What followed was recovery that usually framed as a clean break and a fresh start
The Soviet system did achieve universal primary education in the 1930s (instead of planned 1920s) . But it did not build it out of nothing, it actually relied on the existing school network, trained teachers, and a population where literacy was already becoming the norm.
This leads to a simple but often overlooked conclusion.
The Russian Empire had reached the point where mass education was becoming universal. The revolution disrupted that trajectory. The new system then spent years catching up to the level that had already been within reach, and only after that continued forward.
