The Soviet Union and the May Thirtieth Movement in Shanghai

Abstract

This article focuses specifically on the Soviet factor in The May Thirtieth Movement in Shanghai, including the degree of central and local Soviet authorities' involvement in the preparation and course of the Movement and financial assistance to Chinese strikers. It also examines Soviet intelligence activities in Shanghai during this period. Until May 30 the central organs of the USSR and the RCP(b) were not the initiators of the Movement. The largest workers' movement in Shanghai occurred spontaneously and was not under the control of the Comintern or the Politburo. However, we cannot completely deny the existence of attempts to organize and control the Movement by the Soviet Consulate as early as the first days of the strikes and it has been documented that the practical actions of Soviet agents began even before the Politburo began to pay attention to the Shanghai events. The All-Union Central Trade Union Council represented the "legal" support for the strikers by the Soviet authorities. The arrival of a delegation of Soviet trade unions in Shanghai was open and contained no elements of secret diplomacy. In the field of "secret politics", G.N. Voitinsky was sent to Shanghai to lead the Movement through the CCP. During the May Thirtieth Movement, Soviet intelligence had to work in intensified mode. However, in the Shanghai municipal police files we can only find references to the activities of Soviet spies at the beginning of the Movement. The reason for this is that all police attention in July and August was concentrated on the so-called "Dosser case", which was essentially of a small scale, but was hyped up by the Shanghai press and the Municipal Council of International Settlement. Nevertheless, one should not exaggerate the influence of the Soviets on the May Thirtieth Movement. The Soviets could only control, through the CCP and the General Trade Union, the workers' and partly the students' part of the strikes. The leading role in the May Thirtieth Movement was still held by the Shanghai merchants, not by the Politburo and the Comintern.