Despite his reputation as a brutal dictator, Stalin introduced many social policies that would help the Russian people. The two main categories Stalin focused on were education and women's rights however, to see the extent of the change we must decide whether they were for the good of the people or to suit Stalin's agenda. The state of education in 20th century Russia was terribly low, with people living in rural areas having little to nothing. no education, to combat it Stalin wanted to make education more accessible and more widespread, so that everyone could access it. To do this he made education free, but also compulsory. The change was immediate, with literacy rates in rural areas rising to 86%. However we can deduce that this would benefit Stalin's agenda as it would make more people aware of any propaganda he would put out, this would allow him to promote himself as the leader of Russia and cement himself in their history, this policy alone had a great impact on Russia's children and some changed their lives. Consequently, although the Russian school program represented Stalin's agenda and ideas of creating the best citizens for the USSR, this would have started a process known as indoctrination which Stalin could have used to benefit the future of his government, of As a result we see that Bolshevik ideas were taught to students and any deviation could be detected by the secret police. As a result the Soviets would censor any material not relevant to the Soviet cause. National pride was encouraged through teaching about the Russian past and Stalin's life, this would benefit Stalin as it would see him as a national hero, no doubt the material would be edited in some form. Halfway through the document ...... before the Second World War. In conclusion we can see that the policies introduced by Stalin to help the lives of women and children changed their lives in Soviet Russia, helped revive the economy, which was crucial to Russia's preparation for World War II, and it also helped those who needed education to progress, despite the fact that some women's rights were limited, such as the right to abortion, it was countered by the policy introduced by Stalin that there would be a place to take care of these children so that their mother could work. Consequently these policies seem to have improved with the arrival of the Second World War. They may not have been the best policies, but they certainly changed the lives of those they were intended for, so in response to demand. Yes, the lives of Russians were changed by Stalin's implementation of his policies.