Memorandum from Comrade Peters to the Secretariat of the Central Control Commission of the RCP(b): "The issue of luring specialists could not be agreed upon with the Central Committee of the RCP(b)." 1925

Document publication

doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2025-4-1135-1154

For citation

Anfertiev, Ivan A. (2025). Report by Comrade Peters to the Secretariat of the Central Control Commission of the RCP(b): “The issue of luring specialists could not be agreed upon with the Central Committee of the RCP(b). 1925, Herald of an Archivist, no. 4, pp. 1135-1154, doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2025-4-1135-1154

Anfertiev, Ivan A., Southwestern State University, Kursk, Russia

Memorandum from Comrade Peters to the Secretariat of the Central Control Commission of the RCP(b): "The issue of luring specialists could not be agreed upon with the Central Committee of the RCP(b)." 1925

Abstract

This documentary publication examines the attitude of Soviet and party leaders toward specialists with pre-revolutionary experience in the final stages of the New Economic Policy in the 1917–1920s. It notes that the period when the leadership of the RCP(b) and the Cheka–GPU–OGPU bodies somewhat relaxed their previous negative attitudes toward specialists in the interests of restoring industrial production was becoming a thing of the past. It is noted that the works of Soviet historians generally glossed over the problems faced by qualified specialists with pre-revolutionary experience, representing various industries and fields of activity. Otherwise, it would be necessary to study the emigration of a significant portion of the technical intelligentsia from Soviet Russia. The extent of this emigration continues to be studied, but a complete picture is lacking. A number of researchers conclude that, in fact, our country lost its prospects for industrial development after 1917. The published documents indicate that in the mid-1920s... Once again, the first attempts were made to tighten the attitude toward "specialists," making it more difficult for them to transfer from one enterprise to another under the pretext of receiving higher salaries for their positions. The sources identified allow the following conclusions to be drawn. The pretext for the policy of prohibitions, as can be assumed, was the inspection of the joint-stock company "Krasny Vostok" conducted by the People's Commissariat of the Workers' and Peasants' Inspection in Uzbekistan, whose managers were punished. It is possible that some veteran specialists, fearing persecution, preferred to resign from "Krasny Vostok" before the inspection under the pretext of higher salaries for their positions. In August 1925, at a meeting of the Secretariat of the Central Control Commission of the RCP(b), a draft circular "On preventing the 'poaching' of specialists from one institution to another" was considered; however, the draft circular was not approved. Another meeting on this issue was held on September 25, 1925. The document named Peters, a well-known Chekist and member of the Central Control Commission, as the reporter. The published documents indicate that the "assignment" of specialists with pre-revolutionary experience to specific enterprises was considered premature by the Central Committee of the RCP(b), but not final. The temporary abandonment of harsh methods of coercion followed the fact that, following the death of V. I. Lenin, an intra-party struggle for his legacy was gaining momentum within the Central Committee of the RCP(b), and it was unclear who would ultimately prevail: the supposedly "liberal" group of L. B. Kamenev and G. E. Zinoviev, or the hard-line supporters of I. V. Stalin. As is well known, the latter won, leading to repressive actions such as the Shakhty Trial (1928), the Academic Case (1929-1931), the Case of the defunct Industrial Party (1930), and others.

Keywords

Specialists with pre-revolutionary experience, technical intelligentsia of the Russian Empire in the USSR, Central Committee of the RCP(b), New Economic Policy, Central Control Commission of the RCP(b), Cheka-GPU-OGPU, People's Commissariat of the Workers' and Peasants' Inspection, N.I. Bukharin.

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About authors

Anfertiev, Ivan A., Doctor of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor, Southwestern State University, Faculty of Law, Department of Constitutional Law, Leading Researcher, Kursk, Russia, +7-916-252-28-22, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

ORCID 0000-0003-4124-6659

The article was received in the editorial office on 10.01.2025, recommended for publication on 20.09.2025.