Soviet Union: Canadian VS Soviet-Born Perspective

The isolation and solitudinous nature of the Soviet Union influenced not only the internal perspective of its citizens but also the world view from it’s Cold War rivals. The political insights were kept from the common public and the outside. The story of my father, Oleksandr Vorovskyi, is a story of an immigrant from Ukraine, who is still settling in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Due to Soviet isolation and propaganda, his perspective on the Soviet Union differs from that of the majority of Canadians. The life in the Soviet Union was a challenge not only for poor families but for middle-class workers, as well.

Born in 1975, in Kiev, Oleksandr started working at the age of 14 to help his family and cover personal needs. “Things were difficult but we managed. I lived in a normal two-bedroom apartment, one bathroom and one washroom. Of course, it had electricity and indoor plumbing and a home phone”, he says. Living in a house was too expensive and only the most wealthy people could afford to own land property. “Apartment is more convenient and close to the city center,” shares Oleksandr, “but I’ve always wanted to live in a house.” Even though the Soviet Union was considered as a powerful and prosper Empire outside the socialist state, on the inside, there were middle-class people who were not satisfied with the conditions they were living in.

The political division between the communist East and the capitalist West, known as the Cold War, has impacted the world in many ways. While never escalating into a military conflict between the two, it helped to shape the lives of people in both, the far East and to the West. The Cold War helped shape and influence distinctive differences in culture, politics, values, and identity. While distinctive and different people, both Soviet and Canadians wanted one main thing: lasting peace. However, in 1975, the Canadian government was provided 109 documents that were stolen by Igor Gouzenko, a cipher clerk in the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa. The documents discovered were shown to have information on Joseph Stalin and his campaign of espionage in the West. After the incident, Canada’s increased tension towards the Soviet Union resulted in an increased number of peacekeeping operations in communities divided between communist and anti-communist lines. This governmental and political awareness also brought fear into the houses of Canadian citizens, which is the reason why the common public did not stop ita preparation for a full-scale, and probably nuclear, war. People of the Soviet Union, on the other hand, were confident in their abilities. “My grandfather liked to tell me about his World War II experience and the Victory Day was celebrated with a military parade that everyone went to watch”, describes Oleksandr.

The thought of the World War II victory kept the common public fearless due to a large amount of propaganda, even at educational institutions, such as schools and universities. The Soviet education system was a program that transformed the country into a superpower. High school was a very strong challenge that teenagers had to overcome. However, the majority enjoyed receiving an education. “I liked my school time,” tells Oleksandr, “and that’s why my two schools were the most memorable for me. I think, there was a lot of unnecessary information but in my opinion, the purpose of education is not only to get new information but also to get skills for self-education.” Students did not have an option of choosing their classes, they were forced to take all the subjects. On one hand, this does not allow a student to concentrate on a specific region of studies that the individual would pick as his, or her, main focus in life. However, such a system provides students with an opportunity to broaden their knowledge in all possible subject areas. The Soviet government’s perspective of education was that it has to be accessible to everyone, especially during the post-World War II period. This is the reason why schools and universities were free and the equality of students was shown by the plain and identical uniform that they had to wear to school every day.

Another aspect of accessible education was the alliance between Canada and the Soviet Union for sufficient educational facilities in Siberia and North West Territories. However, the development of these educational systems has been a process in response to specific political objectives. As a result, schools have become more focused on embracing socialist values, rather than the needs of Chuckchis and Eskimos. Thus, after participating in the respective educational systems, these people have had difficulties with adaptation to the mainstream society or even their own.

Moreover, the difference between Canadian and Soviet education systems is that the USSR’s perspective was that the knowledge that a student should have is viewed only in terms of state needs. Education was counted as the primary area of a person’s life for building a communist mindset to accomplish the government’s goals in the planned Soviet economy. This type of education was critiqued by an American observer to this objective as follows: “It is not the individual around whom the educational system is built, but the state, which, by identifying itself with pursuits of the common good, attempts the ruthless subordination of the individual-his rights, tastes, choices, privileges, and his training-to its own needs.” This indicates that Soviet education was viewed as a violation of personal rights of the common public by the North American society. Soviet education’s perspective was judged by the West due to the lack of focus on the individual's development. During Soviet times, there was a variety of activities offered to be done besides getting an education at school. Public libraries, musical and dance schools were opening their doors for children and teenagers to fully develop. However, despite the big number of options, not everyone could afford private piano lessons or even a place in a choir. This was the reason for many middle-class children to find themselves in reading. “Reading was my main hobby.” replies Oleksandr, when asked about his main hobbies, “Since there were no computers or internet, and other modern technologies, the only way to enjoy your time was to read books. After school, if I was not playing football, I was reading in the library.” Despite a number of science-fiction and classic literature books, the main topic of many books published in the Soviet Union was politics and communism. The propagating and radical views were expressed not only through literature but through simple conversations as well.

Despite the lack of different political perspectives due to the isolation of the communist state, politics were the main topic of family gatherings and discussions. “Personally, I was never interested in politics,” shares Oleksandr. “I didn’t think I was the one to discuss this topic. But I remember my parents saying good and bad about Gorbachev. But I was told that it all started a decade ago.” Here, Oleksandr is talking about the massive starvation faced by average Soviet citizens during 1960s and 1970s. Because of the pushed industrialization, the common public was running out of food and basic needs, such as clothing and shoes. “There was no such thing as shopping as you know it nowadays,” tells Oleksandr, “There were a school uniform, a sweater, a t-shirt, and pants.” The basic-clothes-pack that was affordable for every middle-class family was very traditionalistic due to the unpopularity of colourful clothes because of their price and elusiveness. This conservativeness lead to major changes in the mindsets of the rising generation. Every teenager was looking for an opportunity to express themselves through their clothes, which resulted in excitement about the state’s opening up to the outside world.

One of the reasons why the Soviet Union collapsed was the significant oil price drop during the 1980s. “The 1980s? It was not getting any better with money but access to the food became easier,” says Oleksandr. The Soviet economy was driven down by the President of the United States of America Ronald Reagan. The driven down oil prices isolated the Soviet Union’s economy and the USSR started to lose control of Eastern Europe. “I was a teenager, so I can't remember any serious comments on the Soviet Union breakdown,” shares Oleksandr, “But it was fun because it was changing everything: from education systems to the main language. When I was graduating from high school, everything was in Russian but the education language for the university since 1991 was changed to Ukrainian.” This indicates that after being a closed country and society, citizens of the Soviet Union finally opened for changes.

Living in a communist society shaped the human’s mind the way that any changes lead to chaos. However, the socialist perspective of the younger population was replaced with open-mindedness. Canada’s positive reaction to Ukrainian independence also played a significant role in Wests acceptance of the fact that the Soviet Union would no longer exist. Even though Ottawa’s enthusiastic recognition of a new independent state was rather a domestic political consideration than a geopolitical foresight.