British Workers’ Delegation to the Soviet Union in 1927

The article focuses on the perception of the Soviet system by left foreign contemporaries. The article deals with the visit of a British workers’ delegation to the Soviet Union in November 1927. The aim of the study is to reveal the composition of the delegation, its travel purposes, geographical scope, to outline the travelers’ impressions of their communication with the Soviet people, their experiences in the cities, factories, to compare these impressions with the opinion about the USSR by other compatriots. The article pays particular attention to the views of delegation members on British-Soviet partnership and prospects for mutual trade. The work also touches on the activities of the Anglo-Russian Trade Union Committee and the breaking of diplomatic relations between Moscow and London in 1927. It also summarizes the 1927 visit and its aftermath. The research methodology is based on the principle of historicism. The 1927 visit is examined in connection with the specific historical circumstances that preceded it, as well as in the context of the general British-Soviet dialogue in the 1920s. Working with historical documents the author uses a comparative research method. A system approach was also necessary. It allows to demonstrate various aspects of the perception of the Soviet Union through the eyes of British workers. The scientific novelty of this work lies in the fact that the 1927 visit of the British workers’ delegation has not previously been in the center of specialized study. The article notes the participation of the delegation in the celebration of the 10-th anniversary of Soviet power. Particular attention is paid to the fact that the attitude of the Labour Party and the British Trade Union Congress toward the Bolsheviks was quite wary in the late 1920s. The British workers who visited the Soviet Union in 1927 cannot be considered as an official Labour party delegation or a group whose visit was sanctioned by the British Trade Union Congress. Travelers, who arrived in the USSR, openly sympathized with communist views and the Soviet model of socialism. The enthusiastic perception of Soviet realities by the 1927 delegation was reflected in its report "Soviet Russia Today." On arriving in London at the end of 1927 the group of workers formed the "Friends of Soviet Russia". This organization was soon blacklisted by the British Labour Party as a structure unacceptable for cooperation and joint activities.