Shakhty trial opens against coal engineers and specialists

The Congress concluded after expelling the opposition and adopting a course toward expanded collectivization and industrial development. It did not itself complete collectivization; implementation...

By the end of 1927, state grain procurement had fallen short as peasants withheld grain they considered underpriced. The crisis exposed a central tension of NEP: the state wanted cheap food and...

A Central Committee directive sent to local party organizations demanded intensified grain procurement as the shortfall in state purchases deepened. Authorities used criminal law, searches and...

Stalin traveled to Siberia and directed local officials to use emergency measures to obtain grain, including arrests and pressure on wealthier peasants. The campaign marked a sharp retreat from...

The joint plenum of the Central Committee and Central Control Commission met from 6 to 11 April, discussing the grain procurement crisis and the Shakhty case. Its resolutions called for forceful...

The Central Committee plenum met from 4 to 12 July to review grain procurement and the broader economic situation. Its resolution called for restoring peasant confidence and stopping a return to...

Five defendants convicted in the Shakhty case were executed, while other death sentences were commuted. The punishment signaled the costs of being classified as an enemy of industrialization and...

The Sixth Congress of the Communist International opened and adopted a more confrontational analysis of capitalism and colonialism. Delegates debated the failures of the Chinese united-front...

The first Five-Year Plan period was launched from October 1928, although the plan was formally approved in 1929. It sought rapid industrial growth through state investment and output targets. The...

The eleventh anniversary of the October Revolution was celebrated amid growing emphasis on industrialization and political unity. Official narratives linked economic acceleration to the defense of...