Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The Shakhty Trial (Russian: ) of 1928 was the first important show trial in the Soviet Union since the trial of the Social Revolutionaries in 1922. Under the Bolshevik government, coal production had fallen steadily in the area for several years. Central planning mandates for constant increases in coal production, combined with inexperienced or fearful mining superintendents unwilling to press for needed equipment and overhaul of the mining industry had led to inadequate maintenance, repair, and replacement of equipment, much of it dating from pre-revolutionary times.