Soviet Union in 1930 through the eyes of the British journalist Emrys Hughes

This article deals with the visit of well-known British journalist Emrys Hughes to the USSR in 1930. The object of investigation is the subjective aspects of Hughes’s perception of the USSR. The aim of the work is to reveal Hughes’s vision of the Soviet Union, which shaped as the result of the foreign guest’s visit. The article touches upon Hughes’s assessment of the economic aspects of the Soviet state, his attitude towards the projects of the First five-year plan, the problems of cooperation, reforms in agriculture, dispossession and collectivization. Special attention is paid to Hughes’s visits to the state farms in the south of the USSR, various cities and manufacturing facilities, to his perception of the changes that took place in the lives of Soviet people in recent years, their appearance, attitude towards religion, and to his food problem description. The research methodology is based on a systematic approach, aiming to illustrate various aspects of life in the USSR through Hughes’s eyes. The article uses comparative method of analysis; the author compares Hughes’s perception of Soviet Russia with the impressions of several other British travelers who visited the country during the interwar period and published similar memoirs and essays. Hughe’s views on the Soviet Union have not previously been the subject of close study in the scientific literature. The main conclusions of the article are that, on the one hand, Hughes tried to provide an honest understanding of the specific development of the USSR. On the other hand, his analysis of Soviet realities lacked depth due to the limited length and geography of his visit to the country and his lack of knowledge of the Russian language. The visitor neglected many aspects of life in the USSR, including the peculiarities of political functioning of Soviet system in the 1930s.