History of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. Creation of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR

1. Organize the Solovetsky special-purpose forced labor camp and two transit and distribution points in Arkhangelsk and Kemi.
2. Organization and management specified in Art. I will be entrusted with the camp and transit and distribution points to the OGPU.
3. All lands, buildings, living and dead equipment that previously belonged to the former Solovetsky Monastery, as well as the Pertominsky camp and the Arkhangelsk transit and distribution point, should be transferred free of charge to the OGPU.
4. At the same time, transfer the radio station located on the Solovetsky Islands to the OGPU for use.
5. Oblige the OGPU to immediately begin organizing the labor of prisoners for the use of agricultural, fishing, forestry and other industries and enterprises, exempting them from paying state and local taxes and fees.

Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR Rykov
SNK Business Manager Gorbunov
Secretary Fotieva

Right:
Secretary of the special department of the OGPU I. Filippov

The copy from the copy is correct:
Secretary of the Department of Social Camps of the ON OGPU Vaskov

List of names of members of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR who adopted the Resolution "On the organization of the Solovetsky forced labor camp"

Not being “people’s” commissars, two more comrades had a hand in preparing the documents and decisions:

And finally, the document’s fidelity to the Resolution (or the correctness of the Resolution in the document?) was confirmed by comrades from the “authorities”:

Fillipov I. | Rodion Vaskov

"People's" commissars at the time of the creation of SLON:
half of them will die from the bullets of their “comrades-in-arms”

"Do not be afraid of enemies - in the worst case, they can kill you. Do not be afraid of friends - in the worst case, they can betray you. Fear the indifferent - they do not kill or betray, but only with their tacit consent do they exist in the land of betrayal and murder." ( Yasensky Bruno)

Beloborodov Alexander Georgievich(1891 –1938) - Regicide, signed the decision to execute the royal family. Replaced Dzerzhinsky as People's Commissar of VnuDel of the RSFSR (08/30/1923). Under him, the Directorate of Northern Camps was located on Solovki. Shot.

Bogdanov Peter(1882-1939) - Soviet statesman, engineer. Member of the RSDLP since 1905. In 1917, before. Gomel Revolutionary Committee. Member of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks in 1927-30. Member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, Central Executive Committee of the USSR. Arrested in 1937. Shot.

Bryukhanov Nikolay(1878 - 1938) - Soviet statesman. People's Commissar of Food of the USSR (1923-1924), Deputy People's Commissar of Finance of the USSR (1924-1926), People's Commissar of Finance of the USSR (1926-1930). Arrested on February 3, 1938. Shot.

Dzerzhinsky Felix(1877 - 1926) - Soviet statesman. Polish nobleman. The head of a number of people's commissariats, the founder of the Cheka, one of the organizers of the "Red Terror", who believed that "the Cheka must defend the revolution, even if its sword accidentally falls on the heads of the innocent."

Dovgalevsky Valerian(1885 - 1934) - Soviet statesman, diplomat. Member of the Communist Party since 1908, electrical engineer. From 1921 People's Commissar of Posts and Telegraphs of the RSFSR, in 1923 Deputy People's Commissar of Posts and Telegraphs of the USSR. He was a member of the USSR Central Executive Committee. Died. He was buried near the Kremlin wall.

Kamenev (Rosenfeld) Lev(1883 - 1936) From an educated Russian-Jewish family, the son of a machinist. On September 14, 1922, he was appointed deputy. Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (V. Lenin) of the RSFSR. In 1922, it was he who proposed appointing Joseph Stalin as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the RCP (b). Convicted in 1936. Shot.

Krasin Leonid(1870 - 1926) He is also Nikitich, Horse, Yuhanson, Winter, Kurgan. Soviet statesman. Born into the family of a minor official. In 1923 he became the first People's Commissar of Foreign Trade of the USSR. Died in London. He was buried near the Kremlin wall.

Krestinsky (?) Nikolai(1883-1938), party member since 1903. From the nobility, son of a gymnasium teacher. Since 1918, People's Commissar of Finance of the RSFSR. In May 1937 he was arrested. The only one refused to admit guilt: “I also did not commit any of the crimes that are charged to me personally.” Sentenced and executed in 1938.

Kursky Dmitry(1874 - 1932), People's Commissar of Justice of the RSFSR, first prosecutor of the RSFSR. Born into the family of a railway engineer. In 1918, he was a member of the commission on organizing intelligence agencies in Soviet Russia (together with Dzerzhinsky and Stalin). Member of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (1921) and the Central Executive Committee of the USSR (1923). Committed suicide (1932).

Lenin Vladimir(1870 - 1924), Soviet politician and statesman, revolutionary, founder of the Bolshevik Party, one of the organizers and leaders of the October Rebellion of 1917, chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (government) of the RSFSR and the USSR. Chief organizer of Elephant.

Lunacharsky Anatoly(1875 - 1933), - Soviet writer, politician, translator, publicist, critic, art critic. Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1930), People's Commissar of Education (1917-1929). Died in France. He was buried near the Kremlin wall.

Orakhelashvili Mamia (Ivan)(1881 - 1937) - Soviet party leader. Born into a noble family. He studied at the medical faculty of Kharkov University. From July 6, 1923 to May 21, 1925 - Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. In April 1937 he was exiled to Astrakhan. In 1937 he was arrested and executed.

Rykov Alexey(1875 - 1938), party member since 1898. Born in Saratov. Since 1921, deputy Pred. SNK and STO of the RSFSR, in 1923-1924. - USSR and RSFSR. Signed the decree on the creation of SLON. Expelled from the party (1937) and arrested. Shot on March 15, 1938.

Semashko Nikolay(1874 - 1949) - Soviet party and statesman. Nephew of the revolutionary G. Plekhanov. In Switzerland he met Lenin (1906). Since 1918 People's Commissar of Health of the RSFSR. Professor, academician of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences (1944) and the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the RSFSR (1945). He died a natural death.

Sokolnikov Grigory (Brilliant Hirsh)(1888 - 1939) - Soviet state. activist Member and can. member of the Politburo (1917, 1924-1925). People's Commissar of Finance of the RSFSR (1922) and the USSR (1923-1926). Arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison (1937). According to the official version, he was killed by prisoners in the Verkhneuralsk political isolation ward (1939). Shot on July 29, 1937, the corpse was burned. The ashes were thrown into a pit at the Donskoy Monastery cemetery in Moscow.

All these comrades are commissars of the Council of People's Commissars, members of the government - the same Leninist government that launched the state mechanism of terror with the first stop at Solovki, in SLON. All these “comrades” are directly involved in the adoption of the Resolution. Active position or criminal connivance. Question for the Court: what was each of them doing on November 2, 1923?

The Council of People's Commissars is the highest government body that exercised executive power in Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1946. This abbreviation stands for Council of People's Commissars, since this institution consisted of the heads of the People's Commissariats. This body first existed in Russia, but after the formation of the Soviet Union in 1922, similar entities were formed in other republics. The following year after the end of the war, it was transformed into the Council of Ministers.

Emergence

The Council of People's Commissars is a government that was initially created as a temporary body consisting of representatives of peasants, soldiers and workers. It was assumed that it should have functioned until the convening of the Constituent Assembly. The origin of the term's name is unknown. There are points of view that it was proposed either by Trotsky or Lenin.

The Bolsheviks planned its formation even before the October Revolution. They invited the Left Socialist Revolutionaries to join the new political entity, but they refused, as did the Mensheviks and Right Socialist Revolutionaries, so as a result a one-party government was convened. However, after the Constituent Assembly was dissolved, it turned out that it became permanent. The Council of People's Commissars is a body that was formed by the country's highest legislative institution - the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.

Functions

His responsibility included the general management of all affairs of the new state. It could issue decrees, which, however, could be suspended by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. Decisions in this governing body were made very simply - by majority vote. At the same time, the chairman of the mentioned legislative institution, as well as members of the government, were present at the meetings. The Council of People's Commissars is an institution that included a special department for case management, preparing issues for consideration. Its staff was quite impressive - 135 people.

Peculiarities

Legally, the powers of the Council of People's Commissars were enshrined in the Soviet Constitution of 1918, which stated that the body should manage general affairs in the state and certain industries.

In addition, the document stated that the Council of People's Commissars should issue bills and regulations necessary for the proper functioning of public life in the country. The All-Russian Central Executive Committee controlled all adopted resolutions and, as mentioned above, could suspend their effect. A total of 18 commissariats were formed, the main ones dedicated to military, foreign and naval affairs. The People's Commissar was directly in charge of the administration and could make decisions individually. After the formation of the USSR, the Council of People's Commissars began to perform not only executive, but also administrative functions.

Compound

The Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR was formed in very difficult conditions of political change and struggle for power. A. Lunacharsky, who took the post of the first People's Commissar of Education, argued that its composition was accidental. V. Lenin had a great influence on his work. Many of its members were not experts in the fields they were supposed to lead. In the 1930s, many government members were repressed. According to experts, the Council of People's Commissars consisted of representatives of the intelligentsia, while the Bolshevik Party declared that this body should be a workers' and peasants' body.

The interests of the proletariat were represented by only two people, which subsequently gave rise to the so-called workers' opposition, which demanded representation. In addition to the layers mentioned, the working group of the institution included nobles, minor officials, and the so-called petty-bourgeois elements.

In general, the national composition of the Council of People's Commissars still causes controversy among scientists. Among the most famous politicians who held positions in this body, there are such names as Trotsky, who was involved in foreign affairs, Rykov (he was in charge of the internal affairs of the young state), as well as Antonov-Ovseenko, who served as People's Commissar for Naval Affairs . The first chairman of the Council of People's Commissars is Lenin.

Changes

After the formation of the new Soviet state, changes took place in this body. From a Russian institution it turned into an all-Union government. At the same time, his powers were distributed among the allied authorities. Local republican councils were created locally. In 1924, the Russian and all-Union bodies formed a single department for affairs. In 1936, this governing body was transformed into the Council of Ministers, which performed the same function as the Council of People's Commissars.

Which was used until the adoption of the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918.

Since 1918, the formation of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR was the prerogative of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, and since 1937 - of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR. The Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR was formed from people's commissars - the heads of the people's commissariats (people's commissariats) of Soviet Russia - headed by the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR. Similar Councils of People's Commissars were created in other Soviet republics. [ ]

After the formation of the USSR, in the period between the signing of the Treaty on the Formation of the USSR on December 29, 1922 and the formation of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR on July 6, 1923, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR temporarily performed the functions of the government of the USSR.

“Immediate creation... of a commission of people's commissars... (m [minists] ry and comrades m [inist] ra").

Immediately before the seizure of power on the day of the revolution, the Bolshevik Central Committee instructed Kamenev and Winter (Berzin) to enter into political contact with the Left Socialist Revolutionaries and begin negotiations with them on the composition of the future government. During the Second Congress of Soviets, the Bolsheviks invited the Left Socialist Revolutionaries to join the government, but they refused. The factions of the right Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks left the Second Congress of Soviets at the very beginning of its work - before the formation of the government. The Bolsheviks were forced to form a one-party government.

The Council of People's Commissars was formed in accordance with the "" adopted on October 27, 1917. The decree began with the words:

To govern the country, until the convening of the Constituent Assembly, to form a temporary workers' and peasants' government, which will be called the Council of People's Commissars.

The Council of People's Commissars lost the character of a temporary governing body after the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, which was legislated by the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918. The All-Russian Central Executive Committee received the right to form the Council of People's Commissars; The Council of People's Commissars was the body for the general management of the affairs of the RSFSR, with the right to issue decrees, while the All-Russian Central Executive Committee had the right to cancel or suspend any resolution or decision of the Council of People's Commissars.

Issues considered by the Council of People's Commissars were decided by a simple majority of votes. The meetings were attended by members of the government, the chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the manager and secretaries of the Council of People's Commissars, and representatives of departments.

The permanent working body of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR was the administration, which prepared issues for meetings of the Council of People's Commissars and its standing commissions, and received delegations. The administrative staff in 1921 consisted of 135 people (according to data from the USSR Central State Administrative Office).

By the Law of the USSR of March 15, 1946 and the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR of March 23, 1946, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR was transformed into the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR. On March 18, the last decree of the government of the RSFSR was issued with the name “Council of People's Commissars”. On February 25, 1947, corresponding changes were made to the Constitution of the USSR, and on March 13, 1948, to the Constitution of the RSFSR.

All adopted resolutions and decisions of the Council of People's Commissars were reported to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (Article 39), which had the right to suspend and cancel a resolution or decision of the Council of People's Commissars (Article 40).

The following is a list of people's commissariats of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR according to the Constitution of the RSFSR of July 10, 1918:

Under each people's commissar and under his chairmanship, a collegium was formed, the members of which were approved by the Council of People's Commissars (Article 44).

The People's Commissar had the right to individually make decisions on all issues within the jurisdiction of the commissariat he led, bringing them to the attention of the collegium (Article 45).

With the formation of the USSR in December 1922 and the creation of an all-Union government, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR became the executive and administrative body of state power of the Russian Federation. The organization, composition, competence and order of activity of the Council of People's Commissars were determined by the Constitution of the USSR of 1924 and the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1925. From that moment on, the composition of the Council of People's Commissars was changed in connection with the transfer of a number of powers to allied departments. 11 Republican People's Commissariats were established:

Since February 22, 1924, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR had a single Administration of Affairs (based on materials from the Central State Administrative District of the USSR).

The Chairman of the State Planning Committee of the RSFSR and the head of the Department of Arts under the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR were also included in the composition of the Council of People's Commissars.

The vacant post of People's Commissar for Railway Affairs was later filled by M. T. Elizarov. On November 12, in addition to the Resolution on the creation of the Council of People's Commissars, A. M. Kollontai, the first female minister in the world, was appointed People's Commissar of State Charity. On November 19, E.E. Essen was appointed People's Commissar of State Control.

The historical first composition of the Council of People's Commissars was formed in conditions of a tough struggle for power. In connection with the demarche of the executive committee of the Vikzhel railway trade union, which did not recognize the October Revolution and demanded the formation of a “uniform socialist government” from representatives of all socialist parties, the post of People's Commissar of Railways remained unfilled. Subsequently, in January 1918, the Bolsheviks managed to split the railway trade union by forming an executive committee, parallel to Vikzhel, Vikzhedor, consisting mainly of Bolsheviks and left Socialist Revolutionaries. By March 1918, Vikzhel's resistance was finally broken, and the main powers of both Vikzhel and Vikzhedor were transferred to the People's Commissariat of Railways.

The People's Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs was formed as a collegium, consisting of Antonov-Ovseenko, Krylenko, Dybenko. In April 1918, this committee virtually ceased to exist.

According to the memoirs of the first People's Commissar of Education A.V. Lunacharsky, the first composition of the Council of People's Commissars was largely accidental, and the discussion of the list was accompanied by Lenin's comments: “if they turn out to be unfit, we will be able to change them.” As the first People's Commissar of Justice, Bolshevik Lomov (Oppokov G.I.) wrote, his knowledge of justice included mainly detailed knowledge of tsarist prisons with the peculiarities of the regime, “we knew where they beat, how they beat, where and how they put them in a punishment cell, but we did not know how to govern the state.”

Many people's commissars of the first composition of the Council of People's Commissars of Soviet Russia were repressed in the 1930s.

State charity (from 26.4.1918 - Social Security; NKSO 4.11.1919 merged with the NK Labor, 26.4.1920 divided):

The national composition of the Council of People's Commissars of Soviet Russia is still a subject of speculation.

Another method of fraud is the invention of a number of people's commissariats that never existed. Thus, Andrei Dikiy mentioned in the list of People's Commissariats the never-existing People's Commissariats for cults, elections, refugees, and hygiene. Volodarsky is mentioned as People's Commissar of the Press; in fact, he was indeed a commissar of press, propaganda and agitation, but not a people's commissar, a member of the Council of People's Commissars (that is, in fact, the government), but a commissar of the Union of Northern Communes (a regional association of Soviets), an active implementer of the Bolshevik Decree on the Press.

And, conversely, the list does not include, for example, the actually existing People's Commissariat of Railways and the People's Commissariat of Posts and Telegraphs. As a result, Andrei Diky doesn’t even agree on the number of people’s commissariats: he mentions the number 20, although the first composition included 14 people, in 1918 the number was increased to 18.

Some positions are listed with errors. Thus, the Chairman of the Petrosoviet Zinoviev G.E. is mentioned as the People's Commissar for Internal Affairs, although he never held this position. People's Commissar of Posts and Telegraphs Proshyan (here - "Protian") is credited with the leadership of "agriculture".

A number of persons are arbitrarily assigned Jewishness, for example, the Russian nobleman Lunacharsky A.V., an Estonian, who was never a member of the government, or Lilina (Bernstein) Z.I., who was also not a member of the Council of People's Commissars, but worked as the head of the department of public education under the executive committee of the Petrograd Soviet), Kaufman (possibly referring to cadet Kaufman A.A., according to some sources, was attracted by the Bolsheviks as an expert in the development of land reform, but was never a member of the Council of People's Commissars).

Also mentioned in the list are two left Socialist Revolutionaries, whose non-Bolshevism is not indicated in any way: People's Commissar of Justice I. Z. Steinberg (referred to as “I. Steinberg”) and People’s Commissar of Posts and Telegraphs P. P. Proshyan, referred to as “Protian-Agriculture” . Both politicians had an extremely negative attitude towards post-October Bolshevik policies. Before the revolution, I. E. Gukovsky belonged to the Menshevik “liquidators” and accepted the post of People’s Commissar of Finance only under pressure from Lenin.

In the same way - perhaps not without “imitation” of A. R. Gotz - Trotsky, capable of foresight, insisted that Commenting on this “position” of Trotsky, his current ardent admirer V. Z. Rogovin seeks, in particular, to convince readers that that Lev Davidovich was deprived of lust for power and had a firm intention. But these arguments are intended for completely simple-minded people, because Trotsky never refused membership in the Central Committee and the Politburo, and a member of the Politburo stood in the hierarchy of power disproportionately higher than any people's commissar! And Trotsky, by the way, did not hide his extreme indignation when in 1926 he was “relieved of his duties as a member of the Politburo”...

“There should not be a single Jew in the first revolutionary government, because otherwise reactionary propaganda will portray the October Revolution as a “Jewish revolution” ...”“after the coup, remain outside the government and... agreed to take government posts only at the insistent request of the Central Committee”

In 2013, speaking about the Schneerson collection at the Moscow Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center, President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin noted that "

“If we discard the speculations of false scientists who know how to find Jewish origins in every revolutionary, it turns out that in the first composition of the Council of People's Commissars (SNK) there were 8% Jews: of its 16 members, only Leon Trotsky was a Jew. In the government of the RSFSR 1917-1922. There were 12% Jews (six people out of 50). If we don’t talk only about the government, then in the Central Committee of the RSDLP(b) on the eve of October 1917 there were 20% of Jews (6 out of 30), and in the first composition of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP(b) - 40% (3 out of 7).”

Council of People's Commissars (1917-1937) and its functional activities.

The history of Soviet public administration dates back to the Second Congress of Soviets. It met at a turning point, when Petrograd was in the hands of the rebel workers and peasants, and the Winter Palace, where the bourgeois Provisional Government met, had not yet been taken by the rebels. The creation of a new system of public administration began with the development and proclamation of certain political postulates. In this sense, the first “managerial” document of the new emerging government should be recognized as the appeal of the Second Congress of Soviets “To workers, soldiers, peasants!”, adopted at the first meeting of the congress on October 25, 1917. This document proclaimed the establishment of Soviet power, i.e. formation of the Soviet state. Here the main directions of the domestic and foreign policy of the new state were formulated:

the establishment of peace, the free transfer of land to the peasantry, the introduction of workers' control over production, the democratization of the army, etc. The next day, October 26, these programmatic theses were concretized and embodied in the first decrees of the Soviet government - “On Peace” and “On Land”. Another decree established the first Soviet government. The resolution of the congress stated: “To form, to govern the country until the convening of the Constituent Assembly, a temporary workers’ and peasants’ government, which will be called the Council of People’s Commissars. The management of individual branches of state life is entrusted to commissions, the composition of which must ensure the implementation of the program proclaimed by the congress.” The decree established the following people's commissariats: agriculture, labor, military and maritime affairs, trade and industry, public education, finance, foreign affairs, justice, food affairs, post and telegraph affairs, nationalities and railway affairs. Control over the activities of the people's commissars and the right to remove them belonged to the Congress of Soviets and its Central Executive Committee.

Soviet statehood was born under the strong influence of democratic sentiments that reigned in society. At the same II Congress of Soviets V.I. Lenin argued that the Bolsheviks were striving to build a state in which “the government would always be under the control of the public opinion of its country... In our opinion,” he said, “the state is strong in the consciousness of the masses. It is strong when the masses know everything, can judge everything and do everything consciously.” Such widespread democracy was supposed to be achieved by involving the masses in governing the state.

Is it natural for the emergence of a new government in Russia and the creation of a new management system? In the literature one can find a point of view about the illegality of the decisions of the Second Congress of Soviets due to its lack of representativeness. Indeed, representation at the congress was not national, but class-based: it was a congress of workers' and soldiers' deputies. The Peasant Congress of Soviets met separately, and the unification of the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies took place only in January 1918. Nevertheless, such global changes in the life of the country could not happen without reason. The Second Congress of Soviets was, undoubtedly, the organ of the insurgent people, the organ of the revolutionary masses, representing practically the entire country and all more or less significant national regions. The congress expressed the will of the most organized and socially active part of society, which wanted changes for a better life and actively sought them. Although the congress was All-Russian, it was not and could not be nationwide.

The Soviet system of government was born in a multi-party system. According to researchers, there were about 300 political parties in Russia, which can be divided into regional, national and all-Russian. There were about 60 of the latter. The composition of the Second Congress of Soviets in terms of party affiliation was, as is known, mainly Bolshevik. But other socialist and liberal parties were also represented there. The Bolsheviks' positions were further strengthened when representatives of the right Socialist Revolutionaries, Mensheviks and Bundists left the congress. They demanded that the forum be suspended because, in their opinion, Lenin’s supporters had usurped power. More than 400 local Soviets from the largest industrial and political centers of the country were represented at the congress.

The congress formed the supreme and central authorities. The All-Russian Congress of Soviets was declared the supreme body. He could resolve any issues of state power and administration. The Congress created the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK), which performed the functions of supreme power between Congresses of Soviets. The All-Russian Central Executive Committee was created on the basis of proportional representation from all party factions of the congress. Of the 101 members of the first composition of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, 62 were Bolsheviks, 29 were left Socialist Revolutionaries, 6 were Menshevik internationalists, 3 were Ukrainian socialists and 1 Socialist Revolutionary maximalist. Bolshevik L.B. was elected Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. Kamenev. The central authority was the government formed by the decision of the Second Congress of Soviets - the Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom, SNK). It was also headed by the Bolshevik V.I. Lenin. The Left Socialist Revolutionaries and Menshevik Internationalists received an offer to join the government, but they refused. A distinctive feature of the new authorities and management was the combination of legislative and executive functions. Not only the resolutions of the Congress of Soviets and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, but also the decrees of the Council of People's Commissars and even acts of individual people's commissariats had the force of law.

Thus, the Second Congress of Soviets proclaimed the creation of a new state and formed the bodies of power and administration. At the congress, the most general principles of the organization of Soviet statehood were formulated and the beginning of the creation of a new system of public administration was laid.

The Bolsheviks, having seized power, looked for ways to expand its social base. For these purposes, they negotiated with the leaders of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries on the conditions for their entry into the Council of People's Commissars. At the beginning of November 1917, at a plenary meeting of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, a compromise resolution “On the terms of the agreement of socialist parties” was adopted. It emphasized that an agreement is possible only if the Second Congress of Soviets is recognized as “the only source of power” and the “program of the Soviet government, as expressed in the decrees on land and peace,” is recognized.

Negotiations between the Bolsheviks and the Left Socialist Revolutionaries ended in December 1917 with the creation of a coalition government. Along with the Bolsheviks, the Council of People's Commissars included seven representatives of the Left Socialist Revolutionary Party. They headed the People's Commissariats of Agriculture (A.L. Kolegaev), Posts and Telegraphs (P.P. Proshyan), Local Government (V.E. Trutovsky), Property (V.A. Karelin) and Justice (I.Z. Steinberg) . In addition, V.A. Aglasov and A.I. Diamonds became people's commissars without a portfolio (with a casting vote). The first was a member of the board of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, the second - the People's Commissariat of Finance. The Left Social Revolutionaries, occupying important positions in the cabinet, like the Bolsheviks, were responsible for the key areas of government activity in the conditions of the revolution. This made it possible to expand the social basis of management processes and thereby strengthen state power. The alliance with the Left Socialist Revolutionaries left a noticeable mark on the management practice of the first months of Soviet power. Representatives of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries were included not only in the central governing bodies, but also in the governments of national republics, the revolutionary committees of the bodies fighting counter-revolution, and the leadership of army units. With their direct participation, the “Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People” was developed and adopted by the III All-Russian Congress of Soviets, which proclaimed Russia a Republic of Soviets. Together with the Bolsheviks, the Left Socialist Revolutionaries unanimously voted in the All-Russian Central Executive Committee for the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly.

The bloc with the Left Socialist Revolutionaries allowed the Bolsheviks to solve the most important political and managerial task - to unite the Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies with the Soviets of Peasants' Deputies. The unification took place at the III All-Russian Congress of Soviets in January 1918. At the congress, a new composition of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee was elected, which included 160 Bolsheviks and 125 left Socialist Revolutionaries.

However, the alliance with the Left Social Revolutionaries was short-lived. On March 18, 1918, not recognizing the ratification of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, the Left Socialist Revolutionaries left the government

The Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR (Sovnarkom of the RSFSR, SNK of the RSFSR) is the name of the government of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from the October Revolution of 1917 to 1946. The SNK included people's commissars who led the people's commissariats (People's Commissariats, NK). Similar Councils of People's Commissars were created in other Soviet republics; During the formation of the USSR, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR was also created at the union level.

General information

The Council of People's Commissars (SNK) was formed in accordance with the "Decree on the establishment of the Council of People's Commissars", adopted by the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies on October 27, 1917.

Immediately before the seizure of power on the day of the revolution, the Bolshevik Central Committee instructed Kamenev and Winter (Berzin) to enter into political contact with the Left Socialist Revolutionaries and begin negotiations with them on the composition of the government. During the Second Congress of Soviets, the Bolsheviks invited the Left Socialist Revolutionaries to join the government, but they refused. The factions of the right Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks left the Second Congress of Soviets at the very beginning of its work - before the formation of the government. The Bolsheviks were forced to form a one-party government.

The name "Council of People's Commissars" was proposed by Trotsky:

Power in St. Petersburg has been won. We need to form a government.

What should I call it? - Lenin reasoned out loud. Just not ministers: this is a vile, worn-out name.

It could be commissioners, I suggested, but now there are too many commissioners. Perhaps high commissioners? No, “supreme” sounds bad. Is it possible to say “folk”?

People's Commissars? Well, that'll probably do. What about the government as a whole?

Council of People's Commissars?

The Council of People's Commissars, Lenin picked up, is excellent: it smells terrible of revolution.

The Council of People's Commissars lost the character of a temporary governing body after the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, which was legally enshrined in the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918. The body of general administration of the affairs of the RSFSR - which in the Constitution of the RSFSR was called the "Council of People's Commissars" or the "Workers' and Peasants' Government" - was the highest executive and administrative body of the RSFSR, having full executive and administrative power, the right to issue decrees having the force of law, while combining legislative, administrative and executive functions.

Issues considered by the Council of People's Commissars were decided by a simple majority of votes. The meetings were attended by members of the Government, the chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the manager and secretaries of the Council of People's Commissars, and representatives of departments.

The permanent working body of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR was the administration, which prepared issues for meetings of the Council of People's Commissars and its standing commissions, and received delegations. The administrative staff in 1921 consisted of 135 people. (according to data from the Central State Archive of the Russian Federation of the USSR, f. 130, op. 25, d. 2, pp. 19 - 20.)

By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR dated March 23, 1946, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR was transformed into the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR.

[edit]Legislative framework of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR

According to the Constitution of the RSFSR of July 10, 1918, the activities of the Council of People's Commissars are:

management of general affairs of the RSFSR, management of individual branches of management (Articles 35, 37)

issuing legislative acts and taking measures “necessary for the correct and rapid flow of public life.” (v.38)

The People's Commissar has the right to individually make decisions on all issues within the jurisdiction of the commissariat, bringing them to the attention of the collegium (Article 45).

All adopted resolutions and decisions of the Council of People's Commissars are reported to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (Article 39), which has the right to suspend and cancel a resolution or decision of the Council of People's Commissars (Article 40).

17 people's commissariats are being created (this figure is indicated erroneously in the Constitution, since there are 18 of them in the list presented in Article 43).

on foreign affairs;

on military affairs;

on maritime affairs;

for internal affairs;

social security;

education;

Posts and telegraphs;

on nationalities affairs;

for financial matters;

communication routes;

agriculture;

trade and industry;

food;

State control;

Supreme Council of the National Economy;

healthcare.

Under each people's commissar and under his chairmanship, a collegium is formed, the members of which are approved by the Council of People's Commissars (Article 44).

From this moment on, the composition of the Council of People's Commissars was changed in connection with the transfer of a number of powers to the Union departments. 11 people's commissariats were established:

domestic trade;

finance

internal affairs

enlightenment

health

agriculture

social security

The Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR now included, with the right of a decisive or advisory vote, representatives of the USSR People's Commissariats under the Government of the RSFSR. The Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR allocated, in turn, a permanent representative to the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. (according to information from the SU, 1924, N 70, art. 691.) Since February 22, 1924, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR have a single Administration. (based on materials from the USSR Central State Archive of Ordinance, f. 130, op. 25, d. 5, l. 8.)

With the introduction of the Constitution of the RSFSR on January 21, 1937, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR was accountable only to the Supreme Council of the RSFSR, and in the period between its sessions - to the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR.

Since October 5, 1937, the composition of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR has included 13 people's commissariats (data from the Central State Administration of the RSFSR, f. 259, op. 1, d. 27, l. 204.):

food industry

light industry

forestry industry

agriculture

grain state farms

livestock farms

finance

domestic trade

health

enlightenment

local industry

utilities

social security

Also included in the Council of People's Commissars is the Chairman of the State Planning Committee of the RSFSR and the head of the Department of Arts under the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR.

The first government after the victory of the October Revolution was formed in accordance with the “Decree on the establishment of the Council of People's Commissars”, adopted by the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies on October 27 (old style) 1917.

Initially, the Bolsheviks hoped to agree on the participation of representatives of other socialist parties, in particular the Left Socialist Revolutionaries, in it, but they failed to achieve such an agreement. As a result, the first revolutionary government turned out to be purely Bolshevik.

The authorship of the term “people’s commissar” was attributed to several revolutionary figures, in particular Leon Trotsky. The Bolsheviks wanted in this way to emphasize the fundamental difference between their power and the tsarist and Provisional governments.

The term “Council of People's Commissars” as a definition of the Soviet government will exist until 1946, until it is replaced by the now more familiar “Council of Ministers”.

The first composition of the Council of People's Commissars will last only a few days. A number of its members will resign from their posts due to political contradictions, mainly related to the same issue of participation in the government of members of other socialist parties.

The first composition of the Council of People's Commissars included:

Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin);
People's Commissar for Internal Affairs;
People's Commissar of Agriculture;
People's Commissar of Labor;
People's Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs - committee consisting of: Vladimir Ovseenko (Antonov), Nikolai Krylenko and Pavel Dybenko;
People's Commissar for Trade and Industry;
People's Commissar of Public Education;
People's Commissar of Finance;
People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs;
People's Commissar of Justice;
People's Commissar for Food Affairs;
People's Commissar of Posts and Telegraphs;
People's Commissar for National Affairs Joseph Dzhugashvili (Stalin);
the post of People's Commissar for Railway Affairs remained temporarily unfilled.

The biographies of the head of the first Soviet government, Vladimir Lenin, and the first People's Commissar for Nationalities are known to the general public quite well, so let's talk about the rest of the People's Commissars.

The first People's Commissar of Internal Affairs spent only nine days in his post, but managed to sign a historical document on the creation of the police. After leaving the post of People's Commissar, Rykov went to work for the Moscow Soviet.

Alexey Rykov. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Subsequently, Alexei Rykov held high government positions, and from February 1924 officially headed the Soviet government - the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR.

Rykov's career began to decline in 1930, when he was removed from his post as head of government. Rykov, who has long supported Nikolai Bukharin, was declared a “right-wing draft dodger,” and was never able to get rid of this stigma, despite numerous speeches of repentance.

At the party plenum in February 1937, he was expelled from the CPSU(b) and arrested on February 27, 1937. During interrogations he pleaded guilty. As one of the main accused, he was brought to the open trial in the case of the Right-Trotskyist Anti-Soviet Bloc. On March 13, 1938, he was sentenced to death and executed on March 15. Rykov was completely rehabilitated by the Main Military Prosecutor's Office of the USSR in 1988.

Nine days after the creation of the first Soviet government, Milyutin spoke out for the creation of a coalition government and, in protest against the decision of the Central Committee, submitted a statement of resignation from the Central Committee and the Council of People's Commissars, after which he admitted the fallacy of his statements and withdrew his statement of resignation from the Central Committee.

Vladimir Milyutin. Photo: Public Domain

Subsequently, he held high positions in the government, from 1928 to 1934 he was Deputy Chairman of the USSR State Planning Committee.

On July 26, 1937 he was arrested. On October 29, 1937, he was sentenced to death for belonging to a counter-revolutionary organization of the “right.” On October 30, 1937 he was shot. Rehabilitated in 1956.

Shlyapnikov also advocated the inclusion of members of other political parties in the government, however, unlike his colleagues, he did not leave his post, continuing to work in the government. Three weeks later, in addition to the duties of People's Commissar of Labor, he was also assigned the duties of People's Commissar of Trade and Industry.

Alexander Shlyapnikov. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

In the Bolshevik Party, Shlyapnikov was the leader of the so-called “workers’ opposition,” which manifested itself especially clearly in the party discussion about the role of trade unions. He believed that the task of the trade unions was to organize the management of the national economy, and they should take this function away from the party.

Shlyapnikov's position was sharply criticized by Lenin, which affected the further fate of one of the first Soviet People's Commissars.

Subsequently, he held secondary positions, for example, he worked as chairman of the board of the Metalloimport joint-stock company.

Shlyapnikov’s memoirs “The Seventeenth Year” aroused sharp criticism in the party. In 1933, he was expelled from the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, in 1934 he was administratively exiled to Karelia, and in 1935 he was sentenced to 5 years for belonging to the “workers’ opposition” - a punishment replaced by exile to Astrakhan.

In 1936, Shlyapnikov was arrested again. He was accused of the fact that, as the head of the counter-revolutionary organization "Workers' Opposition", in the fall of 1927 he gave a directive to the Kharkov center of this organization on the transition to individual terror as a method of struggle against the CPSU (b) and the Soviet government, and in 1935-1936 he gave directives on the preparation of a terrorist act against Stalin. Shlyapnikov did not admit guilt, but according to the verdict of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR, he was shot on September 2, 1937. On January 31, 1963, the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR rehabilitated Alexander Shlyapnikov for the absence of corpus delicti in his actions.

The fate of the members of the triumvirate who headed the defense department was quite similar - they all occupied high government positions for many years, and they all became victims of the “Great Terror.”

Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko, Nikolai Krylenko, Pavel Dybenko. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko, who arrested the Provisional Government during the armed uprising in Petrograd, was one of the founders of the Red Army, spent many years in diplomatic work, during the Civil War in Spain he was the Consul General of the USSR in Barcelona, providing great assistance to the Republican troops as a military adviser .

Upon returning from Spain, he was arrested and sentenced to death on February 8, 1938 “for belonging to a Trotskyist terrorist and espionage organization.” Shot on February 10, 1938. Rehabilitated posthumously on February 25, 1956.

Nikolai Krylenko was one of the creators of Soviet law, held the posts of People's Commissar of Justice of the RSFSR and the USSR, prosecutor of the RSFSR and chairman of the Supreme Court of the USSR.

Krylenko is considered one of the “architects of the Great Terror” of 1937-1938. Ironically, Krylenko himself became its victim.

In 1938, at the first session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Krylenko was criticized. Soon after this, he was removed from all posts, expelled from the CPSU(b) and arrested. According to the verdict of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR, he was executed on July 29, 1938. In 1956 he was rehabilitated for lack of evidence of a crime.

Pavel Dybenko made a military career, held the rank of army commander of the 2nd rank, and commanded troops in various military districts. In 1937, he took an active part in repressions in the army. Dybenko was part of the Special Judicial Presence that convicted a group of senior Soviet military commanders in the “Tukhachevsky Case” in June 1937.

In February 1938, Dybenko himself was arrested. He pleaded guilty to participating in an anti-Soviet Trotskyist military-fascist conspiracy. On July 29, 1938, he was sentenced to death and executed on the same day. Rehabilitated in 1956.

Advocating for the creation of a “homogeneous socialist government,” Nogin was among those who left the Council of People’s Commissars a few days later. However, after three weeks, Nogin “admitted his mistakes” and continued to work in leadership positions, but at a lower level. He held the posts of Labor Commissioner of the Moscow Region, and then Deputy People's Commissar of Labor of the RSFSR.

Victor Nogin. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

He died on May 2, 1924, and was buried on Red Square. The name of one of the first Soviet People's Commissars is immortalized to this day in the name of the city of Noginsk near Moscow.

The People's Commissar of Education was one of the most stable figures in the Soviet government, holding his post continuously for 12 years.

Anatoly Lunacharsky. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Thanks to Lunacharsky, many historical monuments were preserved and the activities of cultural institutions were established. There were, however, very controversial decisions - in particular, already at the end of his career as People's Commissar, Lunacharsky was preparing to translate the Russian language into the Latin alphabet.

In 1929, he was removed from the post of People's Commissar of Education and appointed chairman of the Academic Committee of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR.

In 1933, Lunacharsky was sent as USSR plenipotentiary envoy to Spain. He was deputy head of the Soviet delegation during the disarmament conference at the League of Nations. Lunacharsky died in December 1933 on his way to Spain in the French resort of Menton. The urn with the ashes of Anatoly Lunacharsky is buried in the Kremlin wall.

At the time of his appointment as People's Commissar, Skvortsov served as a member of the Moscow Military Revolutionary Committee. Upon learning of his appointment, Skvortsov announced that he was a theorist, not a practitioner, and refused the position. Later he was engaged in journalism, since 1925 he was the executive editor of the newspaper “Izvestia of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee”, since 1927 - deputy. executive secretary of the newspaper "Pravda", at the same time since 1926, director of the Lenin Institute under the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks.

Ivan Skvortsov (Stepanov). Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

In the party press, Skvortsov spoke as an active supporter of Stalin, but did not reach the highest government posts - on October 8, 1928, he died of a serious illness. The ashes are buried in the Kremlin wall.

One of the main leaders of the Bolsheviks, the second person in the party after Lenin, completely lost in the internal party struggle in the 1920s, and in 1929 was forced to leave the USSR as a political emigrant.

Lev Bronstein (Trotsky). Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Trotsky continued his correspondence confrontation with Stalin's course until 1940, until it was interrupted in August 1940 by an ice pick blow from an NKVD agent. Ramon Mercader.

For Georgy Oppokov, serving as People's Commissar for several days became the pinnacle of his political career. Subsequently, he continued his activities in secondary positions, such as chairman of the Oil Syndicate, chairman of the board of Donugol, deputy chairman of the State Planning Committee of the USSR, member of the bureau of the Commission of Soviet Control under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR.

Georgy Oppokov (Lomov). Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

In June 1937, as part of the “Great Terror”, Oppokov was arrested and, according to the verdict of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR, was executed on December 30, 1938. Posthumously rehabilitated in 1956.

Like other supporters of creating a government from among members of various socialist parties, Teodorovic announced his resignation from the government, but fulfilled his duties until December 1917.

Ivan Teodorovich. Photo: Public Domain

Later he was a member of the board of the People's Commissar of Agriculture, and since 1922, deputy people's commissar of agriculture. In 1928-1930, General Secretary of the Peasant International.

Arrested on June 11, 1937. Sentenced by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR on September 20, 1937 on charges of participation in an anti-Soviet terrorist organization to death and executed on the same day. Rehabilitated in 1956.

Avilov held his post until the decision to create a coalition government with the Left Socialist Revolutionaries, after which he changed the post of People's Commissar to the post of assistant director of the State Bank. Later he held various positions of the second rank, and was the People's Commissar of Labor of Ukraine. From 1923 to 1926, Avilov was the leader of the Leningrad trade unions and became one of the leaders of the so-called “Leningrad opposition,” which ten years later became fatal for him.

Nikolay Avilov (Glebov). Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Since 1928, Avilov headed Selmashstroy, and since 1929 he became the first director of the Rostov agricultural machinery plant Rostselmash.

On September 19, 1936, Nikolai Avilov was arrested on charges of terrorist activities. On March 12, 1937, the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR sentenced him to death on charges of participation in a counter-revolutionary terrorist organization. The sentence was carried out on March 13, 1937. Rehabilitated in 1956.