Changes in Distributive Principles

Changes in Distributive Principles. November 1918

*Table. Comparison of Petrograd weekly rations (a) before the class ration, (b) class ration, first edition, summer 1918, (c) class ration, second edition, November 1918. The table compares weekly food rations in Petrograd before and after the Soviet government introduced class-based distribution in 1918. Manual laborers, nursing mothers, and young children received the highest allocations, while professionals and recipients of unearned income were cut sharply, encoding revolutionary politics directly into daily caloric intake levels. *

Original Source: N. M. Vishnevskii, Printsipy i metody (Moscow, 1920), 40.

Ration (in Calories)
Type of Person Previously existing system Class ration, 1st edition Class ration, 2d edition Announced average factual average
Physical labor 24,182 24,318 22,224 18,545
Nonphysical labor 12,091 12,159 13,590 13,908
Executive positions 12,091 12,159 13,590 18,545
Professions 12,091 6,080 10,374 4,636
Unearned income 12,091 3,040 5,018 4,636
Women: nursing, pregnant, large families 12,091 24,318 22,224 18,545
Women: housewives in average families 12,091 6,080 10,374 13,908
Infants (under 1 year) 12,091 5,111 8,721 10,548
Children 1-3 years 12,091 6,080 10,374 18,545
Children 3-12 years 12,091 12,159 13,590 18,545

Source: Lars T. Lih, Bread and Authority in Russia, 1914-1921 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990), pp. 244-245.

1917

EVENTS February Revolution Formation of the Soviets April Crisis Revolution in the Army July Days Kornilov Affair Bolsheviks Seize Power First Bolshevik Decrees Constituent Assembly Treaty of Brest Litovsk
FOUR KINDS OF STATES Communist Party Building Economic Apparatus Building the Soviets Red Guard into Army State Security
DISINTEGRATION OF THE OLD SOCIETY Depopulation of the Cities Food Supply Conflict with the Church Death of the Old Culture Destruction of the Left The Empire Falls
CREATION OF A NEW SOCIETY New Letters and Dates Culture and Revolution The New Woman Workers Organization Peasant Revolution Organs of the Press Raising Socialist Youth