Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (1917-1922)

Name Origin

From October 1917 to July 1918 the new state was poorly formalized. Until April 20, 1918, there was no officially approved state flag (even the generally recognized symbol of the revolution - a simple red flag - was not officially approved) and a coat of arms (the image of the two-headed eagle is often found on the seals of the first Soviet institutions ^[8] ). Until July 19, 1918 there was no constitution . In various government documents, the state itself was called differently (see below), in the administrative-territorial division of the state there was complete diversity bordering on confusion. Often in the same territory several councils of "workers", "soldier" or "peasant" deputies in any combination acted simultaneously and other revolutionary bodies of power, such as Revolutionary Military Councils, executive committees, etc., which often ignored each other's decisions . Often, individual provinces or national regions proclaimed themselves independent "Soviet" republics. Therefore, the most appropriate state of the first socialist state in this period (at least before the adoption of the first Constitution) is reflected in the following unofficial names: Soviet Russia, the Republic of Soviets, the Country of Soviets (or widely spread in the ranks of the White movement , including in the White Guard press , the derogatory terms “Soviets”, “Sovdepiia” - from the new revolutionary word “Sovdep” (Council of Deputies), that is literally: the country of Soviets of Deputies ). Subsequently, the term Country of Soviets for a long time became a commonly used synonym for the concept of Soviet Russia or the entire USSR .

Soviet - means: representing, relating to the Soviets of "workers", "soldiers", "sailors" or "peasant" deputies, subsequently called the Soviets of People's Deputies .

Acceptance of an official name

By resolution of the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies, on October 25 ( November 7 ), 1917, the Russian Soviet Republic was proclaimed in the territory of the Russian Republic . However, various names were applied to the state:

• Russia, Russian Republic ^[9]
• Russian Federation ^[4]
• Soviet Republic of Russia ^[5]
• Russian Soviet Republic ^[3]
• Russian Socialist Soviet Republic ^[10]
• Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic ^[11]
• Russian Federation Soviet Republic ^[6]
• Socialist Republic of Soviets ^[12]
• Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic ^{[13] [14]}

These names often existed simultaneously. So, approved on January 18 ( January 31 ) 1918 by the III Congress of Soviets “ Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People ”, the unitary state of the Russian Soviet Republic was declared a federation . Later, a series of documents indicated the “Russian Socialist Republic” (for example, in the Treaty with the Finnish Socialist Workers Republic of February 16 [ March 1 ] 1918 ^[15] ).

The Fifth All-Russian Congress of Soviets on July 10, 1918 adopted the first Constitution of the RSFSR , which entered into force on July 19, 1918 ^[1] , according to which the official name of the country was enshrined: Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (RSFSR), amended by the Constitution of the USSR of December 5, 1936 the following: Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic ^[16] .

October 25 ( November 7 ), 1917 in Petrograd there was an uprising as a result of which the Provisional Government was abolished.

The Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets , which opened on the same day, created the Council of People's Commissars ( Sovnarkom ), which included only the Bolsheviks, headed by V. Lenin . The congress also elected a new composition of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee , chaired by L. Kamenev , in which the Bolsheviks took 70 out of 100 seats, and adopted decrees on peace and on land .

The II Congress of Soviets represented only workers 'and soldiers' deputies, the II Congress of peasant deputies was held independently on November 26 - December 10 (December 9–23), and its majority was a Social Revolutionary ^[17] , which caused a fierce struggle with the Bolsheviks at the Congress. In preparation for the Congress, the Bolsheviks demanded that the credentials committee include representatives of military units, mostly pro-Bolshevik, in the Congress.

On December 4, this congress split: its “left” (Bolsheviks and left Social Revolutionaries ) and “right” wing (right Social Revolutionaries and Socialist Revolutionaries of the center) begin to sit separately. On December 6, the “left” part of the Congress declared itself the only legitimate Congress, and during December 6-8, the CEC completely paralyzed the activities of the “right” part of the Congress. Without the help of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries, as a “peasant” party, the Bolsheviks would not be able to organize a sufficiently strong “left wing” of the Second Congress of Soviets of Peasant Deputies. In gratitude, the Bolsheviks invited the Left Socialist Revolutionaries to join the Council of People's Commissars.

On December 4, under pressure from Germany, the Council of People's Commissars recognized the People’s Ukrainian Republic and its right to secede from Russia ^[18] .

On December 15, 1917, the Central Executive Committee of the II Congress of Soviets of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies united with the Central Executive Committee of the Second Congress of Soviets of Peasant Deputies ^[19] .

On December 18, by a resolution on the Republic of Finland, the Council of People's Commissars recognized the independence of Finland ^[20] .

Constituent Assembly

Almost immediately after coming to power, on October 27, the Bolshevik Council of People's Commissars adopted a resolution on the holding of elections to the Constituent Assembly on November 12.

The election result clearly showed the alignment of voters' sympathies in the country. In Petrograd and Moscow, the Bolsheviks received a relative majority of votes (45% and 48% respectively), in large industrial cities - an average of 53.1%. In the Northern and Western fronts, on the Baltic Fleet, the Bolsheviks also gained an absolute majority of votes (56%, 67% and 58.2%, respectively). At the same time, in the whole country, the Social Revolutionaries (right and centrists) gained an absolute majority of 51.7% of the vote. The Bolshevik-Left Socialist-Revolutionary coalition gained 38.5% of the mandate.

On November 26, the Bolshevik Council of People's Commissars issued a resolution according to which a quorum of 400 delegates is required for the activities of the Assembly. On November 28, 60 delegates gathered in Petrograd, mostly right-wing Social Revolutionaries, who tried to start the Assembly. On the same day, the Council of People's Commissars outlawed the cadet party by issuing a decree "On the arrest of the leaders of the civil war against the revolution" ^[21] . The cadet newspaper Rech was closed, which reopened two weeks later under the name Our Century ^[22] . On November 29, the Bolshevik Sovnarkom banned the "private meetings" of the delegates of the Constituent Assembly. Then the right-wing Socialist-Revolutionaries formed the " Union for the Defense of the Constituent Assembly ."

On January 5, 1918, the Constituent Assembly opened, but on the same day it was dissolved by the decision of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. In January 1918, the CEC, elected by the "left" part of the II Congress of Soviets of Peasant Deputies, convened the III Congress, which in its composition was almost entirely Bolshevik-Left Socialist-Revolutionary. Both the III Congress of Soviets (peasant deputies and workers' and soldiers' deputies) united in one III Congress of Soviets of workers, soldiers and peasants' deputies.

Civil War and Intervention

During the Civil War , supporters of the White Movement and the Cossacks fought against the Bolsheviks, and the armed forces of 14 foreign states (interventionists) were also involved in it. The Civil War contributed to the establishment of the military-communist principles of the organization of society, the system of production and distribution.

According to the results of the revolution and the Civil War, the territories of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus were occupied by Poland, which regained its independence, and became a part of it. Bessarabia was annexed by Romania . Kars region moved to Turkey. Independent states were formed in the territories of the Grand Duchy of Finland , the Coven , Suvalk , Livonia , Estland and Courland . At the same time, the central authority regained control of Transcaucasia and Central Asia by 1922, Japanese interventionists were expelled from the Far East , Turkish and British troops left the territory of Armenia and Azerbaijan .

According to the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918, the supreme power in the RSFSR was the All-Russian Congress of Soviets .

Chairmen of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee

• L. B. Kamenev (from October 27 ( November 9 ) 1917 )
• Y. M. Sverdlov (from November 8 ( November 21 ) 1917 )
• M.F. Vladimirsky (acting) (from March 16 to March 30, 1919 )
• M.I. Kalinin (since March 30, 1919 )

Chairpersons of the Council of People's Commissars

• V.I. Lenin (from November 9, 1917 )

Initially, the old administrative-territorial division was preserved in Soviet Russia, the main units of which were provinces and regions. At the end of 1917-1918 on the territory of the RSFSR, regional associations of Soviets and state entities called the Soviet republics arose.

The III All-Russian Congress of Soviets proclaimed the federal structure of Soviet Russia, which was enshrined in the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918 ^[23] . According to the constitution, the Russian Federation was declared a federation of Soviet national republics (Article 2); Article 11 stipulated that, on the basis of a federation, the RSFSR includes autonomous regional unions (unions of regions "distinguished by a special way of life and national composition").

One of the first was the Turkestan Soviet Republic , which was proclaimed in the spring of 1918. In the same period, the Donetsk-Kryvyi Rih , Terskaya, Kuban-Black Sea, Don , Tauride Soviet republics arose, which were considered parts of the Russian Federation. All of them, except the Turkestan Soviet Republic, in 1918 ceased to exist under the blows of the interventionists and White Guards and were not restored ^{[24] [25]} .

In the same period, Western , Ural, Northern , Moscow and other regional associations appeared. In particular, the Moscow Region was a federation of fourteen provincial councils, each province had its own Council of People's Commissars, which was subordinate to the Moscow Regional Council of People's Commissars. These associations existed until 1919 ^{[24] [25]} .

Also created state entities on a national basis. In the second half of 1918, such a form of autonomy appeared as the labor commune, and from 1920 another form of autonomy - the autonomous region - began to be widely used. At the end of 1918, the Volga German Labor Community was formed. In 1919, the Bashkir Soviet Republic was created as part of the RSFSR, and in 1920-1921 - the Kyrgyz ( Kazakh ) Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the Tatar , Dagestan, Gorsky Autonomous Republics, the Karelian Labor Commune , the Chuvash , Kalmyk , Mari , Votskaya ( Udmurt ) autonomous regions. In 1921-1922, the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was formed as part of the RSFSR, as well as autonomous regions: Karachay-Cherkess, Kabardino-Balkaria, Komi , Mongolo-Buryat ^[26] .

At the beginning of 1919, Soviet power was established in the states of Ukraine, Belarus, Estonia , Latvia and Lithuania . The RSFSR considered these states as sovereign and entered into close relations with them regarding the solution of military, economic and other problems. In June 1919, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee adopted a decree “On the Unification of the Soviet Republics: Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus to Combat World Imperialism”. In accordance with it, the republican bodies of the military organization and military command, the CHX, the people's commissariats of finance, labor, and communications were subject to association. To guide these industries, the creation of single colleges was envisaged. By 1920, in Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, Soviet power was liquidated and allied relations ceased ^[24] .

In the future, relations between the RSFSR and the Soviet republics developed as part of bilateral contractual relations. The first in December 1920 was an alliance agreement between the RSFSR and the Ukrainian SSR , in January 1921 a similar agreement was concluded between the RSFSR and the BSSR , and then with other Soviet republics. In particular, the “Union Worker-Peasant Agreement between the RSFSR and the Ukrainian SSR”, approved by the VIII All-Russian Congress of Soviets on December 28, 1920, provided for the republics to enter the military and economic union. The commissariats were declared united: military and naval affairs, the Supreme Economic Council , foreign trade, finance, labor, means of communication, mail and telegraph. These commissariats were supposed to be part of the SNK of the RSFSR , and the SNK of the Ukrainian SSR had to have their representatives, who were approved and controlled by the Ukrainian Central Executive Committee and the Congress of Soviets ^[25] .

The Azerbaijan SSR , the Armenian SSR and the Socialist Soviet Republic of Georgia were created in Transcaucasia in 1920 - early 1921. On December 8, 1921, a military convention on naval affairs was concluded in Tbilisi between the RSFSR and the Soviet republics of Transcaucasia. On February 22, 1922, a meeting of representatives of the RSFSR, Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Far East, the Bukhara and Khorezm Soviet republics was held in Moscow. Representatives of the republics signed a protocol that transferred the RSFSR the right to represent and protect the interests of all republics, to speak at the Genoese conference on their behalf and conclude international treaties and agreements on behalf of all the republics with the states participating in the Genoese conference, as well as with all others ^{[25] [ 27]} .

The Far Eastern Republic (FER) was originally created on the basis of diplomatic considerations as a buffer state in order to avoid a clash between the RSFSR and Japan . After in October 1922 the People's Revolutionary Army of the Far Eastern Republic defeated the White Guards and supplanted the interventionists, on November 14, 1922, the Popular Assembly of the Far Eastern Republic decided to transfer power to the Soviets and asked the All-Russian Central Executive Committee to join the Far East to the RSFSR. The next day, November 15, the territory of the Far Eastern Democratic Republic was included in the RSFSR ^[24] .

The formation of the USSR was the result of a discussion that began in the early 1920s on the settlement of relations between the Soviet state formations formed on the territory of the former Russian Empire, during which the plan put forward by the People’s Commissar of Nationalities Stalin “autonomy” of the territories controlled by the Bolsheviks - the direct inclusion of formally allocated during the civil war independent Soviet republics back to the RSFSR on the rights of the autonomous republics of the Russian Federation - was rejected. Under Lenin’s pressure, an “internationalist” project was adopted, according to which the main Soviet republics that existed at that time received formal equality with each other, and the word “Russian” was removed from the name of the “big federation”.

On December 30, 1922, the RSFSR together with Ukraine ( USSR ), Belarus ( BSSR ) and the republics of Transcaucasia ( ZSFSR ) merged into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

The agreement was signed on December 29, 1922 at a conference of delegations from congresses of the Soviets of four republics: the RSFSR , the Ukrainian SSR , the BSSR and the ZSFSR . Approved on December 30, 1922 at the I All-Union Congress of Soviets . The last date is considered the date of formation of the USSR. The approval of the contract legally formalized the creation of a new state within the four union Soviet republics .

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• Full Texts and All Laws Amending Constitutions of the Russian SFSR (рус.)
• Russian Federation; The Whole Republic a Construction Site by DS Polyanski (англ.)
• Full 1918 RSFSR Constitution (англ.)