Shakhty Trial
Encyclopedia
The Shakhty Trial of 1928 was the first important show trial
in the Soviet Union
since the trial of the Social Revolutionaries in 1922.
It is often alleged that the charges against the defendants were false, confessions fabricated, and torture or the threat of torture employed. But there is no evidence for any of this.
Under the Bolshevik
government, coal
production had fallen steadily in the area for several years. Central planning mandates for constant increases in coal production, combined with inexperienced or fearful mining superintendents unwilling to press for needed equipment and overhaul of the mining industry had led to inadequate maintenance, repair, and replacement of equipment, much of it dating from pre-revolutionary times.
In 1928, the local OGPU arrested a group of engineers in the North Caucasus
town of Shakhty
, accusing them of conspiring with former owners of coal mines (living abroad and barred from the Soviet Union since the Revolution) to sabotage the Soviet economy. The architect of these arrests and interrogations was Efim Georgievich Evdokimov, an intimate of Stalin, and a participant in the killings of peasants under the Dekulakization
policy. Technically retired from the OGPU in 1931, he would later lead a secret police team within the NKVD
itself.
The Shakhty trials marked the beginning of the use of accusations of sabotage
against real and imagined class enemies
within the Soviet Union, which was to become a hallmark of the Great Purge
of the 1930s. On March 10, 1928, in response to the arrests, Pravda
announced that the bourgeoisie
were using sabotage as a method of class struggle. Joseph Stalin
mentioned a month later that the Shakhty arrests proved that class struggle was intensifying as the Soviet Union moved closer to socialism
.
Nikolai Bukharin
, Alexei Rykov
, and Mikhail Tomsky
all opposed Stalin's new policy on repression from within the Politburo
, but Stalin insisted that international capital was trying to "weaken our economic power by means of invisible economic intervention, not always obvious but fairly serious, organizing sabotage, planning all kinds of 'crises' in one branch of industry or another, and thus facilitating the possibility of future military intervention....We have internal enemies. We have external enemies. We cannot forget this for a moment."
The trial resulted in five of the fifty-three accused engineers being sentenced to death and another forty-four sent to prison. These proceedings culminated in the Shakhty Trial of March, 1928, the first of many show trials to root out the perceived bourgeois threat. The trial marked the beginning of "wrecking
" as a crime within the Soviet Union, as found in Article 58 (RSFSR Penal Code)
. Workers not producing as much as the government felt they ought to were suspected of conspiring with foreign capital to sabotage the Soviet economy and summarily tried and sent to prison (or sometimes executed). On this subject, G.M. Krizhizanovskii
said, "Who is not with us is against us
." This reflected the atmosphere of paranoia and fear associated with the Great Purge.
Repression of Kulaks
Show trial
The term show trial is a pejorative description of a type of highly public trial in which there is a strong connotation that the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal to present the accusation and the verdict to the public as...
in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
since the trial of the Social Revolutionaries in 1922.
It is often alleged that the charges against the defendants were false, confessions fabricated, and torture or the threat of torture employed. But there is no evidence for any of this.
Under the Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
government, coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
production had fallen steadily in the area for several years. Central planning mandates for constant increases in coal production, combined with inexperienced or fearful mining superintendents unwilling to press for needed equipment and overhaul of the mining industry had led to inadequate maintenance, repair, and replacement of equipment, much of it dating from pre-revolutionary times.
In 1928, the local OGPU arrested a group of engineers in the North Caucasus
North Caucasus
The North Caucasus is the northern part of the Caucasus region between the Black and Caspian Seas and within European Russia. The term is also used as a synonym for the North Caucasus economic region of Russia....
town of Shakhty
Shakhty
Shakhty is a city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the southeastern spur of Donetsk mountain ridge, northeast of Rostov-on-Don. Its population was 240,152 per the preliminary results of the 2010 Census; up from 222,592 recorded in the 2002 Census....
, accusing them of conspiring with former owners of coal mines (living abroad and barred from the Soviet Union since the Revolution) to sabotage the Soviet economy. The architect of these arrests and interrogations was Efim Georgievich Evdokimov, an intimate of Stalin, and a participant in the killings of peasants under the Dekulakization
Dekulakization
Dekulakization was the Soviet campaign of political repressions, including arrests, deportations, and executions of millions of the better-off peasants and their families in 1929-1932. The richer peasants were labeled kulaks and considered class enemies...
policy. Technically retired from the OGPU in 1931, he would later lead a secret police team within the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
itself.
The Shakhty trials marked the beginning of the use of accusations of sabotage
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
against real and imagined class enemies
Enemy of the people
The term enemy of the people is a fluid designation of political or class opponents of the group using the term. The term implies that the "enemies" in question are acting against society as a whole. It is similar to the notion of "enemy of the state". The term originated in Roman times as ,...
within the Soviet Union, which was to become a hallmark of the Great Purge
Great Purge
The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...
of the 1930s. On March 10, 1928, in response to the arrests, Pravda
Pravda
Pravda was a leading newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991....
announced that the bourgeoisie
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
were using sabotage as a method of class struggle. Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
mentioned a month later that the Shakhty arrests proved that class struggle was intensifying as the Soviet Union moved closer to socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
.
Nikolai Bukharin
Nikolai Bukharin
Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin , was a Russian Marxist, Bolshevik revolutionary, and Soviet politician. He was a member of the Politburo and Central Committee , chairman of the Communist International , and the editor in chief of Pravda , the journal Bolshevik , Izvestia , and the Great Soviet...
, Alexei Rykov
Alexei Rykov
Aleksei Ivanovich Rykov was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet politician most prominent as Premier of Russia and the Soviet Union from 1924–29 and 1924–30 respectively....
, and Mikhail Tomsky
Mikhail Tomsky
Mikhail Pavlovich Tomsky was a factory worker, trade unionist and Bolshevik leader. He was the Soviet leader of the All-Russian Central Council of Trade Unions.Tomsky attempted to form a trade union at his factory in St...
all opposed Stalin's new policy on repression from within the Politburo
Politburo
Politburo , literally "Political Bureau [of the Central Committee]," is the executive committee for a number of communist political parties.-Marxist-Leninist states:...
, but Stalin insisted that international capital was trying to "weaken our economic power by means of invisible economic intervention, not always obvious but fairly serious, organizing sabotage, planning all kinds of 'crises' in one branch of industry or another, and thus facilitating the possibility of future military intervention....We have internal enemies. We have external enemies. We cannot forget this for a moment."
The trial resulted in five of the fifty-three accused engineers being sentenced to death and another forty-four sent to prison. These proceedings culminated in the Shakhty Trial of March, 1928, the first of many show trials to root out the perceived bourgeois threat. The trial marked the beginning of "wrecking
Wrecking (Soviet crime)
Wrecking , was a crime specified in the criminal code of the Soviet Union in the Stalin era. It is often translated as "sabotage"; however "wrecking" and "diversionist acts" and "counter-revolutionary sabotage" were distinct sub-articles of Article 58 , and the meaning of "wrecking" is closer to...
" as a crime within the Soviet Union, as found in Article 58 (RSFSR Penal Code)
Article 58 (RSFSR Penal Code)
Article 58 of the Russian SFSR Penal Code was put in force on 25 February 1927 to arrest those suspected of counter-revolutionary activities. It was revised several times...
. Workers not producing as much as the government felt they ought to were suspected of conspiring with foreign capital to sabotage the Soviet economy and summarily tried and sent to prison (or sometimes executed). On this subject, G.M. Krizhizanovskii
Gleb Krzhizhanovsky
Gleb Maximilianovich Krzhizhanovsky was a Soviet economist and a state figure. Academician of USSR Academy of Sciences , Hero of Socialist Labour ....
said, "Who is not with us is against us
You're either with us, or against us
The phrase "you're either with us, or against us" and similar variations are used to depict situations as being polarized and to force witnesses and bystanders to become allies or lose favor...
." This reflected the atmosphere of paranoia and fear associated with the Great Purge.
See also
- Industrial Party TrialIndustrial Party TrialThe Industrial Party Trial was a show trial in which several Soviet scientists and economists were accused and convicted of plotting a coup against the government of the Soviet Union....
- Political repression in the Soviet Union
Repression of Kulaks