Our Way to Freedom

General sovietization

of everyday life

Gelvonai Secondary SchoolLithuania

2013

The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as the Lithuanian SSR, was a republic of the Soviet Union. It existed from 1940 to 1990.

Established on 21 July 1940 as a puppet state, during World War II in the territory of the previously independent Republic of Lithuania after it had been occupied by the Soviet army on 16 June 1940, in conformity with the terms of 23 August 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.

Between 1941 and 1944, the German invasion of the Soviet Union caused its de facto dissolution. However, with the retreat of the Germans in 1944–1945, Soviet hegemony was re-established, and existed until 1990.

Lithuania was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940 and remained under Soviet rule for nearly half a century. The Soviets made drastic reforms in all the Baltic States. These so-called reforms were meant to make the occupied  countries permanently dependent on the Soviet Union politically and economically, while outwardly giving the impression that they were helping the country. These reforms also provided the Soviets with much needed materials during the Second World War and helped the spread of their communist ideology to neighboring countries. For Lithuania, this process was marked by retarded agricultural production and an extreme concentration on the growth of heavy industry. Although industrialization is generally regarded by economists as being good for an economy, in this case it was done too fast to be able to support the changes. The raw materials came in from other Soviet republics and the products were sent to Russia, meaning that the entire industrial sector was dependent on Soviet cooperation.

Little Octobrists

The term was used as the name of a youth organization for children between 7 and 9 years of age. Little Octobrists were organized in groups each representing one school grade level. The group was divided into subgroups called little stars of 5 children each. Each group of Little Octobrists was under the leadership of one Young Pioneer from the Young Pioneer detachment. Every Little Octobrist wore a ruby-coloured five-pointed star badge with the portrait of Vladimir Lenin in his childhood. The symbol of the group was the little red flag.

THE YOUNG PIONEER ORGANIZATION

OF THE SOVIET UNION

The Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union was a mass youth organization of the USSR for children of age 10–15 in the Soviet Union between 1922 and 1991.

Almost all the children in the Soviet Union belonged to the organization; it was a natural part of growing up. In the 3rd grade of school, children were allowed to join the Young Pioneer Organization, which was done in batches, as a solemn ceremony, often in a Pioneers Palace.

Only the best students were allowed into the first batch, slightly less advanced and well-behaved were allowed into the second batch, several weeks later. The most ill-behaved or low-performing students were given time to 'catch up' and could be allowed to join only in the 4th grade, a year after the first batch of their classmates.

The main symbols of Young Pioneers were the red banner, flag, Young Pioneer's red neck scarf and the organizational badge.

The uniform was one of many things that identified Pioneers with each other and the people. The uniform, included the red neckerchief and the organizational and rank badges on the white shirt with long or short pants for boys and long or short skirts for girls.

KOMSOMOL

The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League usually known as Komsomol was the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Komsomol in its earliest form was established in urban centers in 1918. The youngest people eligible for Komsomol were fourteen years old. The older limit of age for ordinary personnel was twenty-eight, but Komsomol functionaries could be older.

While membership was nominally voluntary, those who didn't join lost access to officially sponsored holidays and found it very difficult to pursue higher education. Komsomol had little direct influence on the Communist Party or the government of the Soviet Union, but it played an important role as a mechanism for teaching the values of the CPSU to youngsters. The Komsomol also served as a mobile pool of labor and political activism, with the ability to relocate to areas of high-priority at short notice. Active members received privileges and preferences in promotion.