The reorganization of the unions during the First Five-Year Plan (1928~32) was intended to subordinate the unions to the party with the dual aims of weakening their political status and drawing them closer to production in relation to rapid industrialization policy. The Stalin group believed that the unions of NEP were no longer suitable for the period of industrialization and should be changed into unions equipped with more production oriented function and structure. Thus, the Stalinists launched an offensive against the unions in the power struggle with the Right opposition. The success of the Stalin group in replacing the old union leadership was only the beginning of the greater reorganization of the unions. More systematic and harsher measures were followed for the all-out shake-up of the unions. Above all, the personnel purge was undertaken in various ways: the replacement of VTsSPS leadership and a number of individual union chairs; the inspection and purge of union apparatuses; the re-lection campaign of factory committees. This extensive personnel purge provided the Stalinist leadership with a firm foundation to secure its policy line in the unions. Along with the personnel replacement, the party also set out to change the general course of the unions. The productionist approach of the unions began to gain emphasis and was developed fully from the fourth quarter of 1929. Socialist competition and the shock work movement were dual axes for the encouragement of workers’ enthusiasm, which made a great contribution to the achievement of the economic targets of the FFYP. The unions were transformed into a vanguard of Stalinist industrialization. In all of these processes, the unions were remarkably subordinated to the party, and their independence, which had been substantial in the era of NEP, was sharply reduced.

The reorganization of the unions during the First Five-Year Plan (1928~32) was intended to subordinate the unions to the party with the dual aims of weakening their political status and drawing them closer to production in relation to rapid industrialization policy. The Stalin group believed that the unions of NEP were no longer suitable for the period of industrialization and should be changed into unions equipped with more production oriented function and structure. Thus, the Stalinists launched an offensive against the unions in the power struggle with the Right opposition. The success of the Stalin group in replacing the old union leadership was only the beginning of the greater reorganization of the unions. More systematic and harsher measures were followed for the all-out shake-up of the unions. Above all, the personnel purge was undertaken in various ways: the replacement of VTsSPS leadership and a number of individual union chairs; the inspection and purge of union apparatuses; the re-lection campaign of factory committees. This extensive personnel purge provided the Stalinist leadership with a firm foundation to secure its policy line in the unions. Along with the personnel replacement, the party also set out to change the general course of the unions. The productionist approach of the unions began to gain emphasis and was developed fully from the fourth quarter of 1929. Socialist competition and the shock work movement were dual axes for the encouragement of workers’ enthusiasm, which made a great contribution to the achievement of the economic targets of the FFYP. The unions were transformed into a vanguard of Stalinist industrialization. In all of these processes, the unions were remarkably subordinated to the party, and their independence, which had been substantial in the era of NEP, was sharply reduced.

Stalin, Trade unions, Tomskii, Face to production campaign, Re-election