On December 30, 1922, the Congress of Plenipotentiary Representatives of the RSFSR took place. Ukraine, Belarus and the Transcaucasian Federation (I Congress of Soviets of the USSR). 2,215 delegates took part in its work, including 1,727 from the RSFSR, 364 from the Ukrainian SSR, 91 from the ZSFSR and 33 from the BSSR. Lenin was elected honorary chairman of the congress. I.V. made a report on the formation of the USSR. Stalin. He announced the Declaration and the Education Treaty USSR.

The Congress elected a Central Executive Committee (CEC) consisting of 371 people - representatives from all the united republics. It was headed by 4 chairmen - MI. Kalinin (RSFSR), G.I. Petrovsky (Ukrainian SSR), N.N. Narimanov (ZSFSR), A.G. Chervyakov (BSSR).

The first government and the Constitution of the USSR.

The final stage in the formation of the USSR was the development of the Constitution. In January 1923, constitutional commissions were formed in the union republics, and in April 1923, a joint (expanded) Constitutional Commission was created from representatives of the Central Executive Committee of all union republics, chaired by M.I. Kalinina.

At the end of June - beginning of July -1923, the draft Constitution was considered and approved by the special Central Executive Committee of the republics, and on July 6 it was approved by the 11th session of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR.

In January 1924, the Congresses of Soviets of the Union Republics ratified the Constitution of the USSR. On January 31, 1924, the Second Congress of Soviets of the USSR finally approved it.

The Constitution of the USSR proclaimed the voluntary unification of the republics, their equality, the freedom to leave the USSR, as well as the right of other states to join the USSR.

The supreme body of power was declared to be the All-Union Congress of Soviets, and between congresses - the Central Executive Committee, consisting of two equal chambers: the Union Council and the Council of Nationalities (the first was elected by the congress from representatives of the republics in proportion to their population; the second included five representatives from each union republic and autonomous region) . The Council of People's Commissars of the USSR was proclaimed the highest executive body. He was in charge of foreign affairs, national defense, foreign trade, communications, finance, etc. The Union republics remained in charge of internal affairs, agriculture, education, justice, social security, and healthcare. (Subsequently, the resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the USSR of November 12, 1923 “On the procedure for managing industrial enterprises of national importance and under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Councils of the National Economy” and “Regulations on the Supreme Council of National Economy of the USSR” limited the rights of the union republics in the field of industrial management in favor of the Union as a whole ).

The session of the USSR Central Executive Committee elected the first union government - the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, headed by Lenin. The government also included: deputy chairmen of the Council of People's Commissars L.B. Kamenev, M.D. Orakhelashvili, A.I. Rykov, A.D. Tsuryupa, V.Ya. Chubar. People's Commissars:

Foreign Affairs - G.V. Chicherin;

On military and naval issues - L.D. Trotsky;

Foreign trade - L.B. Krasin;

Communication routes - F.E. Dzerzhinsky;

Posts and telegraphs - I.N. Smirnov;

RCT - V.V. Kuibyshev;

Labor - V.V. Schmidt;

Food - N.P. Bryukhanov;

Finance - G.Ya. Sokolnikov.

The First Congress of Soviets of the USSR began work on December 30, 1922 at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow and was opened by an old Bolshevik, a party member since 1898, a former agent of the Iskra newspaper, a participant in the December armed uprising in Moscow in 1905, in general, a famous revolutionary , who went through arrests and exile, took active part in the October Revolution in Moscow, Civil War and Soviet construction - Pyotr Smidovich. He was, however, only 48 years old - evidence of the age composition of the congress. But people like Smidovich then enjoyed enormous respect in the Land of the Soviets and the choice of the first presenter was, of course, made successfully. Further, on behalf of the delegations of the union Soviet republics, A. S. Enukidze made a proposal to elect V. I. Lenin as honorary chairman, which was unanimously supported. At the suggestion of Enukidze, the following were elected to the presidium of the congress: Kalinin, Petrovsky, Tskhakaya, Chervyakov, Stalin, Musabekov, Ambartsumyan, Rykov, Trotsky, Ordzhonikidze, Kamenev, Frunze, Sapronov, Tomsky, Bukharin, Zinoviev, Chubar, Molotov, Rudzutak, Enukidze, Starostin , Kadyr-Aliev, Dubovoy, Klavdiya Nikolaeva, Skrypnik and Smidovich. M. V. Frunze made a proposal to elect M. I. Kalinin as chairman of the congress, which was also unanimously supported.

Very detailed materials have been preserved about the composition of the congress in many respects. A total of 2,214 delegates arrived at the congress, of which 1,673 had a casting vote and 541 had an advisory vote. There were only 77 women, representing 3.5% of the delegates. By age composition The congress, of course, was young. Only 2% of the delegates were over 50 years old, 1.2% were younger than 20, and the main group - 45% were delegates from 21 to 30 years old. Next came age group from 31 to 40 years old, and from 41 to 50 years old there were 7.9%. That is, less than 10% of the delegates at the congress were over 40 years old. A young delegate corps created a young country.

The national composition of the congress was as follows. Russians made up 62.5%, Ukrainians - 8%, Belarusians - 1.1%, Jews - 10.8%, Caucasian peoples - 4.5%, Turkic peoples - 5.7%, Latvians and Estonians - 3.4% and other nationalities – 4%. It turned out that the Soviet Union was created, first of all, by the Russians and this, of course, corresponded to reality.

The social composition of the congress delegates was also taken into account, which is also of significant interest. The share of workers was 44.4%, peasants - 26.8%, intellectuals - 28.8%. In terms of the number of delegates, workers were in first place, significantly surpassing both peasants and intellectuals individually. It is also interesting that there were more intellectuals than peasants, the largest category of the country's population, accounting for approximately 85% of the total population of the country.

Naturally, the party affiliation of the delegates was also taken into account. 94.1% of all delegates belonged to the Communist Party, 5.7% were non-party members and 0.2% of the delegates belonged to other parties, which was only 5 people. Two delegates represented the Jewish Social Democratic Party of Poalei Zion, 1 an individualist anarchist and 2 left-wing socialist federalists of the Caucasus.

Among the members of the Communist Party, party experience was also revealed, one of the most important characteristics of that time. 1% of delegates had party experience up to 1 year, 19.9% ​​from 1 to 3, and 50% from 3 to 6 years. This last group considered it necessary to identify communists who became communists before and after October. It turned out that 19.7% of them joined the party before the October Revolution and 30.3% after. 8.2% had party experience from 6 to 10 years and 20.9% had more than 10 years. Consequently, about half (48.8%) of the congress, despite its youth, had party experience dating back to pre-October times. However, only five years have passed since the revolution.

The professional composition of the congress was also taken into account, with a total of thirteen columns. In first place - 22.2% were metal workers, then educational workers - 12.9%, agricultural workers - 10.4%, without a profession - 7.5%, etc. 17.8% of the delegates belonged to the other category. Metal workers constituted the most significant professional group of delegates to the congress, which corresponded to the social policy of that time, when workers of this specialty were considered the main support of the Communist Party. By the way, 5.1% of all congress delegates were exclusively engaged in party work.

The collection of information about the delegates was so thorough that it was considered necessary to find out which of them, according to their occupations, were engaged in one or another activity both before the war of 1914, and before the February Revolution, before the October Revolution, after it, and separately during the congress. That is, based on this criterion, five categories were identified and the picture turned out to be very interesting. It turns out that 41.2% of delegates before the First imperialist war were workers. Before the February Revolution, only 26.9%, before the October Revolution - 16.5%, after the October Revolution - 5.3%, and at the time of the congress only 1.2%. Thus, if 44.4% classified themselves as workers by social status, and 22% of the professions were metalworkers alone, and, in addition, other workers were taken into account (woodworkers, printers, builders, workers without specialties), then at the moment At the congress, only 1.2% of the delegates were directly workers. A remarkable picture also applies to agricultural workers. If before the First World War 10.5% of the congress delegates worked in this field, then at the time of the congress - 3.3%, 19.4% and 1% were students, respectively. Next came some very remarkable information about party and trade union workers. Before the First World War, they were 3% of the congress participants, before the February Revolution - 3.3%, before the October Revolution - already 17.3%, after this revolution - 5.1%, and at the time of the congress 31.1%

As for employees, before the First World War they were 14% of the delegates, and at the time of the congress - 21.7%; before the war, 8.2% were teachers, and at the time of the congress, none. There are several more interesting layers among the congress delegates. For example, the military before the war was 2.6%, and at the congress they were 9.3%, at social work in the elections before the war there were 0.7%, and at the congress 32.4% were present. In addition, those who were in prison, exile, and in exile before the war were also noted. The former, that is, in prisons and exiles, was 2.2% before the war, and the latter 0.2%. Naturally, these were not observed at the time of the congress, but this accounting also had its significance.

In general, if we look at the composition of the delegates, then in the first place were those who were involved in public work during the elections, in the second place were party and trade union workers, in the third place were office workers and in fourth place were the military. This composition reflected the serious changes that occurred in the status of the congress delegates after the October Revolution. It can be said without exaggeration that the overwhelming number of participants at the congress were promoters of October, this particular revolution. By the way, this composition of delegates attracted attention at the congress and the figures were not only given, but also commented on, but the role of the October Revolution in changing their fate was not mentioned there, however. There, we drew attention to another important point. Studying data on land ownership by delegates, we found that 7.5% of all delegates owned land at the time of the congress, but only 5.7% are engaged in agriculture on it, and only 3.3%, as noted, themselves believed Agriculture his main occupation.

Taken into account when registering general lists delegates and their respective representation. 78.5% of delegates were delegated to the congress by local congresses of Soviets, 4% by Soviets, 2.9% by executive committees and other institutions - 2.6%. In addition, 3.5% represented the army and 8.5% were members and candidates for membership of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It turned out that the overwhelming majority of delegates were delegated to the union congress by the local congresses of Soviets that preceded it, and for delegates with a casting vote this percentage increased to 90.9%. Particularly noted was the participation of many congress delegates in previous Russian congresses of Soviets, with 21.3% of them participating in only one congress, while the total number of participants in various congresses was 45.1%.

Naturally, such a detailed record of information about the congress delegates could not be complete without the education column. 49.3% of delegates had lower education, 18.6% had secondary education, 7.1% had higher education, in addition, 1.6% were students, and 9.2% had incomplete higher education. Out-of-school education was also taken into account - 11.7%, illiterate - 2% and illiterate, there were also 0.5% of the delegates. The proportion of delegates arriving from various regions of the country was also taken into account. Thus, the treaty (report term) republics were represented as follows: Ukraine - 16.9% (364 delegates, of which 354 with a casting vote), Transcaucasian Federation - 4.1% (91 and 73, respectively) and Belarus - 1, 3% (33 and 23) of all delegates. The rest, naturally, fell on the Russian Federation (1,727 delegates, of which 1,217 had a casting vote), and representation was also indicated for individual regions - Tatarstan, Crimea, Turkestan, Kyrgyzstan, etc.

This is the general picture that gives an idea of ​​​​those people who had to legislatively decide the issue of creating the Soviet Union. Of course, a lot of work was done to identify various data, but thanks to it, this detailed information about the delegate composition of the unification congress is known today. The presence of more than two thousand representatives, naturally, did not imply any significant operational work at the congress. The congress was supposed to take stock of what had already been done before and not get drawn into discussions. Its main task was the constitution of a new state, and this task was completed in full.

The agenda consisted of only three issues - a separate consideration of the Declaration and Treaty on the Formation of the USSR and the elections of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR. On the first two points, and in general, the main report of the congress was made by J.V. Stalin. But this report was significantly shorter than what he delivered at the Tenth Congress of Soviets of the RSFSR. He presented the first congress as a turning point in the history of Soviet construction. According to him, the old period was ending when the Soviet republics, despite all their joint actions, still walked apart, dealing with issues of their existence, and now, according to him, a new period begins - the period of unification of the republics into a single union state. At the same time, he emphasized that this new period testifies to the desire of the Soviet government to develop into a serious international force capable of changing the international situation in the interests of workers all over the world. Stalin described the opening day of the congress as “the day of triumph of the new Russia over the old, over Russia - the gendarme of Europe, over Russia - the executioner of Asia.”

In general, the international aspect of the creation of the USSR was given great importance at the congress. In particular, on behalf of the Comintern, the congress to French(Smidovich acted as translator) was welcomed by V. Kolarov, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party, a prominent figure in the international communist movement. Kolarov, on behalf of the Comintern, which then included organizations from 62 countries, emphasized the outstanding international significance of the creation of a single union state, since the working people of the whole world in the USSR see an example of liberation from the oppression of capital and an example of friendship and cooperation between peoples. According to him, for the first time in history, “the masses of numerous peoples living over such a large territory exercise the right to freely dispose of themselves, possessing supreme power and proclaiming the unconditional right to secede from the union at any time if their supreme interest indicates this, the working masses of the socialist Soviet republics will today conclude this union, a union of individual states, with the common goal of facilitating their overall development and strengthening their self-defense.” According to Kolarov, the Comintern sees in this congress the practical implementation of the future form of the state, covering the peoples of the whole world.

At the congress, the attention was attracted by the introductions of M. V. Frunze, Odinets, S. M. Kirov, representing Ukraine and Transcaucasia, respectively, as well as the envoys of the Central Asian republics - Bukhara and Khorezm - Kara Yoldash Bulatov and Sultan-Galiyev. These republics were then called not socialist, but people's Soviet republics. At the congress, their representatives, in fact, were present as guests, but in their speeches they expressed the desire of the peoples Central Asia soon also become part of the USSR. This emphasized the possibility of other republics joining the USSR, including those where Soviet power had not yet been established.

M. V. Frunze, who spoke immediately after Stalin’s report, on behalf of the conference of plenipotentiary delegations, emphasized the compliance of the actions of the congress with the principles of equal rights of nations and showed the fundamental difference between the different paths of state building in the Soviet country and in the capitalist world. He dwelled on the stages of preparation of the Declaration and the Treaty on the Formation of the USSR, especially noting the discussion of these documents at the Congresses of the Councils of the Republics, where they received approval. Frunze, however, in order to obtain additional guarantees, proposed to continue work on these documents and send both the Declaration and the Treaty for approval by the Central Executive Committee of the Union Republics, whose opinion should be further taken into account by the Central Executive Committee of the USSR and approved by the next Congress of Soviets of the USSR. He proposed to once again involve the governments of national states in resolving this issue (the term of his report is V.G.). At the same time, Frunze emphasized: “This path seems to be long, but we have to reckon with the fact that the work that we have now started is a matter of extreme importance, it is a work that is worth working on for more than one or two months.” , so that the results come out as perfect as possible.” At Frunze's suggestion, the congress voted for both the Declaration and the Treaty in the main.

S. M. Kirov, introduced to the congress as a Baku worker, mentioned the difficult lot of small peoples in the old, autocratic Russia and noted the great importance that the workers and peasants of the national outskirts of Russia attached to the organization of the USSR. Kirov, emphasizing historical meaning the decisions adopted by the congress revealed the prospects for the unity of the fraternal family of peoples in the emerging Soviet Union. By the way, it was Kirov, on behalf of the proletariat of the Transcaucasian republics, who proposed to found the House of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in Moscow in honor of the formation of a new state.

If Kirov spoke on behalf of the Baku workers, then on behalf of the Ukrainian peasantry the floor was given to Odinets, a peasant from the Chernigov province, who, besides the speaker, made the longest speech. In it, a significant place was devoted to the plight of the Ukrainian people, their history and current situation. He assessed rather negatively the activities of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, who, according to him, installed new lords instead of old ones, that is, hetmans. He called Catherine II the most sworn enemy of Ukraine and spoke in the harshest terms about the tsarist regime, which enslaved Ukrainian people and persecuted Ukrainian culture. He emphasized that Ukrainian culture was maintained only in Galicia, but even there its pogrom was carried out by tsarist officers. Among other things, they, according to Odinets, destroyed the Academy of Ukrainian Sciences.

The discussion here was about the activities of the tsarist government during the First World War in Galicia, where the Rusyns favorably greeted Russian troops, but by order of the tsarist government, Ukrainian cultural institutions, Ukrainian schools, as well as the Scientific Partnership named after. Shevchenko,” the publication of Ukrainian newspapers and magazines was banned and many figures of the Ukrainian national movement were arrested, some of whom were exiled to Siberia. In 1922, when Odinets spoke, these events were still vivid in the memory and the speaker even considered it necessary to state: “Before there was a union of robbers, now there is a union of workers. We, the villagers, understand our union as the only hope that now we are together and no one will separate us.” It is interesting that, speaking about the union of the four republics, Odinets also considered it necessary to emphasize that the first place would be open to the Polish proletariat and peasantry, and then to other peoples from London and Berlin to Beijing and Tokyo.

WITH short speeches or greetings at the congress were also made by S. S. Kamenev, at that time the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic, Ya. E. Rudzutak, G. I. Petrovsky, M. G. Tskhakaya, and from the credentials commission - by V. N. Maksimov. In addition to Kalinin, Frunze also chaired the congress.

The most important documents of the congress, which can be called historical, were the Declaration and the Treaty. The Declaration spoke of the split of the world into two camps - the camp of capitalism and the camp of socialism. In the camp of capitalism, national enmity, colonialism, national oppression, the tangle of national contradictions becomes increasingly entangled, and the bourgeoisie turns out to be powerless to establish cooperation among peoples. Only the camp of the Soviets under the dictatorship of the proletariat can completely destroy national oppression. Only in this way was it possible to repel attacks by imperialists around the world, both internal and external. But instability international situation creates the danger of new attacks and therefore a united front of the Soviet republics is necessary in the face of capitalist encirclement. But unification into one socialist family is also encouraged by the very structure of Soviet power, international in its class nature. Further, they emphasized both the voluntary nature of the unification, the equality of peoples, and the possibility of access to the Union for other socialist republics, including those that may arise in the future. Each republic was also guaranteed the right to freely secede from the Union. The creation of the Union was seen as an important step towards uniting the workers of all countries into the World Socialist Soviet Republic.

The text of the Declaration differed little from its draft developed by the Commission on October 6 and approved by the Plenum of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) on December 18, 1922. But there were still some differences. In addition to minor stylistic amendments, the phrase was included - “the new union state will be a worthy crowning of the foundations of peaceful coexistence and fraternal cooperation of peoples laid back in October 1917.” In the draft, this phrase sounded somewhat differently. The draft also said nothing about the World Socialist Soviet Republic. Another difference, and undoubtedly an important one, was that instead of indicating the need to sign an agreement on the formation of the Union of Socialist Republics of Europe and Asia, as was the case in the draft, it provided for the signing of an agreement on the formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Thus, the Declaration emphasized both international and internal factors in the unification of the republics, and, first of all, the emphasis was placed on the structure of Soviet power, which was international in its class nature. The Declaration upheld all three main principles of the national policy of the Communist Party, which were clearly visible on the eve of the October Revolution - the principle of internationalism, the principle of the right of nations to self-determination up to secession and the principle of federalism, Soviet federalism, which provided for the destruction at the root of national oppression, the creation of an environment of mutual trust and the foundations of fraternal cooperation between peoples. These principles were actually stated in the Declaration and, among other things, it demonstrated the continuity of the foundations of the new policy laid down in October 1917. The mention of October 1917 was not accidental, and in this regard the new formulation was clearer than that present in the draft , which spoke of the foundations “that were laid five years ago,” that is, when they did not directly talk about October 1917.

The next fundamental document discussed by the First Congress of Soviets was called the “Treaty on the Formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.” It, in fact, bore the character of the Constitution. Like the draft approved by the party authorities, it consisted of 26 articles. The differences from the project on individual points were not very significant. For example, some details appeared, for example, the number of members of the Central Executive Committee was previously planned at 300 members, but now it is 371. A notable innovation was Article 14, where the following resolution was written: “Decrees and resolutions of the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the Union are printed in the languages commonly used in the Union republics (Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Georgian, Armenian, Turkic).” This was the result of local discussions about the project. The VII All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets, as noted, even used the term “state languages”. In the Constitution of Georgia of March 2, 1922, the Georgian language was declared the state language, but there was also a note about ensuring the right of free development and use for national minorities native language, and not only in their national-cultural, but also in national institutions. The term “state language” does not appear in the Treaty and instead they preferred to write about commonly used languages, listing only six languages. It is curious that the term “Turkic language” appears, by which one can understand the languages ​​of all Turkic peoples, not only Azerbaijani.

The Treaty clearly delineated the functions of the supreme bodies of the USSR, the Council of People's Commissars, and the union republics. In particular, the republics were supposed to have their own budgets, which would be components the all-Union budget, while the list of income and the amount of revenue deductions going to the formation of the budgets of the Union republics was to be determined by the Central Executive Committee of the Union.

According to the Treaty, a single union citizenship was established for citizens of all union republics, the flag, coat of arms and state seal of the USSR were established and Moscow was declared the capital. The right of free secession of the union republics and the need to amend the constitutions of the republics in accordance with the Treaty were recognized.

The Congress adopted a resolution approving the Declaration and the Treaty, by virtue of which they were basically approved. But, recognizing the extreme importance of these documents, the Congress decided on the need to listen to the final opinions of all the republics included in the Union, for which they were sent to the Central Executive Committees of the union republics and their reviews were to be presented to the Central Executive Committee of the USSR for its next session. It was decided to approve the final text of the Declaration and Treaty at the Second Congress of Soviets of the USSR.

The congress also adopted special resolutions on the founding of the House of the USSR, on the creation of the Central Scientific Institute of Agriculture with branches in all union republics (this proposal was made at the congress by the representative of the Ukrainian peasantry Odinets) and on the celebration of the founding day of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In this last resolution the following was written down verbatim: “To instruct the Central Executive Committee of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to establish a holiday on the territory of the USSR to commemorate the formation of the USSR.” The congress unanimously elected 371 members and 138 candidates to the USSR Central Executive Committee. Enukidze, read out the nominations for the Central Executive Committee by delegation. There were 270 members from the RSFSR, and the top five looked like this: Kalinin, Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, Zinoviev. 88 members of the Central Election Commission were elected from Ukraine and the first Ukrainian five included Petrovsky, Rakovsky, Frunze, Manuilsky, Lebed. The Central Executive Committee included 26 members from the TSFSR. They were named first from Georgia, and then mixed, so there is no need to talk about the first five. But the Central Executive Committee included Makharadze, Mdivani, Kirov, Narimanov, Nazaretyan. Belarus was represented in the Central Election Commission by only 7 members and the Belarusian list was opened by A. G. Chervyakov, V. A. Bogutsky and M. M. Khodosh.

Closing the congress, Kalinin summed up the results of its work, calling it “an event of world importance.” He identified three most important achievements in the creation of the USSR, which included the pooling of material resources, the political factor and a new principle of relations between peoples - the principle of friendship and fraternal coexistence, emphasizing that only the first stone is being laid in this principle of interethnic relations. Kalinin emphasized: “Entire millennia have passed since the best minds of mankind have been struggling with a theoretical problem in search of forms that would give peoples the opportunity to live in friendship and brotherhood without the greatest torment, without mutual struggle. Only now, today, is the first stone being practically laid in this direction.”

On the same day, December 30, 1922, the First Session of the USSR Central Executive Committee took place, chaired by G.I. Petrovsky. At the suggestion of Yenukidze, the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the Union is formed, consisting of 19 members and 13 candidates. 11 members of the Presidium represented the RSFSR - M. I. Kalinin, I. V. Stalin, L. B. Kamenev, A. I. Rykov, A. D. Tsyurupa, M. P. Tomsky, T. V. Sapronov, A. S. Enukidze, D. I. Kursky, Ya. E. Rudzutak, P. G. Smidovich. From Ukraine there were four members of the Presidium - G. I. Petrovsky, Kh. G. Rakovsky, D. Z. Manuilsky, F. Ya. Kon, from the ZSFSR - three - N. Narimanov, A. F. Myasnikov, G. P Mdivani and from Belarus there was one member of the Presidium - A. G. Chervyakov. M. I. Kalinin, G. I. Petrovsky, N. Narimanov and A. G. Chervyakov were elected chairmen of the USSR Central Executive Committee. A. S. Enukidze became the secretary of the Union Central Executive Committee.

This session also adopted seven resolutions. They contained instructions to the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee to develop by the next session of the Central Executive Committee of the Union a regulation on the People's Commissariats of the USSR, to outline the personal composition of the People's Commissars and to submit them for approval at the next session of the Central Executive Committee, which was scheduled for April. The Presidium was also given some other instructions. Before the convening of the II session of the Central Executive Committee of the Union, all powers to issue decrees and resolutions binding on the entire USSR were transferred to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and its Presidium.

The work of the congress was widely covered in all media of the time. mass media, and after its end, special meetings and rallies were held in many regions of the country with resolutions supporting his decisions. On January 9, at the Plenum of the Kharkov City Council, a special resolution was adopted on this matter, where it was decided: “... to warmly welcome the creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which is the key to the unity and strengthening of the currently existing Soviet republics and the expansion of the borders of the proletarian revolution throughout the world.” In a similar spirit, the next day, January 10, 1923, the resolution of the Plenum of the Kyiv City Council and many other decisions based on the results of the congress were adopted. International significance The education of the USSR was usually placed in first place. They often wrote about the future world union of Soviet republics, as can be read in the telegram of the III Azerbaijan Congress of Trade Unions or about the world proletarian revolution. The importance of the creation of the USSR as a powerful political and economic organization capable of quickly restoring industry and agriculture was also emphasized, which can be read in the resolution of the non-party peasant conference of the Polonsky volost of the Volyn province of Ukraine dated January 10, 1923. The motives of friendship of the peoples of the USSR were also heard, which can be seen in telegram of the second session of the III All-Khorezm Kurultai dated January 13, 1923

However, numerous letters and telegrams approving the work of the congress did not mean the end of discussions on the concrete implementation of its decisions, nor did they put an end to the struggle between the interests of the center and the outskirts. V.I. Lenin, whose health was deteriorating and whose isolation from the outside world was increasing, also knew about this. With all this, it is clearly visible how concerned he was about the future of the country and, in particular, how the national issue would be resolved. On December 30, 1922, that is, on the day of the congress, Lenin began and on December 31 finished dictating a note to M.A. Volodicheva, which went down in history as the article “On the question of nationalities or “autonomization.” It was first published in the Soviet press in 1956, but initially it was not a secret, since it was brought to the attention of the delegates of the XII Congress of the RCP (b) in 1923. They also knew about it abroad, because a copy of it was taken by L. Trotsky, in whose archive it was located.

This note is interesting in itself and for the influence it had on the course of the future party congress and we have to turn to it again because V. A. Sakharov, who devoted a large place to it in his monograph, questioned Lenin’s authorship. In his opinion, the text of the note itself testifies against Lenin’s authorship. Moreover, the very first lines of the note are already called into question, where Lenin noted: “I seem to be very guilty before the workers of Russia for not intervening energetically and sharply enough in the notorious question of autonomization, officially called, it seems, the question of the union of Soviet socialist republics." (In Trotsky’s copy, the word “Autonomization” is placed in quotation marks and begins with a capital letter, just as the abbreviation USSR is used).

Further, as we know, Lenin said, “thus, the question passed me by almost completely.” V. Sakharov, in response to these remarks, does not agree with the author of the letter and emphasizes Lenin’s decisive influence on the decisions made. In general, who of the Bolsheviks of that time could reproach the sick Lenin except himself? Lenin, whom the Bolsheviks already during his lifetime considered a genius and, of course, a great Marxist. Kh. Rakovsky, a longtime associate of G.V. Plekhanov, wrote in 1924: “Ilyich has enormous services to Marxism: he saved Marxism from degeneration, to which it would inevitably have come after it, thanks to Kautsky and others, became official doctrine to justify social patriotism and social renegadery.” So only Lenin himself could then make such comments to himself.

Why does Lenin take the blame on himself? Firstly, he took up this issue closely only at the end of September, when the leadership of the three republics did not speak out for the “autonomization” plan, in fact, against it. Secondly. Lenin, being present at the Plenum of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) on October 5, 6, when this particular issue was being decided, was absent and, thirdly, due to illness, indeed, could not attend either the December Plenum or two Congresses of Soviets - Russian and All-Union. The note was dictated on the day of the first Union Congress. Serious issues are being resolved, and the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR is not present at either the X Congress of Soviets of the RSFSR or the Founding Congress of the USSR. After the telegram of October 21, 1922 on the “Georgian case” and the interview with M. Farbman of October 27, until December 30, there are no direct Leninist documents on the problems of the formation of the USSR. Even in the summary of V.I. Lenin’s speech at the X All-Russian Congress of Soviets, which he was not present at, and knew about this in advance, not a single one of the 24 designated points is devoted to national problems. The summary, apparently, was compiled before December 15, 1922, since it was on this day that Lenin wrote a letter to Stalin, where he emphasized the impossibility of his participation at this congress. True, he still hoped to meet with doctors, with whom he intended to discuss the possibility of his speaking at the congress. And then he continued: “I would consider refusing it a great inconvenience for myself, to say the least.”

Lenin views the impossibility of participating in the Tenth Congress as a great inconvenience and even worse. That is, Lenin clearly felt guilty even before the notes of December 30–31. Lenin’s plan, which he outlined in a letter to Kamenev on September 26, indeed had a decisive impact on the construction of the USSR. Lenin, of course, knew how things were being decided in this direction, but he had good reasons to say that he could not do this a difficult issue every day and was absent during the most important meetings where specific issues of the creation of the USSR were directly resolved.

V. Sakharov’s other arguments in favor of his statement are constructed at approximately the same level. The author does not explore the issue, but proves his version. Since our work has other goals and we cannot deviate much from them, we will not refute the author’s verbal construction point by point. We have indeed examined them and cannot accept them categorically. We will return to Lenin’s attitude to the “Georgian cause” later. Let us turn to the text of the dictated note itself and try to understand its main meaning, for even when Lenin was ill, it had an impact on the implementation of the national policy of the Communist Party.

Lenin, first of all, expresses his disagreement with the actions of Ordzhonikidze and Dzerzhinsky and gives an unambiguously negative characterization of the apparatus, which he calls completely alien and a bourgeois and tsarist mishmash. In this regard, “freedom to leave the union,” according to Lenin, turns out to be an empty piece of paper that will not be able to protect foreigners from “the Great Russian chauvinist, in essence, a scoundrel and rapist, which is a typical Russian bureaucrat.” Lenin also reproaches Stalin for his, as they say, haste and administrative enthusiasm, and also bitterness against “social-nationalism.” At the same time, Lenin considered it necessary to utter the following words: “Bitterness in general usually plays the worst role in politics.” Returning again to Dzerzhinsky and Ordzhonikidze, Lenin emphasizes that they were the authorities in relation to other citizens of the Caucasus and, even more so, had to show special restraint. And further, at the end of the entries on December 30, Lenin poses, in his words, an important fundamental question: “how to understand internationalism?”

He begins his note with this question the next day, December 31st. He opposes the abstract formulation of the question of nationalism and distinguishes between the nationalism of the oppressing nation and the oppressed nation, the nationalism of a large nation and the nationalism of a small nation. In this regard, since the nationals of a large nation are to blame for endless violence, it is necessary to eliminate not only formal but also actual inequality. Hence, Lenin sees the need for concessions to small nations and especially emphasizes: “That is why in this case it is better to over-salt in the direction of compliance and softness towards national minorities than to under-salt.”

Lenin sets the task of further strengthening the union of socialist republics, proposes to place political responsibility for the “Georgian affair” on Stalin, Dzerzhinsky and Ordzhonikidze, and pays special attention to the policy in the field of national languages. He proposes to return to these issues at the next Congress of Soviets and even allows for “leaving the union of Soviet socialist republics only in relation to the military and diplomatic, and in all other respects restoring the full independence of individual people’s commissariats.” At the same time, he recalls party authority, that is, the role of the party and sees inconsistency in the work of the apparatus as a lesser evil than a possible aggravation of interethnic relations. He pays special attention to the international factor, primarily to the awakening of the peoples of the East and to the example of the Soviet country, and does not allow the fundamental sincerity in national relations and the need to fight imperialism to be undermined. Lenin concluded this note with faith in the future “when the awakened peoples oppressed by imperialism will finally awaken and when a decisive, long and difficult battle for their liberation will begin.”

The note is in many ways a continuation of Lenin's previous views on the national question, but there are also some new passages in it. It is clear that he did not consider the decisions of the First Congress of Soviets of the USSR to be final and saw the need for further work on the construction of a new state. It, by no means, should have turned into a confederation, because a single party apparatus was preserved, and Lenin speaks about this in his note. He does not at all talk about the destruction of the upper floor, which, as we know, was proposed by him. As for the policy towards small nations, it will be adopted by the party and will yield significant results in the very near future. This document will influence both the concrete work on the further creation of the USSR and the development of a theory of national relations, intended not only for domestic consumption. It is no coincidence that in 1923–1924. A number of works were published devoted to Lenin’s role in developing the national question. One of the leaders of the People's Commissariat of Nationalities, S. Dimanshtein, publishes a special article on Lenin's legacy on the national question even before the First World War. Tovstukha publishes a collection of Lenin's essays on the national question. Stalin gives a special lecture at Sverdlovsk University on the national question and repeatedly mentions Lenin, and Rakovsky publishes a brochure on the creation of the USSR, also starting from Lenin and proving the need for the further development of Soviet statehood. At the same time, a number of other works of a similar plan were published.

The First Congress of Soviets of the USSR, of course, was the most important event in the construction of the Union of Soviet Republics, which Lenin outlined back in 1917. In general, 1922 became decisive in the preparation and formalization of this union. Discussions were inevitable, and approaches were tried out literally on the fly. Not everything could be predicted in advance, and some initial settings had to be changed. The international situation, internal affairs of a socio-economic and political nature, V. I. Lenin’s illness, and relationships at the top had their impact Soviet leadership, especially in connection with the possible change of the main ideologist and head of the party and government. All this, of course, must be taken into account in further work to complete the construction of the USSR.

Officially, the date of formation of the USSR is December 30, 1922. On this day, at the first Congress of Soviets, the Declaration on the Creation of the USSR and the Union Treaty were signed. The Union included the RSFSR, the Ukrainian and Belarusian socialist republics, as well as the Transcaucasian Federation. The Declaration proclaimed the principles of voluntary unification, equal rights of the republics and their right to freely secede from the union. The agreement delimited the functions of republican and central government bodies. At the congress, a new legislative body was elected - the Central Election Commission and 4 of its chairmen: Kalinin from Russia, Petrovsky from Ukraine, Chervyakov from Belarus, Narimanov from the Trans-SFSR.

First Constitution of the USSR

Key points:

• - voluntary entry;
• - right of exit; access to the USSR, existing and potential Soviet socialist republics;
• - the right of republics to any laws;
• - the territory of the republics cannot be changed without its consent.

The Constitution approved a single union citizenship. Moscow was declared the capital of the USSR. In the field of electoral law, the principles of the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918 remained unchanged, giving preference to the working class over the peasantry. The multi-stage elections remained and open system voting when electing deputies to the Soviets.

Problems were within the competence of the Union foreign policy and foreign trade, armed forces, communications. The remaining issues remained under the jurisdiction of the republics: issues of domestic policy, justice, education, health care and social security.

Congress of Workers' Councils, cross. and Red Army deputies, who proclaimed the formation of the Union of Soviets. Socialist Republics; took place in Moscow on December 30. 1922. Delegations of the RSFSR (1,727 delegates, of which 1,217 with a casting vote), the Ukrainian SSR (364 and 354 delegates, respectively), the ZSFSR (91 and 73), and the BSSR (33 and 23) took part. National composition of delegates: Russians - 62.5%, Ukrainians - 8%, Belarusians - 1.1%, Jews - 10.8%, representatives of the peoples of the Caucasus - 4.5%, representatives of the Turkic peoples - 5.7%, Latvians and Estonians - 3.4%, representatives of other nationalities - 4%. Social composition: workers - 44.4%, peasants - 26.8%, intellectuals and office workers - 28.8%. Members and candidates of the RCP(b) made up 94.1% of the delegates, members of other parties (Jewish Social Democratic Party, Left Socialist Federalists of the Caucasus, Anarchist) - 0.2%. Agenda: consideration of the Declaration on the Formation of the USSR, consideration of the Treaty on the Formation of the USSR (the rapporteur on these issues was J.V. Stalin), elections of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR. The formation of the USSR was based on deep objective processes of development of the Soviet Union. public and state building. Three main reasons dictated the need to unite independent, contractual owls. republics into the Soviet Union multinational state: tasks of restoration of people. economy and construction of socialism, the tasks of the country's defense in capitalist conditions. environment, international character of the Soviet Union. authorities. Class. nature socialist state, historical division of labor, economic. and cultural ties between the republics, the development of federal ties between them, the experience of joint revolution. the struggle of the peoples of Russia - all this served as important prerequisites for the creation of the USSR. His previous experience in military-political, foreign policy. and economical cooperation of owls republics convinced the masses of the advisability of forming a union multinational. socialist state The leading role in the creation of the USSR belonged to the Communist Party. parties. The October (1922) plenum of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) adopted a resolution on the creation of a federal state on the basis of a voluntary union of equal and sovereign people. republics The Plenum appointed a commission to develop the constitutional foundations of the USSR, which included representatives of the RSFSR, Ukrainian SSR, BSSR, and TSFSR. Held in December 1922, the 7th All-Ukrainian, 4th All-Belarus. 1st Transcaucasian and 10th All-Russian. Congresses of Soviets made decisions on the need to form the USSR and elected their plenipotentiary delegations to the 1st All-Union Congress of Soviets. 29 Dec The conference of plenipotentiary delegations of the republics discussed the work procedure and approved the draft Declaration and Treaty on the Formation of the USSR. The 1st Congress of Soviets of the USSR elected V.I. Lenin as its honorary chairman, who was absent from the congress due to illness, and sent him greetings. Prev. M. I. Kalinin was elected at the congress. The Congress unanimously decided to approve mainly the Declaration and the Treaty on the Formation of the USSR. In view of the extreme importance of these documents and the desirability of listening, they will finish. opinion on the texts of the constitutional acts of all the uniting republics, the congress decided to transfer both documents to supplement. consideration by the Central Election Commission of the union republics. The USSR Central Executive Committee was instructed to consider the feedback received, approve the texts of the Declaration and the Treaty, put them into effect and submit them to completion. texts of documents for approval by the 2nd Congress of Soviets of the USSR. The USSR Central Executive Committee, elected at the congress, consisted of 371 members and 138 candidates from all union republics. The 1st session of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR (December 30, 1922) elected the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of 19 members and 13 candidate members. The following were elected as chairmen of the Central Executive Committee: M. I. Kalinin - from the RSFSR, G. I. Petrovsky - from the Ukrainian SSR, N. Narimanov - from the Trans-SFSR, A. G. Chervyakov - from the BSSR, and A. S. Enukidze as the secretary of the Central Election Commission. Lit.: I Congress of Soviets of the USSR. Verbatim report, M., 1922; Congresses of Soviets of the USSR, Union and Autonomous Soviet Socialist. Republic Sat. Doc-tov, vol. 3, M., 1960; Yakubovskaya S.I., Construction of the Union Sov. socialist state 1922-25, M., 1960 (bib.). G. D. Komkov. Moscow.

All-Union Congresses of Soviets of the USSR and the Central Executive Committee of the USSR (Central Executive Committee of the USSR) 1922-1938.

The creation of the system of supreme bodies of the USSR is inextricably linked with the creation of the new state itself - the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

In the spring and summer of 1922, negotiations were held between the RSFSR and the Ukrainian SSR to clarify their federal relations. In May 1922, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) formed a commission chaired by M.V. Frunze to resolve this issue. During her work, it became clear that there was a need to establish new forms state relations not only between the RSFSR and the Ukrainian SSR, but also between other republics. “It was decided,” wrote M.V. Frunze, “to invite all union republics to discuss the issue of relations between the Soviet republics in their entire breadth and outline appropriate solutions.” In the summer of 1922, the question of clarifying the principles of building a federation was raised by the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the BSSR and the Transcaucasian Regional Committee of the RCP (b) in the Central Committee of the party.

However, there was no consensus on the principles of creating a single union state.

Initially, three points of view were expressed:

1) the creation of a union in the form of a confederation, in which all republics would have national markets, currencies, customs systems, armies, etc.;

2) the inclusion of other Soviet republics into the RSFSR on the basis of autonomy;

3) creation of a federation of equal republics.

The unacceptability of the first proposal was quickly revealed, while the second, coming from Stalin, was actively imposed on the republics. Prepared by I.V. Stalin’s project “On the relationship of the RSFSR with the independent republics,” which envisaged the entry of the republics into the RSFSR on the basis of autonomy, did not provide for its public discussion, but was intended to be implemented in a directive manner. The wide dissemination of this idea was explained by the fact that the bodies of the RSFSR (Congresses of Soviets, All-Russian Central Executive Committee, Council of People's Commissars, People's Commissars)\ in 1921-1922. have actually already acquired federal significance. Individual representatives of the autonomous republics of the RSFSR also advocated the “autonomization” of the republics. In September-October 1922, the “autonomization” plan was discussed at the plenums of the Central Committee of the Communist Parties of the Soviet republics. This plan was unconditionally supported by the Central Committees of the Communist Parties of Azerbaijan and Armenia; the plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia called it premature; The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus put forward the idea of ​​preserving contractual relations between the BSSR and the RSFSR. And although the opinion of Ukraine was not yet known, on September 23-24, 1922, the commission of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) approved Stalin’s theses.

IN AND. Lenin did not participate in the discussion, but, having familiarized himself with the materials on September 26, 1922, sent a letter to the members of the Politburo. Having rejected the idea of ​​“autonomization,” Lenin put forward and substantiated the idea of ​​​​forming a union of republics - the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. It was the Soviet socialist federation that seemed to him the most acceptable form of state-political structure of a multinational country. He thought of the functioning of the Soviet federation as a long stage of resolving all contradictions in the field of national life, including the sphere of state relations. “Such a union,” Lenin wrote, “cannot be realized immediately; it must be worked through with the greatest patience and caution.” Having formally agreed with Lenin's proposal, Stalin did not abandon his position and put forward the thesis about the primacy of the class over the national. He spoke about this in a report at the XII Party Congress (April 1923), when the USSR had already been created, but the Constitution of the USSR had not yet been approved. The new draft of the commission of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) was finally approved at the Plenum of the Central Committee on October 6, 1922. It received full approval of the party and Soviet bodies and the working masses of the republics. The Central Executive Committee of the Ukrainian SSR (October 16, 1922), the I Transcaucasian Congress of Soviets (December 13), the IV All-Belarusian Congress of Soviets (December 18), the X All-Russian Congress of Soviets (December 26) approved and supported the idea of ​​​​creating the USSR. The October Plenum of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) formed a commission to develop the “Main Points” of the future Constitution of the USSR. The commission accepted the proposal of M.I. Kalinin to create the All-Union Congress of Soviets as the supreme body of power (the original project was limited to the all-Union Central Executive Committee).

Proposal by L.B. Kamenev and T.V. Sapronov's proposal that the newly created state be called the RSFSR was rejected. The development of the draft Fundamentals of the Constitution and the text of the Union Treaty was entrusted to a subcommittee, which adopted the documents prepared by G.V. Chicherin and D.I. Kursky. It was proposed at the First Congress of Soviets of the USSR to accept the Declaration and the Treaty on the Formation of the USSR only in essence, then to ratify them in the Central Executive Committee of the republics, and only after that at the Second Congress of Soviets of the USSR to finally approve these documents.

The First Congress of Soviets of the USSR opened on December 30, 1922. It was attended by 1,727 delegates from the RSFSR, 364 from the Ukrainian SSR, 91 from the ZSFSR, 33 from the BSSR. The congress approved two main documents: the Declaration on the Formation of the USSR and Union Treaty about the formation of the USSR. The first of them stated that the USSR is a voluntary association of equal peoples, access to which is open to all socialist Soviet republics, “both existing and those that will arise in the future.” Each republic retained the right to secede from the Union. The Union Treaty consisted of 26 points, which defined the foundations of the unification - the competence of the USSR, the structure of government and management bodies, established a single citizenship, etc. The First Congress of Soviets of the USSR elected the Central Executive Committee of the USSR. On the same day, December 30, at the first session of the USSR Central Executive Committee, its Presidium and four chairmen of the USSR Central Executive Committee (according to the number of united republics) were elected. The Presidium was instructed to prepare for the next session of the Central Executive Committee - by April 1923 - draft regulations on the People's Commissariats of the USSR, on the Council of People's Commissars and STO of the USSR, on the Central Executive Committee of the USSR and its members, drafts of the state flag and coat of arms of the USSR.

Thus, the First Congress of Soviets of the USSR became the final stage of the unification movement of the peoples of the Soviet republics. The creation of the USSR was an outstanding event that showed the possibility and feasibility of such a union of peoples on the basis of voluntariness and equality. It seems that the main goal of the formation of the USSR was not even the solution of the national question as such. Rather, it was a form of organizing connections between nation states. But if the idea of ​​unification and creation of a federation of equal republics did not raise objections, then the question of how to put into practice the construction of government bodies and management of the federation was not entirely clear for some time. Therefore, soon after the Congress of Soviets, the Central Executive Committee of the USSR formed the Constitutional Commission of the Central Executive Committee under the chairmanship of M.I. Kalinina. At the same time, the Plenum of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) created a constitutional commission chaired by Stalin. On April 27, 1923 (after the XII Party Congress), the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee decided to create a new Constitutional Commission consisting of 25 people. from representatives of all union Central Election Commissions. The expanded commission worked from June 8 to June 16, 1923. The draft Constitution of the USSR, developed by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the Central Executive Committee of the Ukrainian SSR and the Central Executive Committee of the BSSR, was discussed. During the work on a single draft Constitution, heated controversy arose around its individual provisions and articles. Some of the projects submitted to the Constitutional Commission contained ideas of confederation, others - “autonomization”.

Representatives of individual autonomous republics (in particular, the Tatar republic) generally proposed liquidating the RSFSR, so that the autonomous republics would join the USSR directly, as federal subjects.

The consolidated draft of the Constitution of the USSR was prepared by the commission by mid-June 1923. Then it was approved at the Plenum of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), considered and approved by the highest bodies state power union republics. On July 6, 1923, the Central Executive Committee of the USSR unanimously approved the draft Constitution of the USSR and decided to submit it for final approval to the Second Congress of Soviets of the USSR. On July 6, 1923, the first all-Union Constitution came into force. In July, the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR notified the peoples and governments of the world that the highest bodies of power and administration of the USSR had taken shape and began to operate. On January 31, 1924, the Second Congress of Soviets approved the Constitution of the USSR.

The Constitution of the USSR of 1924 consisted of two sections - the Declaration on the Formation of the USSR and the Treaty on the Formation of the USSR. The Declaration, adopted by the First Congress of Soviets of the USSR, was included in the Constitution without changes. Instead of 26, the treaty now contained 72 articles. The Constitution determined the structure of the Union authorities and their competence. A special section was devoted to guarantees of the sovereign rights of the union republics. The combination of union sovereignty and the sovereignty of the republics was guaranteed by the delimitation of the sphere of competence between the union and republican authorities. From the time of the adoption of the USSR Constitution of 1924 until the adoption of the USSR Constitution of 1936, great changes took place in nation-state building. These changes took place in several directions:

1) changes in the composition of the USSR as a result of the formation of new union republics;

2) changes in the state-legal form of some republics and autonomous regions;

3) strengthening the role of the center, allied authorities and management as a result of the expansion and strengthening of the administrative-command management system.

A major event was the national-state demarcation in Central Asia. Until 1924, there were three state formations on the territory of Central Asia and Kazakhstan - the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which was part of the RSFSR, and the Bukhara and Khorezm NSR. Their borders did not coincide with the ethnic boundaries of the settlement of peoples. In January 1924, at the XII Congress of Soviets of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the question of national-state delimitation was raised. On June 12, 1924, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) adopted a resolution “On the national delimitation of the republics of Central Asia (Turkestan, Bukhara, Khorezm),” which was then discussed in these republics. On October 14, 1924, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee decided to separate the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic from the RSFSR, giving its people the right to create their own national entities.

As a result of the demarcation, the Uzbek and Turkmen SSRs, the Tajik ASSR as part of the Uzbek SSR, the Kara-Kalpak Autonomous Region as part of the Kazakh ASSR, and the Kara-Kirgiz Autonomous Region as part of the RSFSR were formed. On October 27, 1924, the Central Executive Committee of the USSR approved the decision to create Central Asian national republics and regions. On January 2, 1925, the territory of the Pamirs was included in the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic as the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region.

To manage the newly created republics and regions during the organizational period, temporary revolutionary committees were formed. They made the necessary preparations for elections to local Soviets and the first national congresses of Soviets. Along with defining the boundaries of the newly formed republics and regions, economic demarcation was also carried out - the distribution of all assets (factories, plants, acreage, livestock, etc.) between the republics and regions, based on the size of their population and the size of the territory.

The III Congress of Soviets of the USSR On May 13, 1925, unanimously accepted the Turkmen SSR and the Uzbek SSR into the USSR. In 1929, the Tajik Republic was transformed from an autonomous one into a union one. Taking into account that this republic, on national, economic and geographical grounds, was completely separate from the Uzbek SSR, the Central Executive Committee of the USSR on December 5, 1929 approved the transformation of the Tajik ASSR into the Tajik SSR. At the VI Congress of Soviets of the USSR (1931) it was accepted into the USSR. Thus, by the beginning of the 30s, there were already seven union republics within the USSR. At the same time, the boundaries of the union republics were clarified: they sought to bring them into more complete compliance with the boundaries of the actual settlement of peoples. So, for example, part of the territory of the RSFSR went to Belarus - certain areas of the Vitebsk, Gomel and Smolensk provinces, where the Belarusian population predominated, to Tajikistan - part of the territory of the Uzbek SSR, etc.

In the mid-20s, the Mountain Republic was demarcated. In February 1924, according to the report of A.I. Mikoyan “On the structure of power in the Mountain Republic”, the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee of the Party decided to create the North Ossetian and Ingush Autonomous Regions and the Sunzhensky (Cossack) District. The Kabardino-Balkarian, North Ossetian, Ingush, Chechen and other autonomous regions of the North Caucasus and the Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic became part of the North Caucasus Territory in 1925. In 1934, as a result of the merger of two regions, the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Region was created. In May 1923, the creation of the Buryat-Mongolian ASSR as part of the RSFSR was formalized. In July 1923, the Karelian Labor Commune was transformed into the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In April 1925, the Chuvash Autonomous Region was transformed into the Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

In March 1924

The Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (Bolsheviks) discussed the report of G.I. Kotovsky on the creation of the Moldavian Republic, and in July a resolution was adopted on the creation of the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic with its capital in the city of Balta. The Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Region was renamed the Kirghiz Autonomous Region in May 1925, and on November 18, 1926 it was transformed into the Kirghiz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In January 1930, the Mordovian Okrug, created in 1928 as part of the Middle Volga Territory, was transformed into the Mordovian Autonomous Region, and in 1934 Mordovia received the status of an autonomous republic.

In March 1932, the Kara-Kalpak Autonomous Region was transformed into the Kara-Kalpak Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In December 1934, the Udmurt (Votskaya) Autonomous Region was transformed into an autonomous republic. The same changes in the state-legal form of national associations occurred in the Transcaucasian republics, where the Nakhichevai region (1924) and Nagorno-Karabakh (1923) as part of the Azerbaijan SSR, Abkhazia (1930) as part of the Georgian SSR received the status of autonomy.

National districts occupied a special place among national entities. They arose mainly in places where the peoples of the North and Far East. Thus, in the late 20s - early 30s, 10 national districts arose: Nenets, Taimyr, Evenki, Koryak, Chukotka, Yamalo-Nenets, Aginsky Buryat, Ust-Orda Buryat, Komi-Permyak, Khanty-Mansiysk.

Strengthening the Soviet multinational state assumed the elimination of actual inequality between peoples. This was achieved primarily through direct material assistance to the republics. Factories and factories with all the equipment and part of the qualified personnel were transferred from the RSFSR to the Central Asian and Transcaucasian republics, equipment, equipment, inventory, and seeds were sent. Large allocations were allocated for irrigation, construction railways, electrification of the Central Asian republics. The Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars in 1929 adopted a decision according to which the high rates of economic development of the national republics were ensured mainly at the expense of the RSFSR: 64.3% of the fishing tax was allocated to the budget of the RSFSR (the rest of it went to the all-Union budget), while the budgets of others republics, 100% of the tax was deducted; of the amounts of one-time taxation, 54% were allocated to the budget of the RSFSR, the BSSR - 75, the Ukrainian SSR - 100, the ZSFSR - 75%.

After the unification of the republics into a single union state, all-Union authorities were created - the All-Union Congresses of Soviets and the Central Executive Committee of the USSR. In the union and autonomous republics, the highest bodies of power continued to be the Republican Congresses of Soviets and the Central Executive Committee. This situation remained until 1936, when, with the adoption of the USSR Constitution, the entire Soviet system was restructured. The supreme authority of the USSR was the Congress of Soviets of the USSR. The 1924 Constitution of the USSR did not stipulate the competence of congresses. The supreme authority of the USSR could accept for consideration any issue that was within the jurisdiction of general federal administration; The exclusive responsibility of the congresses included changes to the Constitution of the USSR and elections of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR. The Congresses of Soviets also discussed the work of the USSR government and the reports of the heads of the leading economic people's commissariats. The composition of the congresses was formed as a result of multi-stage elections [from city councils one delegate was elected from every 25 thousand voters, from provincial (later regional, regional and district) congresses of Soviets - one delegate from every 125 thousand residents] by open voting . In those republics where there were no provinces, delegates were elected directly at the congresses of the Soviets of the union republics.

The Congresses of Soviets of the USSR were the supreme bodies of all workers, regardless of nationality, gender, literacy, residence and religious beliefs. At its core, suffrage was universal in the sense that the qualifications characteristic of many electoral systems (property, residence, etc.) were abolished, but it was universal only for working people. Seven categories of the population were deprived of their voting rights: persons who resorted to hired labor or lived on unearned income (interest on capital, from enterprises); private traders; monks and clergy; former employees of the police, gendarmerie, security departments; members of the former reigning house; mentally ill and under guardianship; deprived of voting rights by court (until 1958). All these restrictions were thought to be temporary. There was no passive or active suffrage: everyone who could vote could be elected. The latter principle was maintained until 1946.

Until 1936, the right to vote was granted to certain persons who were not citizens of the USSR: foreigners who belonged to the working class or the peasantry who did not benefit from the labor of others.

The number of delegates elected to the congresses constantly increased: the number of delegates with a casting vote at the All-Union Congresses of Soviets (from I to VIII) increased from 1673 to 2106.

Congresses of Soviets of the USSR were convened once a year, and since 1927 - once every two years. In addition to the regular congresses, on the initiative of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR or at the request of at least two union republics, an extraordinary congress of Soviets of the USSR could be convened. In total, since the formation of the USSR (1922), seven regular and one extraordinary Congress of Soviets of the USSR was convened (at which the Constitution of the USSR of 1936 was approved).

Up to 100 people were elected to the Presidium of the Congress; meetings were chaired alternately by the chairmen of the Central Executive Committees of the union republics. The Congress formed auxiliary bodies - the Council of Elders, the credentials commission, and the editorial commissions.

The Congresses of Soviets of the USSR carried out the functions of the supreme body of power, but the range of issues discussed at the congresses, in the conditions of the emergence and development of the administrative-command management system, was steadily narrowing. The most important decisions on fundamental issues of economics, politics, culture (collectivization, industrialization, etc.) were often made not at the Congresses of Soviets of the USSR or sessions of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, but by party bodies. Therefore, the reports of the government or people's commissars discussed at all-Union congresses were informational, reporting, and not staged. Since 1929, the deadlines for convening congresses of Soviets of the USSR were also violated; the congresses themselves increasingly took on a ceremonial, solemn, rather than businesslike character.

Since congresses of Soviets met periodically, a permanent supreme body of power was needed. Such bodies were the Central Executive Committee (CEC) and its Presidium. The idea of ​​​​creating a union Central Executive Committee belonged to V.I. Lenin. He emphasized the need to establish a procedure in which this highest all-Union body of power would be chaired in turn by the heads of the Central Executive Committee of the Union republics.

The USSR Central Executive Committee, formed at the First Congress of Soviets of the USSR, included 171 members and 136 candidates. The representation of the Union republics in it was proportional to the size of their population. At the same time, the RSFSR and the Ukrainian SSR voluntarily gave up part of their seats in favor of the less populated republics. Among the members of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, workers made up 46.2%, peasants - 13.6%, office workers and intellectuals - 40.2%. The numerical composition of the USSR Central Executive Committee changed: at the III Congress of Soviets, 582 people were elected to the USSR Central Executive Committee, at the VII Congress of Soviets - 757 people.

In its structure, the Central Executive Committee of the USSR was first unicameral, and since July 1923 - bicameral. Both chambers were equal. Voting, as a rule, was carried out separately. Debates on the reports were also conducted separately. Proposals to discuss reports at a general meeting of both chambers did not always meet with support at first, but from the late 20s, with the consent of both chambers, joint meetings began to be practiced more and more often.

The functions, powers and structure of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR were determined by the Constitution of the USSR of 1924. and the Regulations adopted in 1923, the Central Executive Committee of the USSR had broad powers in the economic field (development of a unified national economic plan and state budget of the USSR, establishment of all-Union taxes and revenues, a single monetary system), in the field of nation-state building, in resolving controversial issues between allied republics. He had the right to cancel resolutions of the Congresses of Soviets and the Central Executive Committee of the Union Republics that violated the Constitution of the USSR, established the principles of land management and land use, judicial system and legal proceedings. In area foreign policy activities The Central Executive Committee of the USSR was authorized to enter into foreign loans and ratify treaties (since 1925). All decrees that established general norms of political and economic life were subject to mandatory consideration by the Central Executive Committee of the USSR. All issues were resolved by open voting and a simple majority of votes; roll-call voting was also allowed at the request of CEC members.

Members of the USSR Central Executive Committee were endowed with legislative initiative, had the right to request, and could attend meetings of any government and administrative body on the territory of the USSR. Only the Congress of Soviets could exclude a member of the Central Executive Committee from its composition, and only in special cases- The Central Election Commission itself is obliged to notify the congress about this.

The USSR Central Election Commission worked in sessions: regular sessions were held 3 times a year. According to the Treaty on the Formation of the USSR, sessions of the USSR Central Executive Committee were planned to be held in the capitals of the union republics, but this provision was not included in the Constitution of the USSR. Only two visiting sessions took place: in 1925 - in Tbilisi, in 1927. - in Leningrad. Long breaks between sessions led to an expansion of the legislative and supervisory activities of the CEC Presidium. From the beginning of the 30s, a new procedure was introduced at the sessions of the USSR Central Executive Committee: delegates were asked to approve by “list” the resolutions adopted by the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee between sessions of the USSR Central Executive Committee. At the session in January 1934, this list consisted of 34 resolutions; in January 1936, it already included 66 resolutions. Approval by the “list” deprived delegates of the opportunity to discuss the law and make changes to it.

To prepare all materials and sessions of the Central Executive Committee, both chambers elected their own Presidiums, which formed the common Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR. The first meeting of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee took place on January 10, 1923. It included 19 people: 11 from the RSFSR, 4 from the Ukrainian SSR, 3 from the ZSFSR, 1 from the BSSR. At the first session of the Central Election Commission of the second convocation, a new Presidium consisting of 21 members was elected. In addition to 7 people elected at a joint meeting of both chambers, it included the full Presidium of both chambers. The Presidium was the highest legislative, executive and administrative authority between sessions of the USSR Central Executive Committee. He had the right to issue legislative acts and make changes to the Constitution (except for its fundamentals). It united the work of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Executive Committee of the union republics, and could suspend the action of resolutions of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, congresses of Soviets of the union republics and republican Central Executive Committees. The Presidium could issue decrees and orders; he informed the chambers of the Central Election Commission about the most important decisions issued between sessions. In the early 1930s, the rule-making activities of the Presidium expanded; in a number of cases, it resolved issues that fell within the competence not only of the Central Executive Committee, but also of the Congresses of Soviets. The exclusive competence of the Presidium included issues of general and private amnesty, admission to citizenship and deprivation of it.

Since the beginning of the 20s, existing laws began to be interpreted in such a way that they could cover up lawlessness. For example, Article 107 of the Criminal Code (“speculation”) began to be applied to peasants who refused to sell grain at the state price, while the law precisely defined that speculation is the buying and resale for the purpose of profit.

The peak of “emergency legislation” occurred in 1930-1932. These are, first of all, party decisions related to collectivization and the liquidation of the kulaks. These are decisions of the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR on the unified agricultural tax (June 23) and taxation of kulaks (December 23, 1930), on liability for damage to agricultural equipment (February 13), on the basis of which the republican criminal codes provided for punishment in in the form of fines or forced labor for a period of 6 months to 3 years. In the resolution of January 21, 1931, for crimes that disrupt the work of transport (violation of traffic rules, poor-quality repairs of rolling stock, etc.), it was proposed to apply punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of up to 10 years, and for actions that are clearly malicious in nature , - capital punishment with confiscation of property; The Central Electoral Commission of the Union Republics was proposed to add Article 17 to their Criminal Codes.

In 1932, the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a number of resolutions that toughened the penalties: for the theft of postal items, for illegal slaughter and deliberate mutilation of horses, for the theft of state, collective farm and cooperative property (those who attempted it “should be considered as enemies of the people”, and the penalty is 10 years with confiscation of property or execution); on the repeal of clause “E” of Art. 47 of the Labor Code (failure to show up for work without good reason was subject to dismissal and deprivation of cards); On December 1, 1934, by decree of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, changes were made to the articles of the Criminal Code of the Union Republics on the commission of terrorist acts: the period of investigation in such cases should not exceed 10 days, cases were heard without the participation of the parties, cassation appeals and filing petitions for pardon were not allowed, the sentence of capital punishment was carried out immediately. Main feature This emergency legislation was not only boundless cruelty, but also unusually flexible: they could be applied for any offense and convicted for any term.

At the same time, the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, in addition to legislative activities, also had other levers of influence. For example, when in November 1929 The Plenum of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks demanded that the role of local Soviets be strengthened in carrying out collectivization; the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee held a meeting (January 1930) of representatives of the Soviets. It was recognized that the Soviets should take the lead in the collective farm movement, and the village Soviet, which did not reorganize its work, was subject to immediate re-election. On January 31, 1930, a circular letter was sent to all the Central Executive Committees of the union republics, in which it was “recommended” to hold early re-elections to rural and district Soviets if their composition was clogged with “alien elements” and poorly managed collectivization.

The centralization of management, the consolidation of an increasing number of functions for managing all aspects of public life into federal government bodies and the merging of the party and state apparatuses led to the fact that the Central Executive Committee of the USSR and its Presidium gradually acquired a huge number of institutions.

Directly subordinate to the USSR Central Executive Committee and its Presidium were:
All-Union Committee for a New Alphabet;

Committee for the Management of Scientists and Educational Institutions;

Committee for the Land Arrangement of Roma Workers;

Committee for the Land Arrangement of Working Jews,

Commission for the Improvement of Women's Work and Life,

All-Union Council for Public Utilities,

Commission for Religious Affairs,

Institutes (red professorships, oriental studies, literature named after Gorky, living oriental languages, etc.), museums, etc.

In total, more than 100 institutions were under the direct jurisdiction of the USSR Central Executive Committee; its budget included several newspapers and magazines, 34 communist agricultural schools, several dozen scientific and educational institutions. The highest body of power from the legislative body gradually turned into a kind of “general people's commissariat” managing a huge economy.

Throughout the entire period, the scope of powers and rights of the USSR and the republics was not stable; it changed towards expanding the rights of the Union, mainly in matters of management of industry and finance. The number of union and union-republican people's commissariats grew, and from 1930 all lending was concentrated in the union bodies, in particular in the State Bank of the USSR. In the 1930s, decisive steps were taken to centralize the judicial system, and the scope of all-Union jurisdiction expanded. All this can only partly be explained by the need to concentrate forces and resources for the restoration and reconstruction of the national economy.

Since the late 20s, there has been a tendency towards expanding the rights of union bodies (especially the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR), tightening the centralization of management and narrowing the competence of the republics. First of all, this concerned industry and finance. For example, the initial list of enterprises of national importance, approved on November 12, 1923, was constantly increasing due to enterprises withdrawn from republican jurisdiction. In 1929, the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR issued a resolution according to which, with the consent of the relevant body of the union republic, enterprises were transferred to the jurisdiction of the USSR by decision of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, and in the absence of such, by decision of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee. Based on this resolution, many republican enterprises were transferred to the direct subordination of the union bodies. The competence of the union bodies expanded significantly in 1932 in connection with the liquidation of the Supreme Economic Council.

The formation of the USSR changed the legal status of the republics. All union republics adopted new constitutions, which, based generally on the principles of the USSR Constitution, at the same time were its addition. Some constitutions (RSFSR, ZSFSR, TSSR) lacked chapters on the sovereign rights of republics and the right to secede from the USSR. The constitutions of the Abkhazian, Georgian, Armenian, and Azerbaijani SSRs had articles on the right to secede from the USSR. The question of state language. In Georgia, the Georgian language was declared the state language, in Abkhazia - two languages ​​(Abkhazian and Russian), the Constitution of the Belarusian USSR stated that all legislative acts were published in the Belarusian, Russian, Jewish and Polish languages.

The democratic order of discussion and adoption of the most important decisions was violated. Since the end of the 20s, bills were sent less and less frequently to the republics for discussion, and in 1929 the right of the republics to directly raise issues with the Central Executive Committee of the USSR was abolished: now the republics had to first submit them for consideration to the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. This limitation of the legislative initiative of the republics was not only not a historical necessity, but was a direct consequence of the tightening of centralization of government and the infringement of the rights of the union republics. The republics repeatedly petitioned for the repeal of certain decisions of the Central Executive Committee or the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. Between the V and VI Congresses of Soviets, the RSFSR made similar requests 26 times, the Ukrainian SSR - 26, the Uzbek SSR - 5, and the ZSFSR - 4 times.

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