Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic


The Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic was the government of Soviet Russia in 1917–1946. It was established by the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers', Soldiers', and Peasants' Deputies on November 7, 1917 "as an interim workers' and peasants' government" under the name of the Council of People's Commissars, which was used before the adoption of the Constitution of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic of 1918.
Since 1918, the formation of the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic was the prerogative of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, and since 1937, the Supreme Council of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. The Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic was formed from the people's commissars – the leaders of the People's Commissariats of Soviet Russia – headed by the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Similar Councils of People's Commissars were created in other Soviet republics.
By the law of the Soviet Union of March 15, 1946 and the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic of March 23 of the same year, the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic was transformed into the Council of Ministers of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

Origin of name

In his memoirs, Leon Trotsky ascribes the name "Council of People's Commissars" to himself. According to the memoirs of Vladimir Milyutin, the name "People's Commissar" was proposed by Trotsky, and Kamenev proposed the government as the "Council of People's Commissars".
At the same time, from Lenin's notes written no later than October 25, 1917:
It follows that the name "commissars", as a replacement for the term "ministers", even earlier appeared in the outline of the organization of a new apparatus of government of the future head of the Council of People's Commissars. In the same document, it was planned to create other central government bodies in the rank of commissions.

History

Immediately before the seizure of power on the day of the revolution, the Central Committee of the Bolsheviks instructed Kamenev and Berzin to make political contact with the Left Socialist Revolutionaries and begin negotiations with them on the composition of the future government. During the work of the Second Congress of Soviets, the Bolsheviks proposed that the Left Socialist Revolutionaries enter 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 by the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies on October 27, 1917. The decree began with the words:
The Council of People's Commissars lost the character of an interim governing body after the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, which was legislated by the Constitution of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic 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 general management body for the affairs of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic authorized to issue decrees, and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee was entitled to cancel or suspend any decision or decision of the Council of People's Commissars.
The 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, chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, executive manager and secretaries of the Council of People's Commissars, representatives of departments.
The permanent working body of the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic was the Department of Affairs, which prepared questions for meetings of the Council of People's Commissars and its standing commissions, and received delegations. The staff of the executive administration in 1921 consisted of 135 people.
By the law of the Soviet Union of March 15, 1946 and the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic of March 23, 1946, the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic was transformed into the Council of Ministers of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. On March 18, the last decree of the government of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic was issued with the name "Council of People's Commissars". On February 25, 1947, the corresponding amendments were made to the Constitution of the Soviet Union, and on March 13, 1948, the Constitution of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

Legislative framework of the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic

According to the Constitution of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic of July 10, 1918, the activities of the Council of People's Commissars consisted of:
The Council of People's Commissars informed the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of all decisions and decisions adopted, which had the right to suspend and annul a resolution or decision of the Council of People's Commissars.
It was created 18 people's commissariats.
The following is a list of People's Commissariats of the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic according to the Constitution of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic of July 10, 1918:

  • Of Foreign Affairs;
  • Of Military Affairs;
  • Of Maritime Affairs;
  • Of Domestic Affairs;
  • Justice;
  • Labour;
  • Social Security;
  • Enlightenment;
  • Mail and Telegraphs;
  • Of National Affairs;
  • Of Financial Affairs;
  • Ways of Communication;
  • Agriculture;
  • Trade and Industry;
  • Food;
  • State Control;
  • Supreme Council of the National Economy;
  • Health Care.

At 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.
The People's Commissar had the right to single-handedly make decisions on all issues under the jurisdiction of the commissariat led by him, bringing them to the attention of the board.
With the formation of the Soviet Union in December 1922 and the creation of an all-Union government, the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic became the executive and administrative body of state power of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic. The organization, composition, competence and procedure of the Council of People's Commissars were determined by the Constitution of the Soviet Union of 1924 and the Constitution of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic of 1925. From that moment, 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 republican people's commissariats were established:

  • Domestic Trade;
  • Labour;
  • Finance;
  • Workers and Peasants Inspection;
  • Internal Affairs;
  • Justice;
  • Enlightenment;
  • Health Care;
  • Agriculture;
  • Social Security;
  • Supreme Council of the National Economy.

The Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic now included with a decisive or deliberative vote authorized representatives of the People's Commissariats of the Soviet Union under the Government of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic. The Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, in turn, allocated a permanent representative to the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union.
Since February 22, 1924, the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union had a single Office of Affairs.
With the adoption of the Constitution of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic of January 21, 1937, the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic was accountable only to the Supreme Council of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, between its sessions, to the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
Since October 5, 1937, the composition of the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic totaled 13 people's commissariats :

  • Food Industry;
  • Light Industry;
  • Forest Industry;
  • Agriculture;
  • Grain Soviet Farms;
  • Livestock Soviet Farms;
  • Finance;
  • Domestic Trade;
  • Justice;
  • Health Care;
  • Enlightenment;
  • Local Industry;
  • Communal Economy;
  • Social Security.
The Council of People's Commissars also included the chairman of the State Planning Committee of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and the head of the Department of Arts under the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

First composition of the Council of People's Commissars of Soviet Russia

The vacant post of People's Commissar for Rail Affairs later took Mark Elizarov. On November 12, in addition to the Decree establishing the Council of People's Commissars, Alexandra Kollontai, the first woman minister in the world, was appointed People's Commissar of State Charity. On November 19, Edward Essen was appointed Commissar of State Control.
The historical first composition of the Council of People's Commissars was formed in the context of a tough struggle for power. In connection with the demarche of the executive committee of the railway trade union, Vikzhel, who did not recognize the October Revolution, and demanded the formation of a "homogeneous socialist government" of representatives of all socialist parties, the post of People's Commissar of Rail Affairs remained unsubstituted. Subsequently, in January 1918, the Bolsheviks managed to split the railway union by forming the Vikzhedor Executive Committee parallel to Vikzhel, which consisted 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 of Military and Naval Affairs was formed as a collegium, composed of Antonov-Ovseenko, Krylenko, Dybenko. By April 1918, this committee virtually ceased to exist.
According to the memoirs of the first People's Commissar of Education Anatoly Lunacharsky, the first composition of the Council of People's Commissars was largely random, and the discussion of the list was accompanied by Lenin's comments: "if we are unsuitable, we will be able to change". As the first People's Commissar of Justice, the Bolshevik Lomov wrote, his knowledge of justice included mainly detailed knowledge of the Tsar's prisons with the features of the regime, "we knew where they beat, how they beat, where and how they put in punishment cells, but we didn't know how to rule 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.

Chairmen of the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic

Vice-Chairmen:
Foreign Affairs:
Military and Naval Affairs:
Internal Affairs:
Justice:
Labour:
State Charity :
Enlightenment:
Mail and Telegraphs:
Nationalities:
Finance:
Ways of Communication:
Agriculture:
Trade and Industry:
Food:
State Control of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic:
Health:
Workers and Peasants Inspection:
State Property:
Local Government:
Supreme Council of the National Economy :

Social composition

Researcher Mikhail Voslensky in his fundamental work "Nomenclature" notes that the "social origin" of the first composition of the Council of People's Commissars was of little use for the Bolshevik party, which declared itself "the vanguard of the working class". In fact, the first composition of the Council of People's Commissars was almost entirely intelligent, and in fact there were only two out of 16 workers in it: Alexander Shlyapnikov and Victor Nogin. In addition, in the first composition of the Council of People's Commissars, there were five nobles: Vladimir Lenin, Anatoly Lunacharsky, Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko, Ivan Teodorovich and Georgy Oppokov. Trotsky's father was, according to the Soviet classification, a "fist", and Stalin a craftsman, that is, they both belonged, in the Soviet classification, to "petty-bourgeois elements". This state of affairs created the ground for the emergence of the so-called "Labour Opposition" at the end of the Civil War, which also expressed irritation that the workers were actually ruled by intellectuals on their behalf; oppositionists have accused of "degenerating the party leaders" and their "isolation from the party masses". At the 10th Congress of the Russian Communist Party, the "Workers' Opposition" was accused of:

National composition

The national composition of the Council of People's Commissars of Soviet Russia was a subject of speculation.
Vlasovets Andrey Dikiy in his work "Jews in Russia and the Soviet Union" claims that the composition of the Council of People's Commissars was allegedly as follows:
Yuri Emelyanov in his work "Trotsky. Myths and Personality" provides an analysis of this list. The analysis shows that the "Jewish" character of the Council of People's Commissars was obtained through fraud: it was not the first composition of the Council of People's Commissars that was published in the decree of the Second Congress of Soviets, but only those people's commissariats whose heads either were Jews. So, Leo Trotsky, who was appointed to this post on April 8, 1918, is mentioned as the People's Commissar of Military and Naval Affairs, and Alexander Schlichter, who really held this post until February 25, 1918, was mentioned as the People's Commissar of Food, by the way, he was not a Jew either. At the time when Trotsky really became the People's Commissar of Military and Naval Affairs, Alexander Tsyurupa instead of Schlichter already became the People's Commissar of Food.
Another method of fraud is the invention of a number of never-existing people's commissariats. So, Andrei Dikiy in the list of people's commissariats mentioned the never-existent people's commissariats of cults, of elections, of refugees, of hygiene. Volodarsky is mentioned as the People's Commissar of the Press; in fact, he was indeed the commissar of the press, propaganda and agitation, but not the people's commissar, a member of the Council of People's Commissars, but the commissar of the Union of Northern Communes, an active conductor of the Bolshevik Press Decree.
And, conversely, the list does not include, for example, the really existing People's Commissariat of Railways and the People's Commissariat of Posts and Telegraphs. As a result, Andrey Dikiy does not even agree on the number of people's commissariats: he mentions the number 20, although there were 14 people in the first composition, in 1918 the number was increased to 18.
Some posts are indicated with errors. So, the Chairman of the Petrograd Council Grigory Zinoviev was mentioned as the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs, although he never held this position. The People's Commissar of Posts and Telegraphs Proshyan is attributed the leadership of "agriculture".
Jewish identity are arbitrarily attributed to a number of people, for example, Russian nobleman Anatoly Lunacharsky, Estonian Jan Anvelt, Russified Germans Vasily Schmidt, Karl Lander, Alexander Schlichter and others.
Some individuals are generally fictitious: Spitsberg, Lilina-Knigissen, Kaufman.
Also on the list are two leftist Socialist Revolutionaries whose rejection of Bolshevism is not indicated at all: People's Commissar of Justice Isaac Steinberg and People's Commissar of Posts and Telegraphs Prosh Proshyan, referred to as "Protian – Agriculture". Both politicians reacted extremely negatively to post-October Bolshevik politics. Prior to the revolution, Isidor Gukovsky was a Menshevik "liquidator" and he accepted the post of People's Commissar of Finance only under the pressure of Lenin.
Literary critic Vadim Kozhinov wrote about the membership in the Council of People's Commissars of one of the few Jews there, Leon Trotsky, objecting to the philosopher Vadim Rogovin:
A similar point of view was shared by Igor Shafarevich.
In 2013, speaking about the Schneerson Collection at the Moscow Jewish Museum and the Center for Tolerance, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that "The decision to nationalize the library was made by the first Soviet government, and Jews were approximately 80–85% members". According to historian Vladimir Ryzhkov, Putin's ignorant statement about the predominance of Jews in the Council of People's Commissars is due to the fact that "during the years of perestroika, he read the tabloid press". Some media outlets also criticized the statements of the President of the Russian Federation. So the editors of the newspaper Vedomosti, condemning the head of state for marginality, posted the following statistics: