Relations Between the Soviet Government and the Technical Intelligentsia in 1917–1919

Abstract

The article presents an overview of the political measures of the Soviet government to marginalize the socio-professional group of technical intelligentsia in 1917–1919. The article describes the process of forming the attitude of the Soviet government to the social group of technical specialists in the conditions of the accomplished October revolution and the Civil war in the country. The political writings of V. I. Lenin as the leader of the Bolshevik party and the head of the country regarding the place of technical specialists in the social space of the new state were characterized. The motives of the authorities in implementing a change in the social status of technical specialists were identified. Through the use of the historical-genetic method, the study analyzes the consecutive statements of V. I. Lenin regarding this socio-professional group was carried out. As a result of this, the periodization of the development of their relationships was constructed. The construction of such a chronology is relevant, because it makes possible to assess the motives of the actions of the Bolshevik government from the point of view of a specific goal setting, not from the standpoint of the class struggle, but in the search for the most effective way to overcome it. At the beginning, the authorities tried to create pragmatic relations with engineers, but seeing their refusal to cooperate, they took a course to stigmatize and marginalize them as a social group. As a result of this discrediting, the only buyer of their services became the Soviet government, using them centrally in the most important fields of production and economy. The authorities were forced to abandon further marginalization in the face of the difficult situation on Civil war, the small number of remaining specialists and the low efficiency of their work. In this regard, the process of rehabilitation of engineers was initiated, authorized by V. I. Lenin at the VIII Congress of the Bolshevik party. The head of state in a short period managed to organize a campaign to discredit the specialists, after which they were forced to abandon the anti-Soviet rhetoric and begin to integrate into society on the terms proposed by the Bolsheviks. Keywords: engineers, technical specialists, intellectuals, V. I. Lenin, Bolsheviks, class struggle