementary schools, and next year it is proposed to introduce in practice universal compulsory education (at first in the R.S.F.S.R.). The number of adult schools, technical and industrial courses for young workers, schools for young peasants, polytechnics and colleges is constantly growing'. Clubs in the towns and workers' settlements, reading huts in the villages, arc on the increase. The network of wireless stations and receivers is rapidly widening. Particularly great is the demand for newspapers and books. One of the most vivid indications of the growth in activity of the masses and their cultural progress is the demand for mass political literature. In 1929 the State Publishing Agency of the R.S.F.S.R. alone published about 30,000,000 copies of such literature as against 10,000,000 the previous year. In connection with the spring sowing campaign, a little over 2,000,000 copies of books were issued last year, whereas this year the State Publishing Agency is issuing over 25,000,000, the purchasers for which are 29 |