Formation of the System of protection of motherhood and childhood in Kabardino-Balkaria in the 20–30s. XXth century

Soblirova Zareta Khasanbievna PhD in History Associate Professor, Department of History of Russia of Kabardino-Balkar Republic and Journalism, Kabardino Balkarian State University 360004, Russia, Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, Nalchik, Chernyshevsky str., 173 zareta.soblirova@inbox.ru Other publications by this author     Kumakhova Zairat Khasanbievna PhD in History Senior Lecturer, Department of Ethnology, History the Peoples of Kabardino-Balkar Republic, and Journalism, Kabardino Balkarian State University 360004, Russia, Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, Nalchik, Chernyshevsky str., 173 kzaira@list.ru Other publications by this author

Lavrova Natal'ya Sergeevna PhD in History Associate Professor, Department of World History, Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after K. M. Berbekov 360004, Russia, Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, Nalchik, Chernyshevsky str., 173 lawrowa.natali2012@yandex.ru

The Soviet period of national history is characterized by the formation of the system of social security and social assistance. The State becomes the determining subject in the development of social policy and the provision of social assistance and support to those in need. The protection of the family, the protection of motherhood and childhood, the creation of conditions for the full-fledged upbringing and maintenance of the younger generation are integral elements of the social policy of the state. The protection of motherhood and childhood included a system of public medical and social measures aimed at strengthening the health of women, the birth and upbringing of a healthy child. To implement this task, a legislative framework was developed that protects women's work, the work of pregnant and nursing mothers, which regulated the activities of medical and preventive and preschool institutions.

In the research of Soviet constructivists, the term "motherhood" appeared as a biosocial phenomenon. Traditional science saw in "motherhood" only the relationship of mother and child (birth and upbringing), and in the Soviet years, "ideologically formed feelings or moral attitude of a woman to another person or the whole world" also fell under the definition of "maternal" ^{[1, P. 10]}. Thus, the protection of motherhood and childhood gave a woman the opportunity to effective combination of motherhood with participation in production and socio-political life of the state.

Among the first Soviet social security bodies was the People's Commissariat of State Charity (NKGP), formed in November 1917 ^{[2, p.107]}. It was headed by People's Commissar A.M. Kollontai. She declared the protection of motherhood a public task ^{[3, p. 256]}. The People's Commissariat of State Charity was entrusted with the functions of social security for workers in all cases of disability, protection of motherhood and infancy, care for the disabled and the elderly and minors. On January 25, 1918, the People's Commissariat created a Children's department, which took over all orphanages ^[4]. All private charitable societies and institutions were liquidated, and their property was transferred to the new Soviet authorities.

The system of maternity and childhood protection was built in the USSR on the basis of legislative acts on the protection of women's labor, the labor of pregnant and nursing mothers. Women were guaranteed the right to participate together with men in all spheres of economic, State and socio-political life of the country; women received the right to work, rest, education and social security. In addition, part of the legislative acts protected and welcomed motherhood. Thus, the duration of maternity leave for female workers, employees and collective farmers was determined at 112 calendar days (56 before childbirth and 56 after childbirth), with pathology during childbirth, as well as with the birth of two or more children, postpartum leave was 70 days. It should be noted that the legislation of the Soviet state in the field of health protection of pregnant women, mothers and children was the most advanced in the world.

In April 1918, due to the fact that the existing name of the People's Commissariat of State Charity did not correspond to the socialist understanding of the tasks of social security and was a relic of the old time, it was renamed the People's Commissariat of Social Security (NCSO) ^[5]. This body determined a new strategy of social assistance based on the tasks of building a socialist society of the Bolshevik model. Then a class-based approach to providing different types of assistance began to take shape. According to the "Regulation on Social Security of Workers" of October 31, 1918, only persons "whose sources of existence are their own work, without exploitation of someone else's" had the right to receive assistance from the state. ^[6]. The new legislation established the main types of social security that the working population could count on: medical care, assistance and pensions (in connection with old age, disability, pregnancy, the birth of children).

By the middle of 1918, the NKSO began to develop its activities in such areas as: protection of mothers and infants; work in orphanages; activities to provide minors accused of illegal actions; distribution of food rations; provision of disabled soldiers; medical care.

The formation of Soviet power in Kabardino-Balkaria was a long process. So, after the October Socialist Revolution in Russia, in November 1917, an independent Mountain Republic was proclaimed, uniting many peoples of the North Caucasus. The II-th Congress of the Terek Peoples in Pyatigorsk (March 1-18, 1918) recognized Soviet power and created the Terek Soviet Republic as part of the RSFSR. It had its own Constitution and supreme bodies – the Terek People's Council and the Council of People's Commissars.  On November 17, 1920, the Mountain SSR was proclaimed, which was then transformed into the Mountain ASSR by the decree of the Central Executive Committee of January 20, 1921. Later, Kabarda and Balkaria seceded from the Mountain ASSR and formed a single Autonomous Region – KBAO.

The independent Department of Social Security in Kabardino-Balkaria was formed on May 3, 1920 under the chairmanship of A.E. Asaulyak. At the Nalchik District Department of Public Education, a sub-department of child health and maternity protection was created, later renamed the sub-department of social education (Sotsvos), which was responsible for all children's institutions in the district ^{[7, L.3]}. It took a lot of work before the system of assistance to the population was established. The funds of the social security departments were formed at the expense of the state. Later, they were in charge of the funds of the famine relief committees, funds confiscated by the court, etc.

One of the main tasks of the Soviet government is the development of Soviet family legislation capable of displacing traditional norms, since until the mid-1920s civil and family cases were decided according to the norms of the Sharia court. Taking into account the local conditions, a number of legislative acts were adopted, on the basis of which a further policy was built in relation to the hot springs. So, in 1920, the Kabardian District Revolutionary Committee introduced criminal liability for kidnapping and payment of kalym (payment for the bride) ^{[8, l. 75]}

In relation to the female part of the mountain population, the introduction of a new way of life was carried out with the help of women's departments. They were called to gather women's activists and hold various events, conferences, delegate meetings. M. Bayatinskaya became the head of the women's department of the Kabardino-Balkarian Regional Party Committee ^{[9, l.171]} Women's organizers were sent to the settlements of Kabardino-Balkaria, who helped to arrange a new life. In national formations, commissions for the improvement of the work and life of women and national women were created under executive committees, later renamed, depending on social needs, commissions for the improvement of the work and life of working women and committees for the improvement of the work and life of workers and peasants ^{[10, p.66]}. At the microsocial level, work among women was carried out in small circles, in household sections of village councils, at the macro level, work on the emancipation of women was carried out at such mass events as national, international and all-Russian women's congresses and conferences. In addition to the political, work was carried out in them to study the problems of upbringing and medical care of children.

The first regional congress of the women of Kabardino-Balkaria was held in November 1922. Issues of education and involvement of women in public work were discussed here. The adoption of decrees and laws of the RSFSR on the equality of women with men contributed to the increase of consciousness and activity ^[11] Women received economic equality, could own land, dispose of property, could demand a divorce, etc. In Kabardino-Balkaria, civil registration of marriage was introduced by the decrees of the Central Executive Committee of the Mountain ASSR. The introduction of legal equality did not mean actual equality. The resistance from the clergy and the male part of the population continued. The property and hereditary equality granted by Soviet legislation was not used for a long time among the female population and the appeal was only in cases of divorce. The passivity of women was explained by the low level of literacy and patriarchal lifestyle. A woman could be realized only in the family sphere, her role in raising children was not disputed by anyone and the alternative to family education was not discussed. In such conditions, a wider participation of women-goryanok in social and industrial activities was required. To do this, they began to be involved in work everywhere, special training centers were created, the state took over part of the educational functions.

In 1926, the construction of the first preschool institutions began in Nalchik. Soviet ideology attached special importance to the organization of nurseries and playgrounds. They were designed to remove most of the worries about the socialization of children from the mother and free her for socially useful work. The sub-department of Social Education at the Nalchik District Department of Public Education initiated the development of preschool education in Kabardino-Balkaria. On his initiative, the first kindergarten for 15 people was opened in Nalchik. ^{[12, L.25]}. In 1928, 27 kindergartens and playgrounds with a total of 800 children were functioning in the republic. In 1929, the Kabardino-Balkarian Regional Committee of the CPSU (b), in discussing the issue "On the work of playgrounds," ordered the allocation of additional funds for the development of preschool institutions and the training of employees. In 1931, there were 61 playgrounds in the region, which covered 3,200 children and 48 nurseries, with the number of children 1,713 ^{[13, L.19]}. In 1937, 93 kindergartens with the number of pupils of 3,432 children worked in the republic ^[14]. In 1939, there were 109 kindergartens and playgrounds in the republic with coverage of 5 thousand people, and by the beginning of the war, the number of preschool institutions had grown to 180, in which about 6 thousand people were educated ^{[15, p.67]}.

Due to the lack of national personnel, 16 cadets of the Lenin Training Campus (MEADOW) were sent to the nursery as interns. There were unexpected obstacles and irreconcilable contradictions with passive and restrained mountain women. The cadets of LUGA, mobilized in the summer to villages for cultural and educational work, encountered stubborn resistance of rural women to the introduced system of preschool education ^{[16, p. 112.]}. They defended their priority right to home education of children and subconsciously resisted new trends. The Soviet system of public education was seen as a competitive force that questioned the educational talent of women. There were conversations and gossips among the population about the socialization of children, about their upbringing in Russian traditions, etc.

The mass collectivization of the population and the introduction of universal labor service required the expansion of women's participation in production led to the fact that the population accepted the need for state participation in the upbringing of children. In the midst of field work, many collective farmers were forced to take their children with them to the field, which caused a lot of inconvenience and endangered their health. Reconciliation with state interference in family life is gradually taking place, and there is even a shortage of kindergartens and nurseries. The Presidium of the regional executive committee on April 7, 1931 emphasized that "it is necessary to achieve results similar to the conduct of general education and "educational program" from the "preschool campaign" ^{[17, L. 53]}.

With great difficulties, kindergartens and nurseries are becoming an inseparable part of the daily life of the population of Kabardino-Balkaria. For 5 years – from 1928 to 1932 – the number of children's seasonal playgrounds increased almost 5 times ^{[18, l.12]}

Of great importance was the improvement of medical care for the population, especially women and children. The number of women seeking medical help has been growing every year. The spread of women's and children's consultations has led to success in protecting the health of mothers and children. Councils of Social Assistance to Mothers in need worked in advisory institutions. If in 1925 the number of hospital facilities in Kabardino-Balkaria reached 35, then already in 1927 there were 45, and in 1931 – 56, of which 8 were women's consultations ^[19]. For the first time, they began to assign and pay a monthly allowance for children to mothers with many children, starting from the second year of birth of the child until they reach the age of five. The amount of the allowance depended on the number of children and was about 4-15 rubles per month.

For Kabardino-Balkaria, maternity and childhood protection points opened in large villages were of particular importance. Of the 23 children's clinics, 14 were located in rural areas. Maternity wards at hospitals began to open. For the first time, attention was paid to the problem of abortions and the expansion of opportunities for artificial termination of pregnancy in medical institutions ^{[20, p. 11]}. The absence of pediatric doctors was compensated by the training of secondary medical personnel and specialists in the protection of motherhood and infancy in a medical college opened in Nalchik in 1932 ^[21].

Thus, the key principles of the maternity and childhood protection system as an important link of the Soviet healthcare system were its state character and the preventive orientation of all measures. The system of maternity and childhood protection guaranteed the generality and continuity of systematic monitoring of the health of women and children. The implementation of the planned activities in Kabardino-Balkaria contributed to the mass indoctrination of society and prepared the conditions for the removal of part of the educational functions from the family and their transfer to the state. As a result of the work carried out, the system of maternity and childhood protection laid the foundations for the formation of the concept of "personal space" and self-realization in the public and professional sphere among women.