Legislation changes: in the ‘20s the “free love” principle and the consideration of “physical needs” as the basis for love between a man and a woman, gave origin to free abortion, easier divorces – even unilaterally, without informing the spouse –, neglected childhood, the spreading of venereal diseases.

By the mid-1930s, however, due to the social crisis and the required stability for the consolidation of the nation, the Soviet government rejected the idea of sexual revolution, and the concept of a stable family was once again valued.

The legislation changed accordingly: In 1934, they introduced a ban on and the criminal prosecution of homosexuality; In 1936, there was a ruling about banning abortions, increasing material help for women giving birth and widening the network of maternity hospitals, day care centers and kindergartens. Only in 1944 registered marriages did become effective. Children born out of wedlock did not have the right to take their father’s last name. In 1947, there was a ban on marriages with foreign citizens.

In the 1960s, fictitious marriages became widespread so that people could receive residence permits, money, improved living conditions or the opportunity to emigrate. The crisis of the family in Russia today is a consequence of the forced distortion of life from all sides during the Soviet period. Revolutionary transformations weakened family relations. Today in Russia, 80 percent of marriages fall apart within the first two years, and of three pregnancies, two end with abortions. 

This is an historical lesson from which contemporary Western Countries have to learn nowadays. 

Family is the most ancient, fundamental social structure. Changes to the family alter the framework for the formation of an individual and, as a result, the very destiny of a person.

In the consciousness of a Soviet person, according to the communist ideology, the interests of society should prevail over those of the individual. The family was a “cell of the government”, which controlled private life. Control over the consciousness of the population began from infancy, when the mother was required to send her baby to a day nursery, and then to a kindergarten. Conceptions about good and bad were imparted to children by the government, and it got to such a point that parents were afraid to speak openly in front of their children, since children could report on their parents

A discrepancy between words and meanings became commonplace: the assertions “the Soviet rule freed women from domestic slavery” and “equal rights for men and women” meant, in practice, that the government exploited women on par with men. Women were torn away from the family, as were babies from their mothers. A mother raising her child at home was called a dependant, was deprived of her pension and of government help and was reproached by society.

There was an artificial selection that ended with dire results, when all that was vital, innovative and valuable was destroyed, leaving only a grey, weak and passive people. The results were devastating: people had lost a sense of their own dignity, and there was no resistance to the evils in live. People wanted to find someone upon whom they could unload all of their responsibilities. As a popular Russian saying goes: “to break is not to build."

It turned out that a baby grown up without its mother and without affection lacks of parental instinct. As a result, the new generation itself does not want to waste time bringing up children and is unable to create a strong family. Tearing children away from their parents over the course of several generations leaves young people psychologically unfit for family life and parenthood.

But the lesson has yet to be learned, no conclusions have been made and everything keeps repeating, over and over into eternity. Maybe this is "Russia's special path." Perhaps the right thing to do would be to begin with ourselves. We are people, the height of creation, and our souls are eternal. If we don’t want to be slaves, then we need to take responsibility for ourselves. We cannot go on searching for a master like a lost dog, we must instill dignity within ourselves.