Decrees of the Soviet government 1917-1918 The first decrees of the Soviet government
The fact is that a lot of normative acts were adopted and not all of them could be considered laws, since not all of them had a long-term effect. Those normative acts that were of national importance, since tsarist times, were published, in addition to newspapers, in the “Collection of legalizations and orders of the government, published under the Governing Senate” - the official publication of the Russian Empire, which was published from 1863 to 1917 as an appendix to the “Senate Vedomosti” . Collection (Assemblies) of legalizations - the historical name of the bulletins that officially published acts of Russian legislation from 1863 to 1938.
After 1917, the “Collection of Legalizations” changed several names: initially “Collection of Legalizations and Orders of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Government”, later “Collection of Laws and Orders of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Government of the RSFSR”, which also published a number of interstate treaties.
A similar all-Union bulletin, issued since 1924, was called the "Collection of Laws." (SP)
Periodical edition. So, for example, in 1917-1918, 100 bulletins were published, in 1919 - 69, in 1920 - 100, in 1921 - 80, etc. In each bulletin, from 1 to several dozen normative acts were published. Sometimes the ballots were doubled (if a large law or treaty was published). Decrees, resolutions, orders, etc. were called articles in them. In order to amend the normative act, the new legislative act said: “In changing the law of such and such date, the Collection of Legalizations (Laws, Decrees) (SU, SZ, SP) No. such and such from such and such date and months, article such and such, make such and such changes (additions) to such and such a paragraph (section, paragraph, etc.).
For example: “Paragraph 2 of the resolution of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of Labor and Defense on the state monopoly on salt () shall be adopted as follows:”
These collections in Soviet times were marked “For official use”, i.e., not all laws were published in the press. For example, for 1921, the decrees “On requisitions and confiscations. (), "On the organization of control in the institutions of the People's Commissariat of Finance." (), "On bonuses for arresters of smuggling." (), Convention between R.S.F.S.R. and Turkey on the return of prisoners to their homeland. () were not published in newspapers. The reasons for this can only be guessed at.
The totality of these Collections of Legalizations (Regulations, Laws) for all years constitutes a “complete” and “exact” list of decrees, which is legislation for any citizen.
2. What is online
You write " Lists of decrees you found on the Web, e.g.:
http://www.bestpravo.ru/sssr/dekrety/page-20.htm
http://www.hist.msu.ru/ER/Etext/DEKRET/index.html
http://www.great-country.ru/content/sov_dekret/dekret/dek_0000.php
And I can add to them
…inaccurate and incomplete ».
I agree with you here. In my opinion (tentative ceiling, I peeped decrees there when the scans were unimportant) there are somewhere between 40-60% (on different sites in different ways) of regulations from what is in the “full” and “exact” collection. What books were the primary sources for these sites, I do not know, but definitely not the Collection of Legalizations (Regulations, Laws).
3. About errors on the site
SU files for (at least) 1917-1922 and 1933-1936 were republished in 1942-1950 by the Administration of the Council of People's Commissars (Council of Ministers) of the USSR. These reissues served as the primary source for “uploading” to the site. Inaccuracies from there. And I repeat your words: But despite this, on the website of the Eastmat there was a through list of decrees, - apparently, today the most complete list available on the Web.", although we should probably add over the years .
4. About the book "Decrees of Soviet Power".
In my opinion, this book, by virtue of the foregoing, is not a “complete and “accurate” list of decrees, this is a book about something else. The first section of the volume contains published decrees (many of the topic of the day) and resolutions, in the second section - acts that were approved and drawn up in the form of completed documents, but were not published at the time. Much attention is paid to the description of work on documents, revisions, etc. You correctly noted that “ not only Decrees are interesting, but also Orders, Decrees, Resolutions, Directives, Appeals, Announcements, Radiograms, etc - all this was included in the “Decrees”, in chronological order ". It's in the book and that's what makes it interesting in its own way. It contains a lot of such material that could not and probably should not have been included in the codes of laws. Although some amount of material will be duplicated. So, " compare the materials of the Collections of Legalizations with the content of the volumes indicated in the subject “Decrees of Soviet Power” ' doesn't make sense.
The first decrees of the Soviet government- the designation adopted in Soviet historiography for a number of decrees issued immediately after the October armed uprising in Petrograd by the pro-Bolshevik II All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars. Most sources refer to these decrees documents issued in November - December 1917, some sources also include some documents issued in January 1918 among them.
Joint decrees of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars
January 1918
- The Decree of the People's Commissariat of Education "On the introduction of a new spelling" of December 23, 1917 (January 5, 1918) ordered "all government and state publications" to be printed in the new spelling from January 1, 1918 (according to the old style) ( see Russian spelling reform of 1918);
- Decree of the Council of People's Commissars "On the organization of the Red Army" dated January 15 (28), 1918 initiated the creation of the Red Army on a voluntary basis;
- The decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee "On the annulment of state loans" of January 21 (February 3), 1918, declared loans "concluded by the governments of the Russian landowners and the Russian bourgeoisie" canceled;
- The Decree of the Council of People's Commissars "On the introduction of the Western European calendar" dated January 24 (February 6), 1918 canceled the Julian calendar: “The first day after January 31 of this year is not February 1, but February 14, the second day is 15, etc.” After the publication of this decree, it was discussed by the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church; after some discussions, the Church refused to switch to a new style ( see Orthodox calendar)
Notes
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In the first hours, days, months of the Bolsheviks coming to power, they adopted a number of legislative acts that created a legal basis for the exercise of their power. Until the adoption of the first official Constitution in 1918, it was the first decrees of the Soviet government in 1917 that formed the basis of the constitutional legislation of our country. The beginning of this process was laid at the Second Congress, which included workers' and soldiers' deputies, which took place in the anxious atmosphere of the October uprising. The first decrees of the Soviet government were adopted by this congress in the early morning of October 26, they dealt with the three main issues of the current moment - about peace, about land and about power. Decree "On Peace" the newly emerged Soviet state called on all the warring countries to conclude a truce and sit down at the negotiating table. Moreover, these negotiations should be conducted without any demands for annexations and indemnities. In addition, this decree declared Russia's refusal from secret diplomacy, and also discussed the desire of the new government to fight for the liberation of countries and peoples from colonial oppression. The first decrees of the Soviet government could not but affect the most important internal problem of the country - the issue of land.
The Decree "On Land" adopted at the same congress was in many of its provisions copied from the program of the Socialist-Revolutionaries, who did not dare to put it into practice. In particular, the cornerstone of this decree was the rejection of private ownership of land, the so-called "socialization of the land", that is, its transfer to the ownership of the whole people, was proclaimed. In fact, this meant two major consequences for the peasants: firstly, they could not dispose of the land at their own discretion, but had to coordinate their actions with local authorities or with collective farms. Secondly, the peasants were to receive income from the general ownership of land in the form of direct subsidies, as well as in the form of various social projects.
The first decrees of the Soviet government and, first of all, "Land Decree" gave a clear understanding that all the subsoil would belong to the state, which would assume the responsibility not only to develop them, but also to redistribute the income received from their exploitation. The first decrees of the Soviet government were supposed to make it clear to both the population and foreigners who were closely following the development of events, what this very Soviet government would mean in practice.
The first brick in this process was also adopted on October 26 Decree on the Establishment of the Council of People's Commissars. The Council of People's Commissars, the first composition of which consisted exclusively of representatives of the Bolsheviks, was declared the highest executive body in Soviet Russia. At the same time, the same decree specifically emphasized that control over the activities of the Council of People's Commissars, including the right to make changes to its composition, belongs to the Congress of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies; thus, it became nominally the highest authority in the state. . At the same time, the concept of "the first decrees of the Soviet power" cannot be limited to these three legal acts. In the first weeks and months after the implementation of the revolution, a number of decrees were adopted, which laid the foundations of the Soviet system.
All of them can be divided into the following groups:
1. Decrees of the Soviet government, which laid the economic foundation of the new system. These include the "Regulations on workers' control", the decrees "On the nationalization of banks" and "On the nationalization of foreign trade." In fact, it was these decrees that became the basis for the introduction of the policy of “war communism” in the future.
2 . Decrees of the Soviet government, which formulated the legal foundations of the new state. First of all, these are the decrees “On approval of laws”, “On the court”, “On the Supreme Economic Council”.
3. The first decrees of the Soviet government, paying attention to the legal status of various groups and strata of the population. This is the decree "On the eight-hour working day", the decrees "On the press", and "On the destruction of estates." Thus, the first decrees of the Soviet government in 1917 laid a certain foundation in the formation of the young Soviet state. At the same time, it should be emphasized that the rapidly changing internal and external situation very quickly forced Lenin and his colleagues to amend their original resolutions.
- The subject of the history of state and law of Russia and its place in the system of legal sciences
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After the Kornilov revolt, the Bolsheviks won a majority in the Petrograd and Moscow Soviets, although the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks still dominated the VNIK. As the soldiers were arbitrarily demobilized and returned home, the problem of lack of land became more acute, peasant unrest and the seizure of landlord lands became more frequent, and this led to the discrediting of the bourgeois parties that did nothing to improve the situation of the peasants, and to the growth of sympathy for the Bolsheviks. Conditions were brewing that V.I. Lenin foresaw in the "April Theses" and which confirmed the expediency of the transition to the second stage of the revolution.
First of all, the Bolshevik Party returned to the slogan "All power to the Soviets!". In September 1917 L.D. Trotsky was elected Chairman of the Petrograd Soviet, which became the main fighting center of the Bolsheviks. But among the Bolsheviks there was no unity of views on the way to take power. On the one hand, Lenin and his like-minded people in the Central Committee of the party saw him in the seizure of power by the Soviets through an armed uprising and the unconditional establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat. But there was another opinion - there are no conditions for a victorious uprising, the struggle for the dictatorship of the proletariat is premature, and power must be taken exclusively by peaceful means. The most consistent supporters of this point of view in the leadership of the Bolsheviks were L.B. Kamenev and G.E. Zinoviev.
However, in the end, the point of view of supporters of an armed uprising prevailed (maybe it also won because world history did not know a single peaceful transfer of power into the hands of proletarian parties, but the experience of armed uprisings was well studied - starting with the French Revolution, revolutions 1848-1849 and, most importantly, the experience of the Paris Commune and the first Russian revolution of 1905-1907). On October 9, 1917, the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party decided to begin preparations for an armed uprising and appoint a Political Bureau to implement this decision (it included V.I. Lenin, G.E. Zinoviev, L.B. Kamenev, L.D. Trotsky, I. V. Stalin, G. Ya. Sokolnikov and A. S. Bubnov). Guided by the decision of the Central Committee on the course towards an armed uprising, on October 12, 1917, the executive committee of the Petrograd Soviet created the Military Revolutionary Committee (chairman - L.D. Trotsky, deputy N.I. Podvoisky), which actually carried out military preparations for the revolution.
On October 16, 1917, at a meeting of the Central Committee, the Military Revolutionary Center was elected, consisting of Ya.M. Sverdlov. A.S. Bubnova, M.S. Uritsky and F.E. Dzerzhinsky (I.V. Stalin joined it only on October 31). The center was to become part of the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet 1 This is a curious example of the unification of the party and the Soviet institutions at an early stage of the revolution. By the way, there is no further mention of the Center in the documents: it was probably created more as a contact group than as a separate body..
On October 20, 1917, at a meeting of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party (in the absence of V.I. Lenin), it was decided to strike a decisive blow before the start of the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets, which was to open on the evening of October 25.
At a meeting of the Central Committee on October 24, 1917, Trotsky proposed that members of the Central Committee be attached to the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet to control the means of postal, telegraph and railway communications, as well as the actions of the Provisional Government. F.E. Dzerzhinsky was instructed to control the railways, A.S. Bubnov - postal and telegraph communications, to Ya.M. Sverdlov was entrusted with the supervision of the Provisional Government, run by V.P. Milyutin had food supplies. This is how the administrative apparatus of the future Soviet state was born.
On the morning of October 25, 1917, key positions were taken in Petrograd; members of the Provisional Government were arrested or fled. In the afternoon, at a meeting of the Petrograd Soviet, Lenin announced the victory of the "workers' and peasants' revolution", and in the evening the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies opened, proclaiming the transfer of power throughout Russia into the hands of the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies (the corresponding appeal was adopted by the "Workers' and Peasants' Deputies"). , soldiers and peasants").
The Second Congress of Soviets had a multi-party composition of delegates: of the 649 delegates who showed up for the opening of the Congress, 390 were Bolsheviks. 160 - Socialist-Revolutionaries, 72 - Mensheviks, etc. However, the Mensheviks and Right SRs immediately obstructed the congress, bombarding it with declarations demanding the creation of a "single democratic government", and about 50 of them defiantly left the meeting room. The congress responded to this with the resolution “Down with the Compromisers! Down with the servants of the bourgeoisie! Long live the victorious uprising of soldiers, workers and peasants!
On the evening of October 26, 1917, the second (and last) meeting of the congress took place: (1) the death penalty was abolished, restored by the Provisional Government in July 1917; (2) it was proposed to immediately release from custody all soldiers and officers arrested by the Provisional Government for revolutionary activities; (3) a decision was made on the immediate release from custody of the arrested members of the land committees; (4) a resolution was passed on the transfer of all local power to the Soviets (which meant the removal of the commissars of the Provisional Government; the chairmen of the Soviets were asked to communicate directly with the revolutionary government).
The central questions at this session of the congress were the questions of peace, land, and the establishment of a Soviet government.
The first decrees of the Soviet government. The congress adopted decrees on peace and land. The Decree on Peace began with the proposal of the Soviet state "to all belligerent peoples and their governments to begin immediately negotiations on a just democratic peace", while defining a democratic peace as a world without annexations (that is, without seizing foreign lands, without the forcible annexation of foreign nationalities) and without indemnities . The Decree on Peace proclaimed the right of every nation, regardless of its size, economic and cultural development, to determine its own destiny, thus for the first time the right of nations to self-determination, up to separation and formation of an independent state, was enshrined in law. The decree declared the imperialist war the greatest crime against humanity. It outlined the program of the struggle for peace and formulated the principles of the foreign policy of the Soviet state - the equality of all peoples, non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, the struggle for peace and friendship between peoples, their peaceful coexistence and good neighborly relations. Lenin's idea of the peaceful coexistence of states with different social systems was formulated.
The Decree on Land, abolishing (without any redemption) landowners' ownership of land, announced that landowners' estates, appanage, monastic and church lands with all their belongings are transferred to the disposal of volost land committees and district Soviets of peasant deputies, until the Constituent Assembly. Established that local Soviets and land committees, until the final decision of the Constituent Assembly, should be guided in practice Peasant order about the land, compiled on the basis of the orders of 242 peasant Soviets and land committees, published in August 1917 by the editors of the Izvestia newspaper.
The peasant mandate on land, having established that the question of land, in its entirety, can be resolved only by the Constituent Assembly, saw the resolution of the land question in the following:
- the right to private ownership of land is abolished forever; land may not be sold, bought, leased or pledged, or alienated in any other way. All land: state, appanage, office, monastery, church, possession, majorate, privately owned, public, peasant, etc. - is alienated free of charge, turned into the property of the whole people and transferred to the use of all workers on it (although the decree itself specifically stipulated that the lands of ordinary peasants and ordinary Cossacks would not be confiscated);
- all bowels of the earth, as well as forests and waters of national importance, are transferred to the exclusive use of the state. All small rivers, lakes, forests and others pass into the use of communities, provided that they are managed by local self-government bodies;
- the right to use the land is given to all citizens (without distinction of sex) who wish to cultivate it by their own labour, with the help of their family or in a partnership. Hired labor is not allowed;
- land use should be egalitarian;
- all land goes to the nationwide land fund, the distribution of which is managed by local and central self-government bodies. The land fund is subject to periodic redistribution depending on population growth and raising the productivity and culture of agriculture.
Although the opinion was firmly established in Soviet literature that the Decree on Land implemented the Bolshevik program of land nationalization (turning them into state property), in fact, it consolidated the Socialist-Revolutionary program of land socialization (including the abolition of all ownership of land, egalitarian land use and periodic redistribution of the land fund). But since such a program was put forward by the multi-million peasantry itself (and supported by the Left Social Revolutionaries, with whom the Bolsheviks counted on an alliance during this period), it was enshrined in the Decree on Land (the first normative act of Soviet land law).
As a result of agrarian reforms carried out on the basis of the Decree on Land, the peasants received over 150 million hectares of land for free use, and were also freed from annual expenses in the amount of 700 million rubles. gold as rent and from the cost of acquiring new land. In addition, the debt of the agricultural population to the Peasants' Bank (about 1.5 billion rubles) was liquidated, and landlord agricultural implements with a total value of about 300 million rubles were transferred to the peasants. At the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets, the highest authority was elected in the period between the All-Russian Congresses of Soviets - All-Russian Central Executive Committee(All-Russian Central Executive Committee) Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. It consisted of 62 Bolsheviks, 29 Left Social Revolutionaries, six Menshevik Internationalists, three Ukrainian Socialists and one Maximalist. L.B. was elected Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. Kamenev (he held this post for only two weeks).
Also, the II Congress of Soviets formed the first Soviet government - Council of People's Commissars(SNK), which was officially called (according to the decree of the congress) the Provisional Workers' and Peasants' Government, exercising power until the convocation of the Constituent Assembly. It consisted of only Bolsheviks (the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, who were invited to participate in it, refused to send their representatives): Chairman - V.I. Lenin, People's Commissar for Internal Affairs - A.I. Rykov, People's Commissar for Agriculture - V.P. Milyutin, People's Commissar of Labor - A.G. Shlyapnikov, People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs - a committee composed of V.A. Antonova-Ovseenko, N.V. Krylenko, P.E. Dybenko, People's Commissar for Trade and Industry - V.P. Nogin, People's Commissar of Public Education - A.V. Lunacharsky, People's Commissar for Finance - I.I. Stepanov-Skvortsov, foreign affairs park - L.D. Trotsky, People's Commissar of Justice - G.I. Lomov-Oppokov, People's Commissar for Food Affairs - I.A. Teodorovich, People's Commissar of Posts and Telegraphs - N.P. Avilov (Glebov), Chairman of the Affairs of Nationalities - I.V. Stalin, the post of People's Commissar for Railway Affairs was temporarily left unfilled.
On October 27, 1917, the Council of People's Commissars adopted a resolution on holding elections to the Constituent Assembly at the appointed time (the Provisional Government also set this deadline - November 12 (25), 1917).
On November 2, 1917, the Council of People's Commissars adopted the very first normative act of the Soviet national policy - Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia. The Declaration proclaimed a complete break of the Soviet state with the policy of the tsarist and Provisional governments on the national question. The Declaration established the following basic principles of the Soviet national policy: (1) equality and sovereignty of the peoples of Russia; (2) the right of the peoples of Russia to free self-determination, up to secession and formation of an independent state; (3) the abolition of all and any national and national-religious privileges and restrictions; (4) free development of national minorities and ethnographic groups inhabiting the territory of Russia.
Realizing these basic principles, the Soviet government on December 18, 1917 recognized the independence of Finland, and also in a special appeal “To all the working Muslims of Russia and the East” of November 20, 1917, solemnly proclaimed the right of numerous nationalities of Siberia, Central Asia, the Caucasus and Transcaucasia to freely and freely arrange their lives, create their own national and cultural institutions, etc.
November 11, 1917 VNIK and SNK adopted Decree on the destruction of estates and civil ranks.
It should be noted that when studying the documents of the early stage of the October Revolution, you pay attention to how rarely the words "socialism" and "socialist" appeared in them. More often, and in the main places, there are words derived from the word "democracy" (equally acceptable to supporters of both bourgeois and socialist revolution). Thus, the most important first steps of the new government were made not under the banner of socialism, but under the banner of democracy. A little later, the epithet "democratic" began to be used to characterize the system of elections to the Soviets and the Constituent Assembly, the principle of electing judges, etc. The emphasis on democracy was combined with the proclamation of socialism as the ultimate goal.
| Decree | the date | Content |
| Land Decree | October 26, 1917 | The liquidation of landownership, the nationalization of land and the transfer of the right to dispose of it to the volost land committees and local Soviets of peasant deputies |
| Peace Decree | October 26, 1917 | Offers to the belligerents to conclude peace without annexations and indemnities |
| Decree on the press | October 27, 1917 | The ban on the publication of a number of right-wing newspapers that opposed Soviet power |
| Decree on the eight-hour working day | October 29, 1917 | Establishment of the eight-hour working day in industry |
| Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia | November 2, 1917 | Proclamation of the equality and sovereignty of the peoples of Russia, the right to free self-determination up to secession |
| Decree on the destruction of estates, civil, court and military ranks | November 11, 1917 | Elimination of the class division of society and the introduction of a single name - a citizen of the Russian Republic |
In the difficult conditions of the post-October formation of Soviet power, the Bolsheviks entered into a political alliance with the Left SRs. On November 17, 1917, three representatives of this party (A.L. Kolegaev, I.Z. Sternberg, P.P. Proshyan) joined the Council of People's Commissars.
The coalition of the Bolsheviks and the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries lasted until March 1918, when, in protest against the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries withdrew from the Soviet government.
15.4.2. Constituent Assembly and its fate
The problem of the Constituent Assembly in Russia, which was always considered as an alternative to autocracy, existed at different stages of the country's historical development. At the beginning of the XX century. the demand for the convocation of the Constituent Assembly was contained in the programs of most political parties of the liberal and socialist persuasion. From February 1917 this demand became universal.
On March 25, 1917, by a decree of the Provisional Government, a Special Meeting was convened to develop a draft regulation on elections to the Constituent Assembly. As a result, a fairly democratic electoral law was prepared, introducing universal (including women and military personnel) direct and equal suffrage by secret ballot without any qualifications, except for age (for all - 20 years old, for military personnel - 18 years old).
But the elections were postponed under various pretexts, their date was postponed several times. At first they were appointed for September 17, then they were postponed until November 12, 1917. At this time, the initiative passed into the hands of the Bolsheviks. Having seized power, they achieved acceptance
The II All-Russian Congress of Soviets decrees on land and peace, which met the basic aspirations of the peoples of Russia, so the Bolsheviks, having held elections to the Constituent Assembly and not winning them, managed to disperse the Constituent Assembly on January 6, 1918 and retain power in the country (Scheme 207).
15.4.3. III Congress of Soviets
After the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, the Bolsheviks quickly implemented additional measures to strengthen the Soviet statehood.
On January 10, 1918, the III All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies was opened in Petrograd, proclaiming the Russian Soviet Republic. The congress adopted:
"Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People", rejected by the Constituent Assembly;
the Law "On the socialization of land", which approved the principles of egalitarian land use;
Resolution "On Federal Institutions of the Russian Republic".
In addition, the Provisional Workers' and Peasants' Government was
renamed the Workers' and Peasants' Government of the Russian Soviet Republic and sanctioned the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly.
15.4.4. Russia's withdrawal from the war and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany
In November 1917, the Bolsheviks began work on the implementation of the Decree on Peace. People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs L.D. Trotsky addressed the heads of all warring states with a proposal to conclude a general democratic peace (Scheme 208). However, only the powers of the German bloc expressed their consent to negotiations.
For the Bolsheviks, the complexity of the problem lay in the fact that, firstly, the questions of war and peace were linked with the idea of a world revolution, the victory of socialism on an international scale through a revolutionary war and assistance to the proletariat of other countries in the fight against the bourgeoisie and, secondly, in the very The Bolshevik Party did not have a unanimous opinion on this issue. IN AND. Lenin insisted on concluding a separate peace with Germany in order to preserve Soviet power in the face of the collapse of the army and the economic crisis. The opposite point of view was expressed by the "left communists" headed by N.I. Bukharin, who insisted on continuing the revolutionary war, which, in their opinion, should have led to a world revolution.
A compromise and at the same time paradoxical position was taken by L.D. Trotsky, who expressed it in the formula: "We stop the war, we demobilize the army, but we do not sign peace." He believed that Germany was incapable of making major offensives and apparently overestimated the revolutionary potential of European workers.
In this regard, the initial tactics of the Bolshevik delegation at the talks that began in Brest-Litovsk was based on the principles of dragging out the negotiation process, since it was believed that a socialist revolution was about to break out in Europe. But these were only illusory expectations.
On January 28, 1918, the Soviet delegation headed by L.D. Trotsky at the talks refused to accept the German terms of the peace treaty, interrupted them and left Brest-Litovsk.
On February 18, 1918, the Germans launched an offensive along the entire Eastern Front and advanced significantly inland. On February 23, 1918, Soviet Russia received a new German ultimatum with even more difficult peace conditions. Through incredible
Results:
S ultimatum to Germany and the offensive of its troops along the entire front; S signing on March 3, 1918 of a peace treaty on very difficult conditions for Russia:
Loss of western territories;
Payment of indemnity;
Demobilization of troops and fleet
puff of efforts V.I. Lenin managed to get the consent of the party and Soviet leadership to accept the German conditions for a peace treaty.
On March 3, 1918, a peace treaty was signed in Brest-Litovsk between Soviet Russia and the states of the German-Austrian bloc. Russia was losing a territory of 1 million square kilometers: Poland, the Baltic States, Finland, Belarus, Ukraine, as well as the cities of Kare, Ardagan and Batum, which were transferred to Turkey. The treaty obligated Soviet Russia to demobilize the army and navy, establish customs duties favorable to Germany, and pay indemnity.
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany confirmed the defeat of Russia in the First World War.
15.5. Russia during the Civil War and intervention
15.5.1. Causes, beginning and periodization
A civil war is always a tragedy. In Russia, it arose as a result of the revolutionary events that took place in the first decades of the 20th century.
A civil war is an armed struggle between different groups of the population, which was based on deep socio-economic, political, national and psychological contradictions, which became its causes.
The all-encompassing Civil War in Russia was led by the resistance of the former ruling classes, who lost power and property, and the dispersal of the Constituent Assembly, and the signing of the Brest Peace with Germany, and the activities of the Bolshevik food detachments and commanders in the countryside, which led to a sharp aggravation of relations between the Soviet government and the peasantry. Of great importance were the previously unnoticed psychological attitudes in society towards the readiness to resolve issues with the help of violence and military actions, largely acquired during the First World War (Scheme 209).
In Russia, the Civil War was accompanied by foreign intervention, which was due to the desire of foreign countries to recover their debts and property, and also to prevent the spread of the world revolution, the vital importance of which the Bolsheviks had been talking about all along.
The question of the beginning and periodization of the Civil War is still debatable. The most common dates
 Scheme 209 |
The dates for the start of the Civil War are 1917 (February, July, October) and 1918 (May - June). Some modern historians consider it impossible to name the time of its beginning and consider it expedient to talk about the stages of "crawling" into the war.
Modern Russian historian Academician YL. Polyakov gave the following periodization of the Civil War of 1917-1922:
February - March 1917 - the violent overthrow of the autocracy and the open split of society along social principles;
March - October 1917 - the strengthening of the socio-political confrontation in society. An unsuccessful attempt by Russian democrats to establish peace in the country;
October 1917 - March 1918 - the violent overthrow of the Provisional Government and a new split in society;
March - June 1918 - terror, local military operations, the formation of "red" and "white" armies;
summer 1918 - late 1920 - massive battles between regular troops, foreign intervention;
1921 -1922 - the fading of the Civil War, military operations on the outskirts of the country.
Modern American historian V.N. Brovkin identifies the following periods:
1918 - the collapse of the empire; the struggle of the Bolsheviks and socialists (Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries); the start of the intervention; the speech of the peasants against the commanders;
1919 - the year of the "whites": the offensive of the armies of A.I. Denikina, A.V. Kolchak and others; peasant support for the Bolsheviks because of the threat of land confiscation by the "whites" in favor of the landlords;
1920-1921 - years of "red and green": the victory of the Bolsheviks in the Civil War; cancellation under the pressure of the "green" surplus and the introduction of free trade.
The educational literature preserves the tradition of starting the history of the Civil War from the spring - summer of 1918 and distinguishing the following main stages:
May - November 1918 - the struggle of Soviet power with the so-called "democratic counter-revolution" (former members of the Constituent Assembly, representatives of the Mensheviks, Socialist-Revolutionaries, etc.);
November 1918 - March 1919 - the main battles on the southern front of the country (Red Army - Denikin's army);
March 1919 - March 1920 - the main military operations on the Eastern Front (Red Army - Kolchak's army);
April - November 1920 - Soviet-Polish war; the defeat of Wrangel's troops in the Crimea;
1921 -1922 - the end of the Civil War on the outskirts of Russia. L
15.5.2. Military-political forces and movements
The main events that took place during the Civil War at the front and in the rear are presented in Table. 42.
Table 42 !
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Continuation of the table. 42
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The end of the table. 42
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"White movement". It was formed in November 1917 in the south of Russia, in Novocherkassk, by creating military officer formations. But the officers misunderstood the nature of the struggle and did not realize the need to put forward a program acceptable to the people. They believed that their only task was to defeat the Red Army.
The "Whites" were unable to establish constructive cooperation with other anti-Bolshevik forces, they were suspicious of the workers and peasants. To a large extent, this explains their historic defeat in the Civil War.
"Red" (Bolsheviks). They believed that the revolution and the Civil War were inseparable, so they prepared for it and created military formations. At first it was the Red Guard, and then the massive regular Red Army.
With the help of violence, terror, the most cruel centralism in all spheres of the life of society, the Bolsheviks tipped the scales in their favor.
"Democratic Counter-Revolution". After the dispersal of the Constituent Assembly by the Bolsheviks, a real chance to prevent the Civil War was missed (Scheme 210). As a result of the Czechoslovak revolt in the spring of 1918 and the actions of anti-Bolshevik forces in Russia, an open confrontation began.
In Samara, a so-called committee of members of the Constituent Assembly, headed by the Social Revolutionary V. Volsky, arose, in Omsk - a provisional Siberian government headed by P. Vologodsky, in Arkhangelsk - the supreme government of the Northern Region, headed by N.V. Tchaikovsky, and others. In the summer of 1918, it seemed to their leaders that the Bolsheviks were on their last legs and only the provinces were capable of liberating Russia from Bolshevism. But very soon (by the autumn of 1918) the military defeats of the opponents of the Bolsheviks from among the socialists removed the question of "democratic counter-revolution" from the agenda.
"Greens". This was the name of the peasant movement during the Civil War, which opposed both the "Reds" and the "Whites". Of the most significant, one can single out the movement led by N.I. Makhno (he created the Republic of Gulyai-Pole) and the peasant uprising in the Tambov province led by A.S. Antonova.
national movements. One of the important lines of the Civil War is national movements, namely: the struggle for the formation of an independent statehood and separation from Russia.
 Scheme 210 |
This was most clearly manifested in Ukraine. In Kyiv, after the February Revolution, in March 1917, the Central Rada was created, reflecting the Ukrainian national idea. In January 1918, she entered into an agreement with the Austro-German command and declared independence.
Then power, with the support of the Germans, passed to Hetman P.P. Skoropadsky (April - December 1918).
In November 1918, a Directory arose in Ukraine, headed by S.V. Petliura. In January 1919, the Directory declared war on Soyot Russia. But S.V. Petlyura had to confront both the Red Army and Denikin's army, which fought for a united and indivisible Russia. - In October 1919, the "White" army defeated the Petliurists, but was defeated in an attack on Bolshevik Moscow.
In other territories of the former Russian Empire, national movements were more successful (in Poland, Finland, the Baltic States, etc.).
15.5.3. Theory and practice of war communism policy
The internal policy of the Bolsheviks from October 1917 to the spring of 1921 was formed under the influence of three main components:
Russian historical tradition (active intervention of the "state in the management of the economy);
emergency conditions of war;
Ideas of socialist theory.
The Bolsheviks, having gained power, not only inherited the ruined economy of the country, but also state distribution and production in wartime conditions. The grain monopoly (that is, obligatory deliveries to the state) arose in 1916 as an economic measure in order to solve the food problem at the front and in the rear. Consequently, some principles and measures, which later referred to the military-communist, existed long before the spring of 1918. By this time, the situation had become even more aggravated, war and famine had done their job. The central regions of the country were cut off from the grain regions, and in May 1918 a food dictatorship and a system of emergency measures had to be introduced.
All this was superimposed on the so-called "doctrinal syndrome" of socialist theory, according to which the new society was presented in the form of a communal state without commodity-money relations, replaced by direct product exchange between town and countryside.
By the middle of 1918, the policy of war communism gradually took shape, which included the following areas:
S nationalization of industry, including medium and small;
S grain monopoly and, somewhat later, the introduction of surplus appropriation;
S naturalization of economic relations and the prohibition of private trade;
S state centralized distribution of food and goods according to cards and a class principle;
S the introduction of universal labor service and the militarization of labor;
S prohibition of the lease of land and the use of hired labor in agriculture.
Naturally, not all of these measures were fully implemented during the period of war communism. Thus, the liquidation of free trade announced by the Bolsheviks only confirmed the viability of this oldest type of commodity-money relations: a spontaneously operating "black market" and railway bagging arose. This "black market" in all its manifestations and varieties continued to exist, retained a fairly strong position in the sphere of exchange and distribution. And all the struggle with him by the authorities and the Soviet departments competing in the field of trade and supply did not bring the desired success.
The policy of war communism had the most profound and negative impact on the basic methods of directing social and economic development. Power methods, transferred from the emergency situation, have become the main ones for regulating all aspects of society. The slogan of war communism: "There are no such fortresses that the Bolsheviks could not take" - became universal for many years.
Soviet power did not have a clearly defined economic policy. Each of its stages was characterized by a contradictory combination of various trends, so economic policy at one stage or another cannot be considered as something integral and complete. This applies to war communism, and to the New Economic Policy, and to the administrative-command system.
War communism can least be seen as a coherent economic program. Most likely it was a set of hasty, forced and emergency measures, supported by supposedly socialist theory.
The results of war communism, as well as its essence, turned out to be contradictory. In military and political terms, he was successful, as he ensured the victory of the Bolsheviks in the Civil War and allowed them to retain power. But the victory stimulated the spirit of the barracks, militarism, violence and terror. For success in the economy, this was clearly not enough. The economic results of war communism turned out to be deplorable (Scheme 211).
Industrial production has decreased seven times compared with 1913, agricultural - by 40%. Coal mining was "/ 3 pre-war levels. Iron smelting decreased in 1920 by two
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times compared to pre-war. The situation was difficult in transport: 31 railways did not work, trains with bread got stuck on the way. Due to the lack of raw materials, fuel and labor, most of the factories and plants were inactive. More than 400 enterprises were closed in Moscow alone.
Gross agricultural output in 1921 amounted to 60% of the level of 1913. The number of livestock and livestock products decreased. The sown areas decreased by 25% in 1920, and the yield - by 43% (in relation to 1913). A crop failure in 1920, a drought in 1921, a famine in the Volga region, in the North Caucasus, and in part of Ukraine, killed about 5 million people.
15.5.4. The results and consequences of the victory of the Bolsheviks in the Civil War
The civil war, which ended with the victory of the Bolsheviks, became a dramatic test for the country, for the winners and the vanquished.
Historians identify a whole range of reasons that contributed to the victory of Soviet power (diagram 212). Its main factor is the support of the Bolsheviks by the vast majority of the population - the peasantry, who, under the Decree on Land, received the satisfaction of their
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age-old agrarian demands (destruction of landownership, withdrawal of land from trade, allotment of land). Other reasons include successes in state and military construction, and the subordination of the entire life of Soviet society to the interests of armed struggle, and the lack of military, ideological, political and social unity in the ranks of opponents of the Bolsheviks.
The civil war had colossally grave consequences for Russia. The economic complex was largely destroyed. Industrial production was sharply reduced, transport was paralyzed, and agriculture was in crisis.
Serious changes have taken place in the social structure of society. The former ruling social strata (landlords, bourgeoisie) were liquidated, but the workers also suffered social losses, the number of which decreased by half, declassing processes took place among them. The peasantry, being the main social group, managed to survive and escape from complete collapse.
Human losses during the Civil War were very high, although an accurate calculation could not be made. According to various estimates, they ranged from 4 to 18 million people, taking into account the combat losses of all sides, the victims of the "white" and "red" terror, who died of starvation and disease, and emigrants.
It is our historical duty not to forget that civil war is the suffering and tragedy of the entire people.
test questions
1. What were the causes of the nationwide crisis on the eve of February 1917?
2. Why did the monarchy fall very quickly during the revolution in Russia?
3. What is the essence of dual power?
4. What were the positions of political parties after the February Revolution?
5. Was the coming of the Bolsheviks to power natural?
6. How can one assess the historical significance of October 1917?
7. What are the objective and subjective reasons for the outbreak of the Civil War in Russia and what are its consequences? Could this tragedy have been avoided?
8. What are the main stages of the Civil War and what are their features?
9. Why was the “white movement” defeated?
10. How can you characterize the policy of "war communism"? What are the reasons for the need for it?
Literature Avrekh A.Ya. Freemasons and revolution. M., 1990.
Bordyukov G.A., Ushakov A.I., Churakov V.Yu. White business: ideology, foundations, regimes of power // Historiographical essays. M., 1998.
Buldakov V.P. Red Troubles: The Nature and Consequences of Revolutionary Violence. M., 1997.
Volobuev P.V. Choice of ways of social development: Theory, history, modernity. M., 1987.
Gimpelson E.G. Formation of the Soviet political system. M., 1995. Civil war in Russia: a crossroads of opinions. M., 1994. Drama of Russian history: the Bolsheviks and the revolution / O.V. Volobuev et al. M „2002.
Zlokazov G.I. Menshevik-SR All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Soviets in 1917. M., 1997.
Ioffe G.Z. Revolution and the fate of the Romanovs. M., 1992. Ioffe G.Z. Year 17: Lenin, Kerensky, Kornilov. M., 1995. Medvedev R.A. 1917. Russian revolution. Victory and defeat of the Bolsheviks. M., 1997.
October 1917: the greatest event of the century or social catastrophe. M.,
Pipes R. Russian Revolution. M., 1994.
Pavlyuchenkov S.A. War Communism in Russia: Power and the Masses. M., 1997.
Protasov L.G. All-Russian Constituent Assembly. History of birth and death. M., 1997.
Rabinovich A. Bolsheviks come to power. Revolution of 1917 in Petrograd. M., 2003
1917 in the fate of Russia and the world. The February Revolution - from new sources to a new understanding. M., 1998. Startsev V.I. The collapse of Kerenskyism. L., 1982.
Felshtinsky Yu. The collapse of the world revolution: the Brest Peace. M.,
16. COUNTRY OF SOVIETS IN THE 1920s
16.1. Socio-economic and political crisis in the early 1920s. Transition to NEP
The policy of war communism after the end of the Civil War did not meet the interests of the people.
The peasantry, who received land and supported the Bolsheviks during the Civil War, as the fronts moved further and further, began to actively oppose the surplus appraisal, which continued to increase every year. The dissatisfaction of the peasants led to a reduction in sown areas, a decrease in productivity, and a decrease in the supply of grain to the state.
A wave of peasant uprisings and anti-Soviet rebellions swept across the country: in Ukraine, in Siberia, Central Asia, in the Tambov, Voronezh and Saratov provinces. The social support of these rebellions was the peasantry, dissatisfied with the surplus appropriation. The military anti-communist mutiny of sailors in Kronstadt in March 1921 was a socio-political crisis that threatened the existence of Soviet power.
IN AND. Lenin in 1921 said: “... we stumbled upon a major - I believe, the largest - internal political crisis in Soviet Russia. This internal crisis revealed the discontent not only of a significant part of the peasantry, but also of the workers.
Thus, the turn to the new economic policy (NEP) was carried out under the severe pressure of general discontent in the country in order to normalize intra-economic, social, political relations(scheme 213).
The NEP reforms, which were caused by the deepest crisis, undoubtedly had its imprint. The link between crisis and reform remained a constant and dominant factor throughout the implementation of the NEP policy.
Initially, the NEP was based on the duality and inconsistency between the socialist and market principles, politics and economics, etc. The first direction of reforms was carried out with the
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the strengthening of the socialized state forms in the economy and implied the expansion of planning principles (the formation of the State Planning Commission), the strengthening of state control and regulation (the activities of the Rabkrin, the opening of the State Bank, the beginning of the stabilization of the currency), the concentration of production, the expansion of distribution relations (between the leading industries, the largest enterprises). For the development of this direction, the full power of state institutions and ideological support were used within the framework of the concept of building socialism.
The second direction of reforms is the activation of market, private capitalist relations. To do this, a block of relations new in comparison with war communism was formed, creating the illusion of a deep radical revision of the concept of the transition period from capitalism to socialism. To develop this direction, a set of measures was carried out to promote the functioning of commodity-money relations: the transition from food appropriation to food tax, the permission of free trade and private industry, the leasing of state-owned enterprises, concessions, and the provision of freedom to the peasantry in the use of land, inventory, labor.
The prospects for this direction of reform were limited in scope (mainly in the sphere of small-scale production), time (for a long time, but not forever), growth potential (without threatening the interests of the political domination of the dictatorship of the proletariat).
Let us consider the specific practice of the NEP reforms. The first step in the transition to NEP was the decisions of the 10th Congress of the RCP(b) (March 1921), at which the question "On the replacement of apportionment with tax in kind" was discussed.
On the seventh day of the congress, V.I. Lenin, and with a co-report - A.D. Tsyurupa. Before V.I. Lenin faced the difficult task of convincing the congress, the party as a whole, of the need to adopt a new method of reviving agriculture. But he had weighty arguments: anti-Bolshevik peasant uprisings, covering more and more new provinces, the decline of the world revolution, the Kronstadt rebellion. In this situation, V.I. Lenin made two fundamental conclusions: first, "only an agreement with the peasantry can save the socialist revolution in Russia until the revolution breaks out in other countries"; secondly, “we should not try to hide anything, but should say bluntly that the peasantry is not satisfied with the form of relations that we have established with them, that they do not want this form of relations, and will not continue to exist like this.” At the Tenth Congress, Lenin's proposal was adopted to replace the apportionment with a tax in kind.
Tax in kind was introduced on 13 types of food, technical and fodder crops. Everything that remained with the peasants after the tax was paid was completely at their disposal. So, for 1921, the Council of People's Commissars established a tax in kind in the amount of 240 million poods (instead of 423 million poods according to the apportionment of 1920), i.e. almost two times less than the apportionment, and most of it was collected from the wealthy peasantry. The poorest peasants, who were the backbone of power in the countryside, and collective farms were exempt from tax or received substantial benefits. The size of the tax in kind was reported to the peasant in advance, that is, on the eve of the sowing season, so the peasant could expand the area under crops, get more food surpluses and then sell them at free prices on the market.
Proposals to introduce a tax in kind were put forward by some party leaders both in 1918 and 1920. But at that time they were not combined with the slogan of free trade, the use of market relations. Now, with the introduction of the tax in kind, the way has been opened for free trade, which was originally extremely limited by the scope of local turnover, i.e. residence of the peasants. But already in August-September 1921, the authorities were forced to abolish the state barter, embark on the path of emancipation of commodity-money relations, and the widespread use of market methods of management. Trade has become the main form of bond between the city and the countryside. For the further formation of the market, it was necessary to revive the industry, to increase the output of its products. To do this, during the transition to the NEP, the denationalization of small and, in part, medium-sized enterprises was carried out.
On May 17, 1921, a resolution of the Council of People's Commissars was adopted, in accordance with which it was proposed to take measures to develop handicraft and small-scale industry both in the form of private enterprises and in the form of cooperatives.
On August 9, 1921, the “Order of the Council of People's Commissars on the Implementation of the Beginnings of the New Economic Policy” was adopted, containing the initial principles of the work of industry under the NEP. The development of industry was proposed to be carried out within the framework of a single general economic plan under the leadership of the State Planning Commission. To prevent further decline of the national economy, a significant restructuring of the management of the national economy was carried out, its excessive centralization was weakened. Instead of labor mobilization, workers began to be hired, their material incentives were introduced, wages were calculated depending on the qualifications and the quantity of products produced. State-owned enterprises were transferred to ♦accurate economic accounting, which significantly expanded their rights, it became possible to independently resolve issues of procurement of raw materials and the sale of finished products. In the city, it was allowed to open or lease small industrial and commercial enterprises to cooperatives, partnerships, other associations or private individuals.
Somewhat later, on October 6, 1922, a new Land Code was adopted. The peasants received the right to freely leave the rural community and choose the forms of land use. The lease of land and the use of hired labor were allowed in an extremely limited amount. Individual peasants provided 98.5% of all agricultural output. By 1922 the rationing system had been largely abolished. By the spring of 1923, the transition of the economy to a market economy was generally completed. So, on the basis of market relations in the country, various business entities operated: private, peasant, cooperative, mixed, concession, state enterprises; began to revive an extensive system of amateur economic organizations, the activities of fishing, consumer, agricultural, credit and other types of cooperation.
Of paramount importance for the NEP was the financial recovery of the country. During the Civil War, the monetary system was completely destroyed: along with the tsarist banknotes, kerenki, soviet signs, about 2,000 types of money surrogates and local currencies were in circulation.
Monetary chaos was overcome as a result of the monetary reform of 1922-1924. (its main authors were People's Commissar for Finance G. Sokolnikov and Professor L. Yurovsky). In parallel with the weakening state sign, a hard currency, the chervonets, was introduced as an instrument for stabilizing the financial and credit system. The new currency was used primarily for wholesale trade. One chervonets was equal to ten royal gold rubles, but it was exchanged for gold only in settlements with foreign partners. By law, chervonny banknotes were backed by at least 25% gold and foreign currency, short-term bills for easily marketable goods served as other security. The rapid development of the market made it possible to eliminate the budget deficit by the beginning of 1924. The need to issue Soviet signs has disappeared. In retail trade, where they circulated, they were replaced by treasury notes (in rubles), which have a certain ratio with chervonets. The exchange was based on the following calculation: one ruble of treasury notes was equal to 50,000 rubles in Soviet signs. One hard convertible currency appeared in the country, which was accepted for circulation on Western exchanges that had ties with Soviet Russia.
The country's economic successes during the NEP period were obvious. By the beginning of 1922, the rise of the national economy was clearly visible, the country was fed and clothed. Not very quickly, but firmly and confidently, cooperation was gaining momentum. In 1925, the gross grain harvest was 10.7% higher than the average annual harvest in 1909-1913. By 1927, the pre-war level in animal husbandry had been reached. According to some estimates, food consumption in 1927 exceeded the level of pre-revolutionary Russia. This advantage applied to rural residents. On the whole, the national economy of the USSR in the economic year 1927/28 reached the level of industrial production in Russia in 1913.
| NEP crises |
At the same time, many complex problems began to arise during the NEP period. One of them is the cyclical nature of the economy with serious crises in 1923, 1925 and 1927-1928. (Table 43).
Table 43
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In the autumn of 1923, the so-called sales crisis broke out. The rural population was unable to buy the urgently needed manufactured goods at existing prices, with which all warehouses and shops were packed. This situation provoked a response from the peasants: they began to delay the transfer of grain to state storage facilities under the tax in kind. Soon the Bolsheviks were forced to restore price parity, lower industrial selling prices, and the sales crisis was eliminated.
Grain procurement crises of 1925 and 1927-1928. were also caused by disproportions in the structural and pricing policy of the government in relation to the city and the countryside. The Bolsheviks saw the way out of crisis situations mainly through the prism of administrative methods of regulating the economy.
In Russian society in the second half of the 1920s. dissatisfaction with the NEP on the part of various social groups began to manifest itself more and more clearly.
The new economic policy was met with hostility by the party and state apparatus, as it had to abandon the method of command decisions. Commodity-money relations demanded a flexible professional policy, knowledge and experience. There is a need to link the results of the state work with the economic return of the entire economy. However, the apparatus did not have sufficient incentives for this, since it had its own social guarantees (and quite good ones), regardless of the efficiency of work.
In addition, the NEP objectively led to an increase in unemployment, including among managers: by January 1924, among the 1 million unemployed, there were 750 thousand former employees. This problem was very painful and exacerbated the social contradictions in the country.
It is important to determine how the peasantry treated the NEP. Yes, the tax in kind gave him a material interest, allowed him to trade in surplus agricultural products, but at the same time the stratification of the peasants intensified in the countryside, it was allowed to use hired labor, exploitation increased in the countryside.
If earlier the community provided an equally poor existence for the majority of peasants, then the New Economic Policy undermined the social security of those who were accustomed to living on the principle of mutual responsibility. That part of the peasantry, which was connected not with commodity production, but with subsistence farming, was significantly reduced during the NEP years. A huge number of immigrants who poured into the city dissolved the industrial proletariat. Prosperous peasants - kulaks who supplied bread to the market, were also dissatisfied with the NEP policy, which was identified with high taxes, "scissors" in prices between industrial and agricultural products.
The majority of the workers were also indifferent to the NEP. The NEP cost accounting did not reach the workplace, it was purely trust-based and was supported by administrative means. Therefore, the worker did not see any material benefit from obtaining the final results, and the interest of the enterprise team was of a specific nature, because its profit was depersonalized in the unified balance sheet of the trust. The system that operated in state industry was, in essence, self-supporting for the bosses. Not feeling the new economic policy directly in production, the working class did not become the social support that would fight and defend the principles of the New Economic Policy. In addition, the workers began to understand that self-financing brought to the workplace would, to one degree or another, make their financial situation dependent on the elements and the conjuncture of market economic relations and could seriously undermine state social guarantees.
As a result, those dissatisfied with the NEP in the "lower classes" (the poor and farm laborers in the countryside, the unemployed, low-skilled workers and employees) were united in its rejection with the "top" (the party and state apparatus). The fate of the NEP was sealed.
16.2. Formation of the USSR
The main program provisions of the Bolshevik Party on the national question before coming to power were:
Equality of all nations and nationalities;
The right of nations to self-determination up to secession;
Regional (territorial) autonomy for peoples who did not want to secede;
proletarian internationalism.
Already after October 1917. the requirement of a federal structure of the Soviet state was added. At the end of 1917 Finland gained independence in 1918. - Poland, in 1919. - Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia.
During the Civil War, a large number of various state and national-state formations arose on the territory of the country: republics, communes, autonomous regions, etc. At the same time, the Bolsheviks understood that they needed a single, strong state as a stronghold for deploying a future world revolution and building a socialist society in their own country.
This was facilitated by common economic ties and the historically established division of labor between the emerging Soviet republics, the desire for common external security, the uniformity of the state system and the fact that a single political party, the RCP (b), was in power, which included republican communist parties as regional party organizations.
In 1920-1922. all Soviet republics formed on the territory of the former Russian Empire (RSFSR, Belorussian, Ukrainian, Azerbaijan, Armenian, Georgian SSR, as well as the Bukhara, Khorezm and Far Eastern republics) concluded agreements on a military, economic and diplomatic union.
In 1922, the question of the unification of the republics was transferred to the practical plane. In March 1922, the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (TSFSR) emerged, which included Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
 16 History of Russia |
In August 1922, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) created a commission to consider the relationship between the RSFSR and other Soviet republics, headed by V.V. Kuibyshev. I.V. played a decisive role in it. Stalin, who was then People's Commissar for Nationalities, and from April 1922 - General Secretary of the Central Committee of the RCP (b). He developed a draft resolution of the commission "On the relations of the RSFSR with the independent republics", which provided for the entry of the Ukrainian, Belarusian and Transcaucasian republics into the RSFSR as autonomous, and with Bukhara, Khorezm and the Far Eastern Republic it was supposed to maintain the already existing contractual relations.
Project I.V. Stalin received a mixed assessment in party and state circles. In the autumn of 1922, these materials were sent to V.I. Lenin, who proposed instead of the Stalinist autonomy plan a new form of state association - the formation of a new union state as a federation of republics with equal rights.
In October 1922, the Leninist plan was discussed and approved at all levels of the republican leadership, as well as at the congresses of Soviets.
On December 30, 1922, the First All-Union Congress of Soviets declared the formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and determined the system and competence of the federal authorities.
On January 31, 1924, the II All-Union Congress of Soviets of the USSR approved the first Constitution of the USSR (Scheme 214).
16.3. Domestic political struggle for power and the establishment of a regime of personal power I.V. Stalin
The struggle for power among the leaders of the Bolshevik Party began in the last years of V.I. Lenin (scheme 215). Due to illness, from the end of 1922, he actually retired from the leadership of the party and the country, but managed to dictate a number of letters and articles, which later historians will call Lenin's political testament. The key was the "Letter to the Congress", where he warned the Bolsheviks against a possible split, factional struggle, bureaucratization and gave characteristics to the most significant figures of the party: I.V. Stalin, L.D. Trotsky, G.E. Zinoviev, L.B. Kamenev, N.I. Bukharin and G.L. Pyatakov.
According to V.I. Lenin, the main danger was in the relationship between L.D. Trotsky and V.I. Stalin, which could lead to a split. I.V. Stalin, who concentrated enormous power in his hands, he assessed very impartially, noting his rudeness, capriciousness, intolerance to criticism, and proposed to be removed from the post of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the RCP (b).
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After the death of V.I. Lenin's "Letter to the Congress" was reported to the delegates of the XIII Congress of the RCP (b) (May 1924), but I.V. Stalin managed to retain the highest party post.
Even during the life of V.I. Lenin in the party there were various factions. The 10th Congress of the RCP(b), held in March 1921, officially banned them, but factionalism remained informally and was represented in the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party. Historians note four factional groups:
I.V. Stalin, who relied on the party apparatus;
L.D. Trotsky, who headed the “left communist” faction (K.B. Radek, G.L. Pyatakov, L.P. Serebryakov, N.N. Krestinsky, A.A. Ioffe, H.G. Rakovsky and others);
G.E. Zinoviev and L.B. Kamenev, who had strong positions in the Leningrad party organization;
N.I. Bukharin, A.I. Rykova, M.P. Tomsky, "moderate" members of the Politburo, later accused of "right deviation" in the party.
The internal political struggle of these groups was due to both the personal ambitions of the leaders and disagreements on the problems of party-political and economic relations in the country and the world.
I.V. Stalin in 1923-1924 formed together with G.E. Zinoviev and L.B. Kamenev, an unofficial leading troika. At the same time, he tried to establish contact with N.I. Bukharin. Together with these allies, he opposed L.D. Trotsky, who claimed to be the successor to V.I. Lenin.
As a result, L.D. Trotsky was accused of trying to become a dictator, and in January 1925 he was removed from the posts of people's commissar for military and naval affairs and chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council, which was the beginning of the end of his political career.
In the autumn of 1925, the Stalin-Zinoviev-Kamenev triumvirate fell apart. Fear of the growing political power of I.V. Stalin led to the creation of G.E. Zinoviev and L.B. Kamenev of the "new opposition", which was defeated in December 1925 at the XIV Congress of the CPSU (b).
In 1926 L.B. Trotsky, G.E. Zinoviev and L.B. Kamenev rallied for a new fight with I.V. Stalin, but this was done very late, since the positions of I.V. Stalin and his supporters became very strong, and the so-called "united opposition" at the end of 1927 was defeated. All prominent representatives of this bloc were expelled from the party. L.D. Trotsky was exiled to Alma-Ata in 1928, and in 1929 he was deported from the USSR. In 1940, he was killed in Mexico by an agent of the Soviet special services.
And finally, in 1928-1930. it was the turn of the group N.I. Bukharin, A.I. Rykov and M.P. Tomsky, who previously actively helped I.V. Stalin in the fight against other oppositionists. During the period of the collapse of the NEP and the beginning of the forced reconstruction of Soviet society, they expressed views other than Stalin's on the Party's policy in the countryside, on questions about the pace and methods of socialist construction. They were accused of "right deviation" and removed from leadership positions.
As a result, the regime of personal power of I.V. was established in the country. Stalin, which soon turned into a cult of personality.
16.4. Foreign policy
The foreign policy of the Soviet state in the 1920s. was aimed at the implementation of two mutually exclusive tasks, which determined its dualism (duality) and inconsistency (scheme 216).
On the one hand, the Bolsheviks continued to believe in the world revolution, helped the world communist and workers' movement and specially created the Third International (Comintern) for this purpose in 1919.
On the other hand, the bet on a quick world revolution did not materialize, and the Soviet government was forced to pursue a policy of establishing normal interstate and trade and economic relations with foreign countries. At the same time, the defense capability was strengthened and any attempts to encroach on the country's territory were repelled.
One of the main tasks of Soviet Russia was the settlement of relations with neighboring states. In 1920, agreements were concluded with Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Finland. In 1921, the Treaty of Riga was signed with Poland, which resulted in the stabilization of the western border. In the same year, agreements were signed with the southern neighbors: Iran, Turkey and Afghanistan.
Gradually began the normalization of relations with the leading capitalist powers. In March 1921, a Soviet-British trade agreement was concluded. Great Britain, and after it other countries, without officially recognizing the Soviet state, nevertheless developed foreign economic relations with our country.
In the spring of 1922 (from April 10 to May 19) an international conference was held in the Italian city of Genoa on the economic and financial issues of post-war Europe. It was attended on the 29th
 Scheme 216 |
states, including the delegation of Soviet Russia headed by People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs G.V. Chicherin. The main issue of the conference is the fate of foreign capital nationalized in Russia and the debts of the tsarist and Provisional governments.
The Soviet side was ready to admit debts, but taking into account compensation for its own losses incurred during the Civil War and foreign intervention, which, according to the Bolsheviks, significantly exceeded the property and financial claims of the West. It was not possible to resolve these issues at the conference, although they continued to be discussed at the next international conference (June 15 - July 22, 1922) in The Hague.
On April 16, 1922, during the conference in Genoa, Germany and Soviet Russia concluded an agreement according to which the parties renounced mutual claims and resumed diplomatic relations. Subsequently, this developed into close economic and military cooperation.
In 1923 the international position of the USSR became more complicated. On May 8, 1923, the British government sent a note to the Soviet government, which became known as Curzon's ultimatum (named after the British Foreign Secretary). In it, the USSR was accused of pursuing an anti-British policy in the East and had to fulfill a number of conditions within 10 days (withdraw Soviet representatives from Iran and Afghanistan, release English fishing boats arrested in Soviet territorial waters, etc.). The leadership of the Soviet Union did not want to aggravate relations and made concessions, so the situation returned to normal.
In 1924-1925. followed by a whole streak of diplomatic recognition of the USSR by major world powers. In 1924, diplomatic relations were established with Great Britain, France, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Greece, Denmark, and Mexico.
In January 1925, the Soviet-Japanese Convention on the Basic Principles of Relations was signed. Japan agreed to begin the evacuation of troops from Northern Sakhalin in exchange for granting concessions; in February of the same year, the parties established diplomatic relations.
Of the leading countries, only the United States remained in the position of non-recognition of the USSR.
In 1927, relations with Great Britain escalated again. The British conducted searches in the buildings of the Soviet trade missions, having allegedly found documents that were subversive. Diplomatic and trade relations were severed, restored only in 1929.
In the summer of 1929, a Soviet-Chinese conflict arose over the CER. China seized Soviet institutions there, arrested Soviet citizens and established full control over the CER. In October - November 1929, a group of Chinese troops in the CER zone was defeated by the efforts of a special Far Eastern army under the command of V.K. Blucher. On December 22, 1929, a protocol was signed in Khabarovsk between the USSR and China on the restoration of Soviet jurisdiction over the CER.
In general, the foreign policy of the USSR in the 1920s. developed dynamically, despite the costs caused by the dualism of its main directions.
16.5. culture
The policy of the Bolsheviks in the field of culture as a whole was aimed at solving two main interrelated tasks (Scheme 217).
The first task was to establish ideological and party control over the cultural and spiritual sphere in order to form a socialist culture.
The Bolsheviks declared themselves atheists and, in accordance with military terminology, attacked religion on all fronts using administrative and repressive measures. In 1918, a decree was issued on the separation of the church from the state and the school. Mass closure of churches, arrests and destruction of clergy began. Under the pretext of fighting hunger, by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of February 23, 1922, significant church valuables were seized and trials were organized against the hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church. Patriarch Tikhon was arrested. Anti-religious propaganda intensified. In 1925, the Union of Militant Atheists was created. The Communist Party secured a monopoly on the spiritual life of society.
In 1922, Glavlit was created as a special censorship body to control printed publications. In August 1922, 160 prominent scientists were expelled from the country: N.A. Berdyaev, S.N. Bulgakov, L.P. Karsavin, E.N. Trubetskoy, P.A. Sorokin, A.A. Kizevetter, S.L. Frank, N.O. Lossky and others, since they did not accept Soviet power. This action went down in history as a "philosophical ship".
The management of most branches of culture was carried out by the People's Commissariat of Education (Narkompros), headed by A.V. Lunacharsky under the general control of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party.
"Philosophical steamboat" (1922) - the expulsion of part of the intelligentsia abroad
Sculpture: plan for monumental propaganda
Art culture
Artistic reflection of revolutionary and Soviet reality
Literature: S creativity
A. Fadeeva, M. Sholokhova,
B. Kaverina and others. S creation of literary associations: LEF, RAPP, "Serapion Brothers"
Two heads and six legs; four walk, and two lie still
Self-esteem - what is it: concept, structure, types and levels
Cassandra's Path, or Pasta Adventures War on Earth and Underground