Repressive policies towards technical specialists in the Urals in the early 1930s (based on “The Uralmet affair” materials)

The article examines the main elements of the repressive mechanism in Ural industry in the early 1930s on the basis of materials from the 1929-1930 fabricated “Uralmet Affair”. The “Uralmet Affair”, within the framework of which the technical specialists and managers of the “Uralmet” trust were subjected to political repressions. The “Uralmet Affair”, which was a continuation of the “Nadezhdinsky Affair” and the “Case of the Ural Engineering Centre”, is a notable episode in the complex process of forming a repressive policy towards technical specialists in the Urals. This process is analyzed in close connection with the implementation of the forced industrialization program, the formation of the Soviet totalitarian system and the implementation of a nationwide repressive policy. The materials of the “Uralmet Affair” make it possible to reconstruct the state of the Urals industrial complex in the early 1930s, to assess its modernization potential, to determine the level of competence of the engineering and technical corps with regard to the technical specialists and to reveal the nature of the authorities' attitude towards the technical specialists.