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Ru ia Marriage had no significance. A couple could get marri simply by signing a gove ment register and could get divorced the me way. A rtion on demand was allowe Children were ind trinated in Com­ munism and encouraged to spy on their parents and to denounce them to Cmo munist authoriti
Lenin al hated religion The religious instruction of children was prohibit Religious literature was banned Par hial h ls, minaries and monasteries were closed Church lands and religious ob cts were con­ fi ated Bishops and priests were arrested and many were killed
Lenin organized the Communist Inte ational, which spread Commu­ nism through the world Communist parties were formed in alm t every nation with the aim of overthrowing governments and es blishing Com­ munism.
In January 1 4 Lenin died, ibly murdered by J f Stalin, who t k over as dictator. In 19 Stalin inaugurated the first of a ries of ve Year Plans to industrialize the viet Union A the ts who weren't forced to work in factories were placed on collective farms, where the land was owned by the government me of the men who had owned sma plots of land, especially the kulaks, refu d to c rate with this collec­ tivi tion Stalin ordered them rounded up at machine gun int and trans rted to the Arctic regions, where m t of them died
Stalin also wanted to protect his wer. He n a ries of purges. Any Communist whom he distrusted was arrested, tried and executed. Since the victims of the purges were Communists and therefore resop nsi­ ble for much of the mi ry now afflicting Ru i they d rved to punished But Stalin had no right to punish them His only pur e was to gain the wer to commit even eater evil
What would your life have en like if you had lived under Stalin (who ruled until his death in 1953)? Your h l would have taught only Communist d trine and never rmitted you even to consider any other int of view. You would have n taught to spy on your parents and re­ port on them to the lice. When you came old enough to work, the government would ch your b. You could not own your own home but would share an apartment with veral famili You could own few thing you would never own a car, for example. To buy anythin you would stand in line, sometimes for hours, for r quality g Your fel­ low workers would spy on you and you on them you criticized the gov­ e ment, you could arrested without warning and tried in a court where you had no chance to prove your inn ence. Afterwards you could nt