Christopher Russell

Topic

Pre-War Factory Relations in Stalin’s Soviet Union (1924–1941)

Department of History

Date & location

• Monday, August 26, 2024
• 10:00 A.M.
• Clearihue Building, Room B215

Examining Committee

Supervisory Committee

• Dr. Serhy Yekelchyk, Department of History, University of Victoria (Supervisor)
• Dr. Thomas Saunders, Department of History, UVic (Member)

External Examiner

• Dr. Megan Swift, Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies, UVic

Chair of Oral Examination

• Dr. Don Juzwishin, School of Health Information Science, UVic

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the rapidly changing labour relations in the Soviet Union from the period of 1924 to 1941. While the Soviet Union proclaimed itself to be a workers’ state, the legislative changes introduced by Stalin created continuously harsher conditions for Soviet workers. The worker-director relationship in factories is examined in this thesis, along with how important legislative changes impacted this relationship. Accounts provided by former Soviet workers, including a set of interviews from the Harvard Project on the Soviet Social System, are used to determine how the workers viewed their role in the Soviet factory and their relationship with their directors. Collaborative efforts between workers and directors were necessary, even when legislation forbade it, so the factories could meet their constantly increasing quotas. Despite the Soviet state at times mandating factory directors to be ruthless and distant from their workers, the workers often understood that the directors had no choice in how they acted, as they were forced by the Soviet state to enforce strict laws or face harsh repercussions.