Formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Education of the USSR Stages of education of the USSR

In 1918, the Declaration of the Rights of Working and Exploited People was adopted, proclaiming the principle of the future structure of the country. The federal basis of a free union of republics was the right of nations to self-determination. Following this, the Soviet government recognized the independence of Finland and the statehood of Poland.

The collapse of the Russian Empire and the imperialist war led to the establishment of Soviet power throughout Russia.

Proclaimed in 1918, it occupied 92% of the entire territory and was the largest of all Soviet republics. More than 100 nationalities and nationalities lived there. The RSFSR partially included the territories of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. In fact, until 1922, the Far Eastern Republic functioned in its likeness. There were economic, political and cultural prerequisites for unification. It was not difficult to impose Soviet power in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, which declared their independence.

From 1920 to 1921, units of the Red Army occupied these states without visible resistance and established the laws of the RSFSR there. The Sovietization of Belarus was easy.

In Ukraine, there was a struggle against the pro-Kiev course. The process of establishing Soviet power in the Central Asian republics - Bukhara and Khorezm - was difficult. Units of local armed opposition continued to resist there.

Most of the communist leaders of the republics were concerned about the existence of “Great Russian chauvinism”; they feared that the unification of the republics could lead to the creation of a new empire. This problem was especially painful in Georgia and Ukraine.

The Communist Party turned out to be the real power that, thanks to its impeccable organization and hierarchy, created an effective structure for governing a huge country.

The unification of the republics was facilitated by the harshness of the repressive authorities.

The All-Russian Central Executive Committee commission was involved in developing the principles of the national state structure. Autonomous, federal and confederal options for building a single state were considered.

The plan for the declared autonomous entry of the Soviet republics into the RSFSR was proposed by the People's Commissar for Nationalities. However, the commission accepted the version of a federal federal state proposed by Lenin. It gave future republics formal sovereignty.

Lenin clearly understood that a single party and a powerful repressive system were a sure guarantee of the integrity of the state. Lenin's project could attract other peoples to the Union, and not scare them away, like Stalin's version.

On December 30, 1922, at the 1st Congress of Soviets, the formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was proclaimed. The congress adopted a declaration and treaty.

The declaration spoke about the reasons, goals and principles of the unification. The main goal was the creation of a world union of communist republics. Formally and legally, this goal was abolished in December 1991.

The Union's competence included issues of foreign policy and exports, defense, finance, communications and communications. Other issues were within the competence of the republics.

The Central Executive Committee (CEC), which consisted of two chambers: the Council of the Union and the Council of Nationalities, was elected as the highest legislative body.

On January 31, 1924, the 2nd All-Union Congress of Soviets adopted the first Constitution of the USSR, which stipulated the principles of the declaration and treaty. These provisions were consolidated by the adoption of the constitutions of the union republics in 1924-1925. The formation of the USSR strengthened the communist regime and increased the power of the state.

In 1913, the future head of the first socialist state V.I. Lenin, being a Unitarian like Marx and Engels, wrote that a centralized large state “is a huge historical step forward from medieval fragmentation to the future socialist unity of all countries.” In the period from February to October 1917, the centuries-old state unity of Russia collapsed - a number of bourgeois-nationalist governments arose on its territory (Central Rada in Ukraine, Cossack circles on the Don, Terek and Orenburg, Kurultai in Crimea, national Councils in Transcaucasia and the Baltic states, etc. .), who sought to separate themselves from the traditional center. The threat of a sharp reduction in the territory of the socialist proletarian state, the loss of hopes for an early world revolution forced the leader of the party that came to power in Russia to reconsider his point of view on its state structure - he became an ardent supporter of federalism, however, at the stage of transition “to complete unity.” The slogan of “united and indivisible Russia,” professed by the leaders of the white movement, was opposed to the principle of the right of all nations to self-determination, which attracted the leaders of national movements...

However, the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918 was a step back from a genuine federation, since it only declared the form of the state structure of Russia (it did not even provide for the representation of future members of the federation in the authorities of the center); in fact, it proclaimed a unitary state created from above on the initiative of the ruling party by annexing those conquered in during the Civil War of the territories. The division of powers between federal bodies and local ones in the Russian Federation was based on the principles of the exclusive competence of the former and the residual competence of the latter...

The first intra-Russian national borders appeared at the end of 1918 - beginning of 1919 with the formation of the Labor Commune of the Volga German Region and the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic; by the end of 1922, the RSFSR already had 19 autonomous republics and regions, as well as 2 labor communes created on a national basis. National-state formations coexisted with administrative-territorial units, both of which had very weakly expressed independence.

The Russian Federation was supposed, according to the plan of its founders, to become a model of a larger socialist state, allowing for the restoration of the Russian Empire, the collapse of which during the revolution and the “triumphant march” of Soviet power could not be avoided. Until mid-1918, only two republics existed as independent states - the RSFSR and Ukraine, then the Belarusian Republic arose, three republics in the Baltic states, three in Transcaucasia...

From the first days of their existence, the RSFSR, which itself was in need of the most necessary things, provided them with assistance in various spheres of state life. The armies of the independent republics were supplied by the People's Commissariat (People's Commissariat) for Military Affairs of the RSFSR. By the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of June 1, 1919, “On the unification of the socialist republics of Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, and Belarus to fight world imperialism,” a military alliance was formalized. The armies of all the republics were united into a single army of the RSFSR, the military command, management of railways, communications, and finance were united. The monetary system of all the republics was based on the Russian ruble; the RSFSR assumed their expenses for maintaining the state apparatus, armies, and establishing the economy. The republics received industrial and agricultural products, food and other assistance from it. The Union, along with other factors, helped all the republics emerge from the war...

Over time, the state apparatus of all republics began to be built in the likeness of the RSFSR, their authorized representative offices appeared in Moscow, which had the right to enter on behalf of their governments with representations and petitions to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom), the People's Commissariats of the RSFSR, and to inform the authorities of their republic about the most important events of the RSFSR, and the authorities of the latter about the state of the economy and the needs of their republic. On the territory of the republics there was an apparatus of authorized representatives of some people's commissariats of the RSFSR, customs barriers were gradually overcome, and border posts were removed.

After the Entente blockade was lifted, the RSFSR entered into trade agreements with England, Italy, Norway, and Ukraine with Austria, Czechoslovakia and other states. In March 1921, a joint delegation of the RSFSR and Ukraine entered into an agreement with Poland. In January 1922, the Italian government, on behalf of the organizers of the Genoa Conference, of all the republics invited only the RSFSR to participate in it. In February 1922, at the initiative of the Russian Federation, nine republics signed a protocol authorizing it to represent and protect their common interests, to conclude and sign treaties with foreign states on their behalf. Thus, the military and bilateral military-economic agreements were supplemented by a diplomatic agreement. The next step was the formalization of a political union.

FOUR REPUBLICS INSTEAD OF ONE EMPIRE

By 1922, 6 republics had formed on the territory of the former Russian Empire: the RSFSR, the Ukrainian SSR, the Belarusian SSR, the Azerbaijan SSR, the Armenian SSR and the Georgian SSR. From the very beginning there was close cooperation between them, explained by their common historical destiny. During the civil war, a military and economic alliance was formed, and at the time of the Genoa Conference in 1922, a diplomatic one was formed. The unification was also facilitated by the commonality of the goal set by the governments of the republics - the construction of socialism in a territory located “in a capitalist environment.”

In March 1922, the Azerbaijani, Armenian and Georgian SSRs united into the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. In December 1922, the First Transcaucasian Congress of Soviets addressed the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee with a proposal to convene a united Congress of Soviets and discuss the issue of creating a union of Soviet republics. The same decisions were made by the All-Ukrainian and All-Belarusian Congresses of Soviets.

IT DID NOT TURN OUT LIKE STALIN

There was no consensus on the principles of creating a union state. Among a number of proposals, two stood out: the inclusion of other Soviet republics into the RSFSR on the basis of autonomy (proposal) and the creation of a federation of equal republics. Project I.V. Stalin's "On the relationship of the RSFSR with the independent republics" was approved by the Central Committee of the Communist Parties of Azerbaijan and Armenia. The plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia recognized it as premature, and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus spoke in favor of preserving the existing contractual relations between the BSSR and the RSFSR. Ukrainian Bolsheviks refrained from discussing Stalin's project. Nevertheless, the autonomization plan was approved at a meeting of the commission of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) on September 23-24, 1922.

IN AND. Lenin, who did not participate in the discussion of the project, after familiarizing himself with the materials presented to him, rejected the idea of ​​autonomization and spoke in favor of the formation of a union of republics. He considered the Soviet Socialist Federation to be the most acceptable form of government for a multinational country.

NATIONAL LIBERALISM ILYICH

On October 5 - 6, 1922, the Plenum of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) adopted V.I.’s plan as a starting option. Lenin, but this did not lead to an end to the struggle in the party on issues of national policy. Although the “autonomization” project was rejected, it still enjoyed some support from a number of leading officials both at the center and locally. I.V. Stalin and L.B. Kamenev was called upon to show steadfastness against the “national liberalism of Ilyich” and in fact leave the previous option.

At the same time, separatist tendencies in the republics are intensifying, which manifested itself in the so-called “Georgian incident,” when the party leaders of Georgia demanded its inclusion in the future state as an independent republic, and not as part of the Transcaucasian Federation. In response to this, the head of the Transcaucasian Regional Committee G.K. Ordzhonikidze became furious and called them “chauvinistic rot,” and when one of the members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia called him “Stalin’s donkey,” he also beat the latter soundly. As a sign of protest against pressure from Moscow, the entire Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia resigned.

The commission chaired by F.E. Dzerzhinsky, created in Moscow to investigate this “incident,” justified the actions of G.K. Ordzhonikidze and condemned the Georgian Central Committee. This decision outraged V.I. Lenin. It should be recalled here that in October 1922, after an illness, although he began to work, due to health reasons he could not completely control the situation. On the day of the formation of the USSR, being bedridden, he dictates his letter “On the question of nationalities or autonomy,” which begins with the words: “I seem to be very guilty before the workers of Russia for not intervening energetically and sharply enough.” into the notorious question of autonomy, officially called, it seems, the question of the union of Soviet socialist republics.”

UNION TREATY (ONE UNION INSTEAD OF FOUR REPUBLICS)

TREATY ON THE FORMATION OF THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS

The Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (RSFSR), the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic (USSR), the Belarusian Socialist Soviet Republic (BSSR) and the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (ZSSR - Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia) conclude this Union Treaty on unification into one union state - "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" ...

1. The following are subject to the jurisdiction of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, represented by its supreme bodies:

a) representation of the Union in international relations;

b) changing the external borders of the Union;

c) concluding agreements on the admission of new republics to the Union;

d) declaration of war and conclusion of peace;

e) conclusion of external government loans;

f) ratification of international treaties;

g) establishment of foreign and domestic trade systems;

h) establishing the foundations and general plan of the entire national economy of the Union, as well as concluding concession agreements;

i) regulation of transport and postal and telegraph business;

j) establishing the basis for the organization of the armed forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics;

k) approval of the unified state budget of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, establishment of a monetary, monetary and credit system, as well as a system of all-Union, republican and local taxes;

l) establishment of general principles of land management and land use, as well as the use of subsoil, forests and waters throughout the territory of the Union;

m) general union legislation on resettlement;

o) establishing the fundamentals of the judicial system and legal proceedings, as well as civil and criminal union legislation;

o) establishment of basic labor laws;

p) establishment of general principles of public education;

c) establishment of general measures in the field of public health protection;

r) establishment of a system of weights and measures;

s) organization of all-Union statistics;

t) basic legislation in the field of Union citizenship in relation to the rights of foreigners;

x) the right of general amnesty;

v) repeal of resolutions of congresses of Soviets, Central Executive Committees and Councils of People's Commissars of the Union republics that violate the Union Treaty.

2. The supreme authority of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is the Congress of Soviets of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and in the periods between congresses - the Central Executive Committee of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

3. The Congress of Soviets of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is composed of representatives of city councils at the rate of 1 deputy per 25,000 voters and representatives of provincial congresses of councils at the rate of 1 deputy per 125,000 residents.

4. Delegates to the Congress of Soviets of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics are elected at provincial congresses of Soviets.

…eleven. The executive body of the Central Executive Committee of the Union is the Council of People's Commissars of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Sovnarkom of the Union), elected by the Central Executive Committee of the Union for the term of office of the latter, consisting of:

Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Union,

Deputy Chairmen,

People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs,

People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs,

People's Commissar for Foreign Trade,

People's Commissar of Railways,

People's Commissar of Posts and Telegraphs,

People's Commissar of the Workers' and Peasants' Inspection.

Chairman of the Supreme Council of the National Economy,

People's Commissar of Labor,

People's Commissar for Food,

People's Commissar of Finance.

…13. Decrees and resolutions of the Council of People's Commissars of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics are mandatory for all union republics and are carried out directly throughout the territory of the Union.

…22. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics has its own flag, coat of arms and state seal.

23. The capital of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is the city of Moscow.

…26. Each of the union republics retains the right to freely secede from the Union.

Congresses of Soviets in documents. 1917-1936. Vol. III. M., 1960

1917, night from October 26 to 27. Elected by the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets as the head of the Soviet government - Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars.

1918, early July. The V All-Russian Congress of Soviets adopts the Constitution of the RSFSR, which clarifies the status of the post of Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, which is occupied by V.I. Lenin. November 30th. At the plenary meeting of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies, the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense is approved, and the Council is given full rights in mobilizing the country's forces and resources for its defense. V.I. Lenin is confirmed as the Chairman of the Council.

1920, April. The Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense is transformed into the Council of Labor and Defense (STO) of the RSFSR under the chairmanship of V.I. Lenin.

1923, July 6. The session of the Central Executive Committee elects V.I. Lenin as chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. July 7. The session of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the RSFSR elects V.I. Lenin as chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR. July 17th. The Council of Labor and Defense is created under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR under the chairmanship of V.I. Lenin.

1. A month after the end of the civil war, on December 30, 1922, a new state was formed in most of the former Russian Empire - the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The USSR included four republics:

• Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR);
• Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR);
• Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR);
• Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (TSFSR - federation of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan).

Officially, the USSR was formalized as a federation of equal republics. However, in reality the unification was of a formal nature:

• three republics - the Ukrainian SSR, the BSSR and the ZSFSR - were artificial state formations created by the RSFSR with the help of military force (the Red Army), and were satellites of the RSFSR;
• in all four states there was one party in power - the Bolshevik party, which created the appearance of national Bolshevik parties.

In fact, the created USSR was not a union of four states, but a new form of existence of the revived Russian Empire. The transformation of the Russian Empire into the USSR was the result of Lenin's national policy.

2. For the first time, the question of the structure of the future federation arose even before the creation of the USSR - during the preparation of the draft of the first Soviet Constitution in 1918. Two approaches were put forward, around which discussions were held:

• “autonomy” plan I.V. Stalin, according to which Russia should remain a single and indivisible state, but in which willing peoples would be allowed to create autonomies within Russia;
• federation plan V.I. Lenin, according to which all nations who wish should gain independence and statehood, and then unite with Russia in an equal federation, where Russia will be one of the equal union republics.

3. Initially, I.V.’s plan prevailed. Stalin. As a result, the RSFSR was built according to Stalin's plan, and the USSR - according to Lenin's plan.

After the adoption of the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918 within Russia in accordance with the plan of I.V. Stalin, the first People's Commissar for Nationalities, began the creation of national autonomies:

• in 1918, the first autonomy was created - the Labor Commune of the Volga Germans;
• then in 1920 - the Bashkir ASSR (Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic);
• Tatar ASSR;
• Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic;
• Kyrgyz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (in 1925, Kyrgyzstan was renamed Kazakhstan, and another autonomy began to be called Kyrgyzstan)
• other autonomies (Yakutia, Buryatia, Mordovia, Udmurtia, etc.). The USSR was already built on a different principle - as a federation of equal union republics (states), where republics can secede from the USSR and have the same status with another republic - the RSFSR (according to V.I. Lenin's plan). However, since the first union republics (Ukrainian SSR, BSSR and ZSFSR) were under the complete control of the Bolshevik Party and the RSFSR, at that time these norms were a formality - it was a seemingly democratic legal shell of an essentially centralized state that was attractive to future members. From the point of view of the expectation of a world revolution, this was the only correct form of unification. Future new members of the world socialist federation would hardly have joined Russia, while the form of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics already in its name implied the global supranational character of the new federation, which over time could unite the whole world.

4. The first Constitution of the USSR, adopted in January 1924, practically copied the structure of power in the RSFSR:

• The All-Union Congress of Soviets became the highest authority in the USSR;
• its working body between congresses is the All-Union Central Executive Committee (the All-Union Central Executive Committee - the Soviet “mini-parliament”) of the USSR;
• The supreme executive body became the Council of People's Commissars - the Council of People's Commissars (government) of the USSR;
• The USSR, just like the RSFSR earlier, was declared a state of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the poor peasantry.

This system of government bodies (Congress-VTsIK-Sovnarkom) was later copied in the constitutions of all union republics, which were adopted in 1925. Fundamental changes in the system of government power in the USSR occurred in 1936, when on December 5, 1936 it was adopted new, “Stalinist” Constitution of the USSR:

• such bodies of Lenin's era as the All-Union Congress of Soviets and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee were liquidated;
• instead of them, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was created, elected through direct and equal elections;
• Sovnarkom (Council of People's Commissars) remained as the highest executive body;
• all citizens of the USSR were endowed with equal rights (constitutional restrictions on the rights of the “exploiting classes” were excluded);
• the dictatorship of the proletariat and the power of the soviets were still proclaimed;
• Fundamental human rights and freedoms were declared. Major changes occurred in the composition of the federation - the USSR:
• the number of union republics began to increase;
• the previous division of the TSFSR into the Georgian SSR, the Armenian SSR and the Azerbaijani USSR was constitutionally consolidated;
• the separation of Central Asia from the territory of the RSFSR, previously carried out by the will of the Union and Russian leadership in one person, was constitutionally enshrined;
• the creation in this territory of five Central Asian union republics is constitutionally enshrined - the Kazakh SSR, the Kirghiz SSR, the Uzbek SSR, the Tajik SSR, the Turkmen SSR (formerly former autonomies of the RSFSR);
• As a result, the number of union republics increased to 11.

In all 11 republics, both old and new, standard Constitutions were adopted in 1937, largely repeating the 1936 Constitution of the USSR. Autonomous republics, autonomous regions and autonomous (initially national) districts were created in the union republics. Almost all the peoples of the USSR formally received statehood at various levels (from a union republic (Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, etc.) to an autonomous region (Chukchi, Koryaks, Evenks, etc. Formally, a Jewish autonomous region was artificially created in Siberia, although the bulk of Jews did not live in it). Despite the outward democracy of the Constitution of 1936 (which the Soviet press called “the most democratic Constitution in the world”), many of its provisions were fictitious. Under the conditions of Stalin’s totalitarian dictatorship and repression, the observance of human rights was entirely in the hands of the state, The role of the Supreme Council and the “national elections” of 1937, held under the control of the party, was a formality; the sovereignty of the union republics was also nominal.

5. The following major changes in the composition of the Soviet federation occurred in 1939 - 1940:

• the lands of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus, torn away from Poland in 1939, were included in the Ukrainian SSR and BSSR, respectively;
• in 1940, three new republics became part of the USSR - Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia;
• in 1940, the Moldavian SSR was created on the territory of Bessarabia, separated from Romania and transferred to the USSR;
• in 1940, on a small territory of Finland, which passed to the USSR after the Soviet-Finnish war, and Karelia, an autonomy of the RSFSR, a union republic was also created - the Karelo-Finnish SSR.

In all the new republics, following the model of the USSR Constitution of 1936, new, “Soviet” constitutions were adopted, and government bodies were formed according to the Soviet model (formal Supreme Soviets and Councils of People's Commissars, subordinate to the center).

Thus, at the start of the Great Patriotic War in 1941, the USSR included 16 union republics (in 1956, the Karelo-Finnish SSR was transformed into the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and included in the RSFSR, the union republics again became 15). When creating new union republics, many of which did not “join” the USSR, but “separated” from the territory of the RSFSR, borders were drawn artificially, without taking into account the national composition. Thus, Kazakhstan included significant (northern) territories populated by the ethnic Russian population; Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), populated predominantly by Armenians, was transferred to Azerbaijan; The Moldavian SSR included territories inhabited by Russian and Ukrainian populations (Transnistria), etc. 6. The last changes in the composition of the USSR occurred during and after the end of the Great Patriotic War:

• On August 1, 1944, not without pressure from the USSR, the independent state of Tuva, a small Buddhist state located next to Mongolia, joined the USSR;
• contrary to the general rule, the newly admitted Republic of Tuva did not acquire the status of a union - it was included not in the USSR (like the newly admitted states), but in the RSFSR as the Tuvan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic;
• in 1945, the northern part of the former East Prussia, which became part of the USSR following the war, acquired the status of the Kaliningrad region of the RSFSR; its capital Königsberg was renamed Kaliningrad;
• the Transcarpathian region, which separated from Czechoslovakia, became part of the Ukrainian SSR, and the Chernivtsi region, which was torn away from Romania, also became part of the Ukrainian SSR;
• in the east, the southern part of Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands passed to the USSR from Japan, which became the Sakhalin region of the RSFSR.

After this, the process of registering the territory of the USSR was completed. The territory of the USSR did not expand further, despite the existing opportunities.

The Soviet Union gave Port Arthur to China, which was returned to the USSR after the Second World War, and prevented Mongolia and Bulgaria from joining the USSR as two new union republics, which the leadership of these countries sought to achieve (1973).

In 1977, a new Constitution of the USSR was adopted:

• in fact, it was not a new document, an improved edition of the “Stalinist” Constitution of the USSR of 1936;
• The cardinal difference between this Constitution and the previous one was the rejection of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the proclamation of the USSR as a state of the entire people;
• the article on the leading role of the Communist Party was moved to the very beginning of the Constitution (Article 6);
• confirmed the previous system of government bodies - the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Presidium of the Supreme Council, the Council of Ministers of the USSR;
• confirmed the existing national-state structure of the USSR - 15 union republics, autonomous republics, regions, districts within the union republics, regions and territories;
• Also in the 1977 Constitution, the article on the right of a union republic to secede from the USSR was retained, although at that time this article was already a complete formality. The actual leader of the USSR was the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. In the regions, direct leadership (including all other bodies) was exercised by the first secretaries of the regional committees of the CPSU. Despite all the enormous power of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and the first secretaries of regional committees, these positions were not provided for in the Constitution. In the USSR, a situation arose where unconstitutional bodies were in charge of constitutional ones. Starting from the post-war period, especially in the 1970s and 1980s, the USSR pursued a policy of erasing national differences. All residents of the USSR in the West began to be perceived as “Russians”. L.I. Brezhnev and Soviet ideologists declared that a new community had emerged in the USSR - the “Soviet people.”

“The decay of imperial Russia began a long time ago. By the time of the revolution, the old regime had completely disintegrated, was exhausted and exhausted. The war completed the process of decomposition. It cannot even be said that the February Revolution overthrew the monarchy in Russia, the monarchy itself fell, no one defended it... Bolshevism, long prepared by Lenin, turned out to be the only force that, on the one hand, could complete the decomposition of the old and, on the other hand, organize the new.” (Nikolai Berdyaev).

After the February Revolution

After the February Revolution of 1917, the new revolutionary Provisional Government failed to restore order in the country, which led to increasing political chaos, as a result of which the Bolshevik Party under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin, in alliance with the left Socialist Revolutionaries and anarchists, seized power in Russia (October Revolution 1917). The Councils of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies were proclaimed the supreme body of power. Executive power was exercised by the people's commissars. The reforms of the Soviet government consisted mainly of ending the war (Peace Decree), eliminating private property and socializing property belonging to capitalists and landowners (Land Decree).

The dispersal of the Constituent Assembly and the split in the revolutionary movement led to the Civil War, in which opponents of the Bolsheviks (the "Whites") fought against their supporters (the "Reds") for - years. Without receiving support from the masses, the white movement lost the war. The monopoly political power of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) was established in the country, which gradually merged with the centralized state apparatus.

USSR in 1922-1953

Education USSR

The struggle for power in the party

All government bodies in the USSR were controlled by the Communist Party (until 1925 it was called the RCP (b), in 1925-1952 - the CPSU (b), from 1952 - the CPSU). The highest body of the party was the Central Committee (Central Committee). The permanent bodies of the Central Committee were the Politburo (since 1952 - the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee), the Organizing Bureau (existed until 1952) and the Secretariat. The most important of these was the Politburo. His decisions were perceived as binding on all party and government bodies.

In this regard, the question of power in the country was reduced to the question of control over the Politburo. All members of the Politburo were formally equal, but until 1924 the most authoritative of them was V.I. Lenin, who presided over Politburo meetings. However, from 1922 until his death in 1924, Lenin was seriously ill and, as a rule, could not take part in the work of the Politburo.

Stalin, Zinoviev and Kamenev organized a “troika” based on opposition to Trotsky, whom they had a negative attitude towards since the Civil War (frictions between Trotsky and Stalin began over the defense of Tsaritsyn and between Trotsky and Zinoviev over the defense of Petrograd, Kamenev supported almost everything Zinoviev). Tomsky, being a leader of trade unions, had a negative attitude towards Trotsky since the time of the so-called. "discussions about trade unions".

Trotsky began to resist. In October 1923, he sent a letter to the Central Committee and the Central Control Commission (Central Control Commission) demanding strengthening of democracy in the party. At the same time, his supporters sent the so-called Politburo. "Statement of the 46." The Troika then showed its power, mainly using the resource of the Central Committee apparatus, led by Stalin (the Central Committee apparatus could influence the selection of candidates for delegates to party congresses and conferences). At the XIII Conference of the RCP(b), Trotsky's supporters were condemned. Stalin's influence increased greatly.

In the same report, Stalin accused Zinoviev, without naming him, of the principle of “dictatorship of the party,” put forward at the XII Congress, and this thesis was recorded in the resolution of the congress and Stalin himself voted for it. Stalin’s main allies in the “seven” were Bukharin and Rykov.

A new split emerged in the Politburo in October, when Zinoviev, Kamenev, G. Ya. Sokolnikov and Krupskaya presented a document that criticized the party line from a “left” point of view. (Zinoviev led the Leningrad communists, Kamenev led the Moscow ones, and among the working class of large cities, which lived worse than before the First World War, there was strong dissatisfaction with low wages and rising prices for agricultural products, which led to the demand for pressure on the peasantry and especially on the kulaks ). The Seven broke up. At that moment, Stalin began to unite with the “right” Bukharin-Rykov-Tomsky, who expressed the interests primarily of the peasantry. In the internal party struggle that began between the “right” and “left,” he provided them with the forces of the party apparatus, and they (namely Bukharin) acted as theorists. The “new opposition” of Zinoviev and Kamenev was condemned at the XIV Congress

By that time, the theory of the victory of socialism in one country had emerged. This view was developed by Stalin in the brochure “On Questions of Leninism” () and Bukharin. They divided the question of the victory of socialism into two parts - the question of the complete victory of socialism, that is, the possibility of building socialism and the complete impossibility of restoring capitalism by internal forces, and the question of the final victory, that is, the impossibility of restoration due to the intervention of Western powers, which would only be excluded by establishing a revolution in the West.

Trotsky, who did not believe in socialism in one country, joined Zinoviev and Kamenev. The so-called "United Opposition". It was finally defeated after a demonstration organized by Trotsky's supporters on November 7 in Leningrad.

From 1925 to 1929, control over the Politburo was gradually concentrated in his hands by I.V. Stalin, who from 1922 to 1934 was the General Secretary of the Party Central Committee. Since 1929, all members of the Politburo fully supported I.V. Stalin, so we can talk about the onset of Stalin’s dictatorship during this period.

New Economic Policy

Despite rapid urbanization starting in 1928, by the end of Stalin's life the majority of the population still lived in rural areas, far from large industrial centers. On the other hand, one of the results of industrialization was the formation of a party and labor elite. Taking these circumstances into account, the change in living standards during 1928-1952. characterized by the following features (see below for more details):

• The average standard of living throughout the country underwent significant fluctuations (especially associated with the first Five-Year Plan and the war), but in 1938 and 1952 it was higher or almost the same as in 1928.
• The greatest increase in living standards was among the party and labor elite.
• According to various estimates, the standard of living of the vast majority of rural residents (and thus the majority of the country's population) has not improved or has deteriorated significantly.

Stalin's methods of industrialization, collectivization in the countryside, and the elimination of the private trading system led to a significant decrease in the consumption fund and, as a consequence, the standard of living throughout the country. The rapid growth of the urban population has led to a deterioration in the housing situation; a period of “densification” passed again; workers arriving from the village were housed in barracks. By the end of 1929, the card system was extended to almost all food products, and then to industrial products. However, even with cards it was impossible to obtain the necessary rations, and in 1931 additional “warrants” were introduced. It was impossible to buy food without standing in huge lines.

According to data from the Smolensk party archive, in 1929 in Smolensk a worker received 600 g of bread per day, family members - 300, fat - from 200 g to a liter of vegetable oil per month, 1 kilogram of sugar per month; a worker received 30-36 meters of calico per year. Subsequently, the situation (until 1935) only worsened. The GPU noted acute discontent among the workers.

Collectivization

After the disruption of grain procurements in 1927, when it was necessary to take emergency measures (fixed prices, closing markets and even repression), and an even more catastrophic grain procurement campaign of 1928-1929. the issue had to be resolved urgently. Extraordinary measures during procurement in 1929, already perceived as something completely abnormal, caused about 1,300 riots. This year, bread cards were introduced in all cities (in 1928 - in some cities).

The path to creating farming through the stratification of the peasantry was incompatible with the Soviet project for ideological reasons. A course was set for collectivization. This also implied the liquidation of the kulaks “as a class.”

Cards for bread, cereals and pasta were abolished from January 1, 1935, and for other (including non-food) goods from January 1, 1936. This was accompanied by an increase in wages in the industrial sector and an even greater increase in state ration prices for all types of goods. Commenting on the abolition of cards, Stalin uttered what later became a catchphrase: “Life has become better, life has become more fun.”

Overall, per capita consumption increased by 22% between 1928 and 1938. However, this growth was greatest among the party and labor elite group and did not affect the vast majority of the rural population, or more than half of the country's population.

Terror and repression

In the 1920s, political repression continued against the Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, who did not renounce their beliefs. Former nobles were also subjected to repression for real and false accusations

After the start of forced collectivization of agriculture and accelerated industrialization in the late 1920s and early 1930s, the establishment, according to some historians, of Stalin's dictatorship and the completion of the creation of an authoritarian regime in the USSR during this period, political repressions became widespread.

The repressions that continued until Stalin’s death reached particular severity during the period of the “Great Terror” of 1937-1938, also called the “Yezhovshchina.” During this period, hundreds of thousands of people were shot and sent to Gulag camps on false charges of committing political crimes.

Foreign policy of the USSR in the 1930s

After Hitler came to power, Stalin sharply changed traditional Soviet policy: if previously it was aimed at an alliance with Germany against the Versailles system, and through the Comintern - at fighting the Social Democrats as the main enemy (the theory of “social fascism” is Stalin’s personal attitude ), now it consisted of creating a system of “collective security” within the USSR and the former Entente countries against Germany and an alliance of communists with all left forces against fascism (the “popular front” tactics). This position was initially not consistent: in 1935, Stalin, alarmed by the German-Polish rapprochement, secretly proposed a non-aggression pact to Hitler, but was refused. After this, the policy of “collective security”, defended by Litvinov, turns out to have no alternative. However, at the same time, Stalin demanded that diplomats not give any specific obligations to their partners. However, France and England were afraid of the USSR and hoped to “appease” Hitler, which was manifested in the history of the “Munich Agreement” and subsequently in the failure of negotiations between the USSR and England and France on military cooperation against Germany. Immediately after Munich, in the fall of the year, Stalin made hints towards Germany about the desirability of improving mutual relations in terms of trade. On October 1, 1938, Poland, in the form of an ultimatum, demanded that the Czech Republic transfer to it the Cieszyn region, the subject of territorial disputes between it and Czechoslovakia in the years. And in March of this year, Germany occupied the remaining part of Czechoslovakia. On March 10, Stalin made a report at the 18th Party Congress, in which he formulated the goals of Soviet policy as follows:

“1. Continue to pursue a policy of peace and strengthening business ties with all countries.
2. ...Do not allow war provocateurs, who are accustomed to raking in the heat with the hands of others, to drag our country into conflicts.”

This was noted by the German embassy as a hint of Moscow's reluctance to act as allies of England and France. In May, Litvinov, a Jew and an ardent supporter of the “collective security” course, was removed from his post as head of the NKID and replaced by Molotov. The German leadership also regarded this as a favorable sign.

By that time, the international situation was sharply aggravating due to German claims against Poland; England and France this time showed their readiness to go to war with Germany, trying to attract the USSR to the alliance. In the summer, Mr. Stalin, supporting negotiations on an alliance with England and France, simultaneously began negotiations with Germany. As historians note, Stalin's hints towards Germany intensified as relations between Germany and Poland deteriorated and strengthened between Britain, Poland and Japan. Hence the conclusion is drawn that Stalin’s policy was not so much pro-German as anti-British and anti-Polish in nature; Stalin was categorically not satisfied with the old status quo; in his own words, he did not believe in the possibility of a complete victory for Germany and the establishment of its hegemony in Europe.

Expansion of the USSR in 1939-1940

Division of spheres of interest in Eastern Europe under the Non-Aggression Treaty between Germany and the Soviet Union.
On the left is the supposed one, on the right is the actual one. Orange-brown colors depict the territories that were ceded and ceded to the USSR, blue - ceded to the Reich, purple - occupied by Germany (Government General of Warsaw and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia)

On the night of September 17, 1939, the USSR began the Polish campaign in Western Ukraine and Western Belarus (including the Bialystok region), which were part of Poland, as well as the Vilna region, which, according to the secret additional protocol to the Non-Aggression Treaty between Germany and the Soviet Union, were classified as sphere of interests of the USSR. On September 28, 1939, the USSR concluded a Treaty of Friendship and Borders with Germany, which fixed, approximately along the “Curzon line,” “the border between mutual state interests on the territory of the former Polish state.” In October 1939, Western Ukraine became part of the Ukrainian SSR, Western Belarus became part of the BSSR, and the Vilna region was transferred to Lithuania.

At the end of September - beginning of October 1939, agreements were concluded with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which, according to the secret additional protocol to the Non-Aggression Treaty between Germany and the Soviet Union, were included in the sphere of interests of the USSR, according to which Soviet military bases.

On October 5, 1939, the USSR also proposed to Finland, which, also according to the secret additional protocol to the Non-Aggression Treaty between Germany and the Soviet Union, was classified in the sphere of interests of the USSR, to consider the possibility of concluding a mutual assistance pact with the USSR. Negotiations began on October 11, but Finland rejected Soviet proposals both for a pact and for the lease and exchange of territories. On November 30, 1939, the USSR began a war with Finland. This war ended on March 12, 1940 with the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty, which recorded a number of territorial concessions on the part of Finland. However, the initially intended goal - the complete defeat of Finland - was not achieved, and the losses of the Soviet troops were too great in comparison with the plans, which envisaged an easy and quick victory with small forces. The prestige of the Red Army as a strong enemy was undermined. This made a strong impression on Germany in particular and pushed Hitler to the idea of ​​attacking the USSR.

In most states, as well as in the USSR before the war, they underestimated the Finnish army, and most importantly, the power of the fortifications of the “Mannerheim Line”, and believed that it could not provide serious resistance. Therefore, the “long fuss” with Finland was perceived as an indicator of the weakness and unpreparedness of the Red Army for war.

After the start of German aggression against the USSR in the summer of 1941, the dissatisfaction of the Baltic residents with the Soviet regime became the reason for their armed attacks on Soviet troops, which contributed to the German advance towards Leningrad.

Post-war time

After the war and famine of 1946, the card system was abolished in 1947, although many goods remained in short supply, in particular, there was a famine again in 1947. In addition, on the eve of the abolition of cards, prices for ration goods were raised. This allowed in 1948-1953. repeatedly and demonstratively reduce prices. Price reductions somewhat improved the standard of living of Soviet people. In 1952, the cost of bread was 39% of the price at the end of 1947, milk - 72%, meat - 42%, sugar - 49%, butter - 37%. As noted at the 19th Congress of the CPSU, at the same time the price of bread increased by 28% in the USA, by 90% in England, and more than doubled in France; the cost of meat in the USA increased by 26%, in England - by 35%, in France - by 88%. If in 1948 real wages were on average 20% lower than the pre-war level, then in 1952 they already exceeded the pre-war level by 25% and almost reached the level of 1928. However, among the peasantry, real incomes even in 1952 remained at 40% below the 1928 level.

USSR in 1953-1992

Khrushchev's thaw

The starting point of the Thaw was the death of Stalin in . At the 20th Congress of the CPSU in Nikita Khrushchev, Khrushchev made a speech in which Stalin’s personality cult and Stalin’s repressions were criticized, and the foreign policy of the USSR proclaimed a course of “peaceful coexistence” with the capitalist world. Khrushchev also began a rapprochement with Yugoslavia. In general, Khrushchev’s course was supported at the top of the party and corresponded to its interests, since previously even the most prominent party functionaries, if they fell into disgrace, were forced to fear for their lives. Another motive was the enormous administrative and military costs required by Stalinist-type totalitarian control over the countries of the socialist camp.

The era of stagnation

• According to World Bank estimates, the share of spending on education in the gross domestic product in the USSR in 1970 was 7%.

Perestroika

Collapse of the USSR

Attempts to reform the Soviet system led to a deepening crisis in the country. In the political arena, this crisis was expressed as a confrontation between USSR President Gorbachev and RSFSR President Yeltsin. Yeltsin actively promoted the slogan of the need for the sovereignty of the RSFSR.

The collapse of the USSR took place against the backdrop of the onset of a general economic, foreign policy and demographic crisis. In 1989, the beginning of the economic crisis in the USSR was officially announced for the first time (economic growth was replaced by decline).

A number of interethnic conflicts are flaring up on the territory of the USSR, the most acute of which is the Karabakh conflict. Since 1988, mass pogroms have occurred against both Armenians and Azerbaijanis. In 1989, the Supreme Council of the Armenian SSR announced the annexation of Nagorno-Karabakh, and the Azerbaijan SSR began a blockade. In April 1991, a war actually began between the two Soviet republics.

Notes

1. Stalin I.V. Trotskyist opposition before and now: Speech at a meeting of the joint plenum of the Central Committee and the Central Control Commission of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks on October 23, 1927. Works. - T. 10. - M.: OGIZ; State Publishing House of Political Literature, 1949. pp. 172-205.
2. Stalin I.V. Collected works T.6. P.257
3. Nove A. About the fate of the NEP // Questions of history. 1989. No. 8. - P. 172.
4. Lelchuk V. Industrialization.
5. Allen R. C. The standard of living in the Soviet Union, 1928-1940 // Univ. of British Columbia, Dept. of Economics. Discussion Paper No. 97-18. August, 1997. (English)
6. Chapman J. G. Real Wages in the Soviet Union, 1928-1952 // Review of Economics and Statistics. 1954. Vol. 36, No. 2. P. 134. DOI:10.2307/1924665 (English)
7. Jasny N. Soviet industrialization, 1928-1952. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961.
8. Post-war reconstruction and economic development of the USSR in the 40s - early 50s. / Katsva L. A. Distance course in the History of the Fatherland for applicants.
9. A. Chernyavsky Shot in the Mausoleum. Khabarovsk Pacific Star, 2006-06-21
10. M. Geller, A. Nekrich HISTORY OF RUSSIA: 1917-1995
11. A. A. Pronin Soviet-German agreements of 1939. Origins and consequences.
12. Rolf Amann Pact between Hitler and Stalin. Assessing interpretations of Soviet foreign policy, including new issues and new research
13. Zhitorchuk Yuri Viktorovich. The outbreak of World War II as a logical result of Chamberlain's policy to appease Hitler. Magazine "Samizdat". http://zhurnal.lib.ru/z/zhitorchuk_j_w/jitorchuk7.shtml
14. Nineteenth Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks). Bulletin No. 8, p.22 - M: Pravda, 1952.

Introduction

1 The internal political situation after the end of the Civil War

2 Prerequisites for the creation of the USSR

3 Stalin and Lenin projects of the USSR

1 Preparatory work for the First Congress of Soviets of the USSR

2 Adoption of the Declaration and Treaty on the Formation of the USSR

3 Adoption of the USSR Constitution of 1924

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

The relevance of the problem of the formation of the USSR for our time does not become less; the fact is that modern Russia has not completely passed the stage of disintegration. Just look at the events in the North Caucasus and it will become clear that the situation is not at all cloudless. Therefore, for such a multinational state as Russia, the question of state structure is not an abstract topic of conversation. And the example of the collapse of the USSR has not lost its poignancy to this day, because literally at the end of the eighties of the twentieth century, it seemed to many that the superpower was eternal and indestructible. But only a few knew for sure that the last months of the existence of this state had passed.

The appearance of the USSR on the political map of the world was not the fact of the emergence of a completely new state; even then they said that it was the Russian Empire in a new form. The novelty was that it was a state with a new type of socio-economic relations. But one should not assume that the USSR was a unique phenomenon at that time, because in Europe after the First World War all significant monarchies disappeared - German, Austrian, Russian and Turkish. But if Austria and Turkey were relegated to the level of states with insignificant political influence, then Russia and Germany, even with territorial losses, remained states with great economic and political potential. And both states eventually evolved from parliamentary states into authoritarian regimes with a socialist ideology. Only in Russia did such an evolution occur earlier and as a result of the Civil War; in Germany the process was peaceful and lasted for fifteen years. And if we add to these two countries Italy, with its fascist regime of Mussolini, as well as a number of totalitarian regimes in small countries, such as Hungary, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Spain, as well as France, balancing on the brink of totalitarianism, then it follows admit that the USSR, with its totalitarian regime, was not at all an exception in Europe, and even more so in Asia.

The formation of the USSR was also a natural result of the development of society over the previous sixty years, because Many people, not without reason, consider the October Revolution to be a peasant uprising with the goal of redistributing land. It was the peasant reform of 1861, during which the peasants received freedom, but did not receive land, that provoked peasant discontent, which ultimately resulted in a civil war.

The Bolsheviks, who won the war, gave land to the peasants, but the renewed state had to be equipped and streamlined. None of the top leadership of the USSR wanted to lose the lands of Ukraine, Transcaucasia and Central Asia. But it was necessary to create a new state organization that would meet the requirements of the time and public sentiment. A unitary state was no longer suitable, because literally all the peoples inhabiting the territory of the former Russian Empire took an active part in the civil war. After all, one of the slogans that raised the masses to war was the slogan of national self-determination. For this reason alone, it was impossible to build a unitary state.

But the USSR, which managed to defeat Nazi Germany, collapsed in peacetime, and the reasons for its collapse lay not in the economic sphere or in the initial mistakes in the project. After all, the economy of the USSR and the standard of living were at a fairly high level; for most republics, leaving the USSR was unprofitable. In addition, internally the USSR was constantly evolving from Stalinist totalitarianism to Gorbachev’s liberalism, and the transformation of the USSR into a liberal, democratic state was only a matter of time. But no one gave the USSR this time.

Therefore, in the early nineties of the twentieth century, there was a lively debate in the media about what was initially flawed in the USSR project and what could be corrected. These disputes are still important today, because it is no secret that the customs and economic union between Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan actually means the beginning of the creation of a new USSR. Therefore, the debate among scientists about the reasons for the creation of the USSR, its disadvantages and advantages, also means that active work is underway towards the construction of a new state entity.

The purpose of this course work will be to consider the issue of the creation of the USSR and modern approaches to this problem.

During the course work the following tasks will be set:

consider the internal political situation after the end of the Civil War;

study the prerequisites for the creation of the USSR;

identify the differences between the Stalinist and Leninist projects of the USSR;

consider the preparatory work for the First Congress of Soviets of the USSR;

show the adoption of the Declaration and Treaty on the Formation of the USSR and the Constitution of the USSR of 1924.

Stalinist Leninist Soviet Union

Chapter I. The formation of the USSR in 1922 as a natural process to create a centralized state

1. The internal political situation after the end of the Civil War

The end of the Civil War on the territory of the former Russian Empire marked not only the victory of the radical party that adhered to communist views. The war ended with enormous devastation in the economy, enterprises did not work, agriculture was also undermined, despite the distribution of land to the peasants. But the state of transport communications and communication systems was especially alarming for the new government. After all, everyone understood that the Russian Empire was connected by railways and telegraphs, and the absence of these connecting elements of infrastructure threatened the real collapse of the state. And the leaders of the Bolshevik party did not delude themselves with the fact that in Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Ukraine or Belarus, Bolsheviks like themselves were in power. Lenin, Trotsky and other Bolshevik leaders studied in schools and universities and were well aware of history, which taught that states fell apart when the central government ceased to control local authorities. And without the punishing right hand of the central government, the degeneration of local authorities occurs very quickly. Moscow's fears were confirmed by the dynamics of the activity of the republican authorities, who began to independently pursue foreign policy in their republics. Thus, the mentioned republics established full-fledged diplomatic relations with Germany, Poland, Turkey and other European countries. Although these steps were approved by Moscow, it was obvious that in the future the republics would consider conducting an independent foreign policy their inalienable right. And, as for domestic politics, by this time the independence of the republics was already quite high. This was especially true of Ukraine, whose leadership did not hesitate to defend the economic interests of its republic. Lenin and Stalin understood that if the process continued like this, then the final collapse of the new Russia would be a matter of time. Therefore, their work on the creation of a union state was aimed precisely at suppressing separatist tendencies in the republics. But both leaders had different views on the design of the future state; if Lenin believed that the republics needed to be given a certain set of freedoms, then Stalin gave his preferences to a strictly centralized state.

Preferences I.V. Stalin had good reasons also because he understood that society after the civil war was like a raging sea, which, even without wind, would not calm down soon. Therefore, this society must be placed within a certain framework, otherwise a new round of civil war cannot be avoided. In addition, I.V. Stalin, by upbringing and inclinations, was an authoritarian person and did not tolerate manifestations of disobedience. Stalin's entire life took place in structures where discipline and diligence were valued above all else, and it did not matter whether it was a theological seminary or a group of militants preparing to rob the Tiflis bank.

2. Prerequisites for the creation of the USSR

But the creation of the USSR in 1922 did not begin out of nowhere; in the summer of 1919, a military-political union of Soviet republics was formed. On June 1, 1919, the decree “On the unification of the Soviet republics of Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, and Belarus to fight world imperialism” was signed. The military-political unity of the Soviet republics played a huge role in the defeat of the combined forces of intervention and the White Army. The Soviet republics entered into contractual relations with the RSFSR. In 1920 - 1921 Bilateral agreements were concluded on a military-economic union between Russia and Azerbaijan, a military and economic union between Russia and Belarus, alliance agreements between Russia and Ukraine, Russia and Georgia. During this period, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the RSFSR included representatives of Ukraine, Belarus, and the Transcaucasian republics, and the unification of some people's commissariats began. As a result, the Supreme Economic Council of the RSFSR actually turned into a management body for the industry of all republics. In February 1921, the State Planning Committee of the RSFSR was created, headed by G.M. Krzhizhanovsky, called upon to lead the implementation of a unified economic plan. Since the spring of 1921, in response to the instructions of V.I. Lenin on the economic unification of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan began the creation of the Transcaucasian Federation (TCFSR), which took shape in March 1922. In February 1922, in Moscow, a meeting of representatives of the RSFSR, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Bukhara, Khorezm and the Far Eastern The republic instructed the delegation of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee to represent the interests of all Soviet republics at the international conference in Genoa on the economic restoration of Central and Eastern Europe (April 1922), and to conclude any treaties and agreements on their behalf. The delegation of the RSFSR was replenished with representatives of Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia.

The practice of the first years of Soviet power was to create autonomies in the Russian Federation on a national, territorial, and economic basis. In 1918-1922. peoples, predominantly small and compactly living surrounded by Great Russian lands, received two levels of autonomy within the RSFSR: republican - 11 autonomous republics (Turkestan, Bashkir, Karelian, Buryat, Yakut, Tatar, Dagestan, Mountain, etc.) and regional - 10 regions (Kalmyk, Chuvash, Komi-Zyryan, Adygei, Kabardino-Balkarian, etc.) and 1 autonomous Karelian labor commune (autonomous republic since 1923). The Federation was considered by the Bolsheviks as a transitional stage on the eve of the world revolution.

3. Stalinist and Leninist projects of the USSR

One should not think that the political line of V.I. Lenin and I.V. Stalin was constant throughout their lives, this is completely wrong. The fact is that these people, first of all, were politicians who were fully aware that “one must speak correctly and act as necessary.” In other words, you can proclaim any slogans to the public, make any promises, but in real politics only carefully verified actions should be taken. This was especially clearly manifested in the position of V.I. Lenin regarding the choice of government structure for the future USSR. Even on the eve of the Second Congress of the RSDLP, Lenin specifically dwelled on the national question in several of his articles in the Iskra newspaper. In the article “On the Manifesto of the Union of Armenian Social Democrats,” he, supporting the slogan of self-determination of nations, categorically opposes federalism and focuses on the rapprochement of peoples. At that time, Lenin was an opponent of the federation, considered it a bourgeois institution and recognized territorial-national autonomy only as an exception. After the congress, the Bolsheviks and, above all, Lenin, had to fight against federalism in the Social Democratic Party and at the same time against the principle of cultural-national autonomy. And ten years after the Second Congress, Lenin remained a principled opponent of the federal structure. In this regard, his letter to S.G. deserves attention. Shaumyan dated December 6, 1913, which has repeatedly attracted the attention of specialists in national relations. In this remarkable letter, Lenin considered it necessary to write the following words: “We are for democratic centralism, of course. We are for the Jacobins against the Girondins... We are, in principle, against the federation - it weakens economic ties, it is an unfit type of one state. Do you want to separate? Go to hell if you can break the economic connection. Autonomy is our plan for creating a democratic state.” At the same time, what has long been noted in the research literature, in articles devoted to the Balkan wars of 1912-1913. Lenin emphasized that specific historical conditions may dictate the need for a federation for the purpose of a democratic solution to the national question.

And already during the Civil War there was a final change in V.I.’s views. Lenin on the essence of federation as a method of government. After all, it was clear that it would be very difficult to keep the republics within unitary Russia, and it would be much better to give them the status of republics, even if this status would be largely fictitious. But there will always be an opportunity in the future to increase the independence of the republics in economic and foreign policy issues. Therefore, the project V.I. Lenin on the structure of the USSR reflects his views.

But there was more than one Leninist project; at the same time there was also a project developed by I.V.’s group. Stalin, reflecting his ideas about the state structure.

In the spring and summer of 1922, party organizations in Ukraine, Belarus and Transcaucasia, discussing ways of closer unification with the RSFSR, turned to the Central Committee of the RCP (b) with a request to develop the principles and forms of a unified Soviet state. A commission of the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) was created from representatives of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) and the Central Committee of the communist parties of the republics. The chairman of the commission was J.V. Stalin, who, since the creation of the first Soviet government, headed the People's Commissariat for National Affairs.

During the work of the commission, I.V. Stalin put forward an “autonomization” plan, which provided for the entry of the Soviet republics into the RSFSR with the rights of autonomous republics. At the same time, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the Council of People's Commissars and the STO of the RSFSR remained the highest bodies of state power and administration.

Stalin's plan for “autonomization” was the natural outcome of the struggle between those who, under the communist flag, moved toward isolationism and separatism, and those who sought to achieve the unity of the republics under the auspices of the central Moscow government. As separatist sentiments among the National Communists intensified, the position of the centralist wing of the party strengthened significantly. The idea of ​​uniting the republics on the basis of autonomy within the RSFSR, which, in addition to I.V. Stalin was defended by V.M. Molotov, G.K. Ordzhonikidze, G.Ya. Sokolnikov, G.V. Chicherin and others, matured not only in the highest echelons of power, but also advanced to the lower levels of the state apparatus and had many supporters among the communists of the outskirts.

The project was approved by the party leadership of Azerbaijan, Armenia and the Transcaucasian regional committee of the RCP (b).

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia opposed it, declaring that unification in the form of autonomization was premature, the unification of economic and general policies was necessary, but with the preservation of all the attributes of independence. In fact, this meant the formation of a confederation of Soviet republics, based on the unity of military, political, diplomatic and partly economic activities.

In general, without objecting to the resolution, the Central Bureau of the Communist Party of Belarus expressed preference for contractual relations between independent union republics.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine did not discuss the project, but stated that it was based on the principle of Ukrainian independence.

The situation changed when, on September 23, 1922, representatives of the republics were summoned to a meeting of the commission of the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) on the issue “On the relationship between the RSFSR and the independent republics.” Already on the first day of the project I.V. Representatives of all republics voted for Stalin, with the exception of the representative of Georgia who abstained. On September 24, all controversial issues were settled - the center made some concessions. The republics were allowed to have their representatives in the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, coordinate the appointment of authorized all-Union People's Commissariats, and appoint their representatives to the foreign missions of the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade. The People's Commissariat of Finance was transferred from the all-Union to the category of Union-Republican. The commission accepted the project as a basis and recommended it to the plenum of the Central Committee.

However, V.I. Lenin, who was ill and could not take part in the work of the commission, rejected the idea of ​​autonomization. On September 26, 1922, he sent a letter to members of the Politburo in which he sharply criticized the “autonomization” project and formulated the idea of ​​​​creating a union of equal Soviet republics. He proposed replacing the formula for the “entry” of the republics into the RSFSR with the principle of their “unification together with the RSFSR” in the union Soviet socialist state on the basis of complete equality. Lenin emphasized the need to create all-Union bodies that would stand over the RSFSR to the same extent as over other republics. Defending the principle of complete equality of the uniting Soviet national republics, he wrote: “... we recognize ourselves as equal in rights with the Ukrainian SSR and others, and together and on an equal basis with them we are entering a new union, a new federation, the “Union of Soviet Republics of Europe and Asia.” I.V. Stalin was forced to admit his plan for autonomy was erroneous.

October 1922 The Plenum of the Central Committee approved the position of V.I. Lenin and adopted a new resolution on its basis.

Chapter 2. Education of the USSR and nation-state building

1. Preparatory work for the First Congress of Soviets of the USSR

Instructions V.I. Lenin were taken into account by the Central Committee commission. The resolution of the Plenum of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) on the form of unification of independent Soviet republics (dated October 6, 1922) recognized the need to conclude an agreement between Ukraine, Belarus, the Federation of Transcaucasian Republics and the RSFSR on their unification into the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics, reserving for each of them the right free secession from the Union. By November 30, the commission of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) developed the Main Points of the USSR Constitution, which were sent to the communist parties of the republics for discussion. On December 18, 1922, the Plenum of the Central Committee of the RCP(b) discussed the draft Treaty on the Formation of the USSR and proposed convening a Congress of Soviets of the USSR.

The resolution of the Plenum of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) said:

"1. It is necessary to recognize the conclusion of an agreement between Ukraine, Belarus, the Federation of Transcaucasian Republics and the RSFSR on their unification into the “Union of Socialist Soviet Republics”, reserving for each of them the right to freely secede from the “Union”.

The executive body of the "Union Central Executive Committee" is considered to be the "Union Council of People's Commissars", appointed by the "Union Central Executive Committee".

The decision of the October (1922) Plenum of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), drawn up on the basis of the instructions of V.I. Lenin, was the basis for all subsequent work on the organization of the USSR. During November - December 1922, the Communist Party, its Central Committee, as well as party organizations of the republics, in accordance with the instructions of V.I. Lenin, a lot of work was done to prepare the formation of the USSR and develop its constitutional foundations. The main attention was focused on resolving practical issues, determining the structure of state bodies of the USSR and preparing relevant state acts.

On November 1922, the commission elected by the October Plenum of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) discussed the issue “On the procedure for carrying out questions about the unification of Soviet republics into the Union of Republics.” To develop draft Fundamentals of the Constitution and the Treaty on the Unification of the Republics, the commission formed a subcommittee chaired by G.V. Chicherina. At the same meeting, the proposal put forward by V.I. was unanimously adopted. Lenin’s proposal “to create an institution of several chairmen of the Union Central Executive Committee (according to the number of units being united) with their alternate chairmanship,” as well as the proposal of M.I. Kalinin on the structure of the highest bodies of state power and administration of the USSR.

November 1922, the subcommittee decided to take as a basis the draft theses on the Union Constitution proposed by G.V. Chicherin and D.I. Kursky. The subcommission approved the name of the union state - “Union of Soviet Socialist Republics”, recorded the right of union republics to secede from the Union and a single union citizenship. On November 28, the Central Committee commission approved the subcommittee's draft. On November 30, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) generally approved the Main Points of the USSR Constitution presented by the commission. After this, at the meetings of the commission of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) on December 5 and 16, a number of practical issues related to preparations for the Congress of Soviets of the USSR were resolved, and the draft Treaty and Declaration on the Formation of the USSR were approved. The commission decided that these documents would form the Basic Law of the USSR. On December 18, a number of issues related to the work of the First Congress of Soviets of the USSR were considered by the Politburo of the Central Committee. On the same day, the Plenum of the Central Committee of the RCP (Bolsheviks), having discussed the same issues, decided that the First Congress of Soviets of the USSR would only basically approve the Declaration and the Treaty on the Formation of the USSR, after which they would be discussed and ratified by the Central Executive Committee of the union republics, and then finally approved by the Second Congress of Soviets of the USSR. To lead the preparations for the Congress of Soviets, the Plenum of the Central Committee formed a commission. At a meeting of this commission on December 20, it was finally decided to name the union state “Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.” On December 28, the subcommittee approved the edited text of the Treaty on the Formation of the USSR, as well as the draft resolution of the First Congress of Soviets of the USSR, presented by D.I. Kursky. At this point, the preparatory work for the formation of the USSR was largely completed.

2. Adoption of the Declaration and Treaty on the Formation of the USSR

The First Congress of Soviets of the USSR began its work on December 30, 1922 at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. 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. In terms of 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 the 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. It can be said without exaggeration that the overwhelming number of participants at the congress were promoters of October, this particular revolution. This is the general picture that gives an idea of ​​​​those people who had to legislatively decide the issue of creating the Soviet Union.

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 Union. On the first two points, and in general, the main report of the congress was made by I.V. Stalin. 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. This emphasized the possibility of other republics joining the USSR, including those where Soviet power had not yet been established. Modern researchers largely adhere to the same opinion that the creation of the USSR was an act of international significance. As B.N Topornin points out. “The answer to this question is not as simple as it might seem at first. Based on the fact that it was concluded by independent Soviet republics, it can be characterized as an international legal act. This assessment dominates today in Soviet legal science.” I.I. Lukashuk also notes: “The Treaty on the Formation of the USSR of 1922 is an international legal treaty, because it was concluded by states that are not members of any state-legal entity.”

But this view of the problem of the formation of the USSR is not the only one; some researchers believe that relations between the Soviet republics on the eve of the formation of the USSR were of a federal nature. In developing this idea, O.I. Chistyakov points out: “by federal it is customary to understand such relations when individual state entities, having a certain independence, are at the same time connected by the unity of the highest bodies of power, citizenship, army, finance.” Later, O.I. Chistyakov came to a more definite conclusion: “The signing of the Agreement took place on December 30 and took place before the opening of the First All-Union Congress of Soviets. In this regard, the question is: what event should be considered a legal fact?... Another thing became important: what character did the Treaty take after its approval by the supreme authority of the Union? Since the Treaty was adopted by the legislative body of the country, then, in essence, it ceased to be a Treaty, but became law.”

But a completely reasonable argument that confirms precisely the international legal nature of the formation of the USSR is the opinion of some legal scholars who point to the following circumstance. Relations between the RSFSR and other republics were of an international nature, because in fact the Russian Empire did not exist; completely new states arose from its ruins after the end of the Civil War. The following fact can be cited as an example. In February 1919, the First All-Belarusian Congress of Soviets even adopted a Declaration on the establishment of federal ties with the fraternal RSFSR. However, no unified federal legislative and executive bodies were created. The existence of a Military Alliance between the republics is pointed out as one of the main evidence of the federal nature of relations. Meanwhile, these authors themselves admit that this union was not enshrined in the corresponding agreement - “Union treaties and other agreements of the RSFSR with independent republics of 1920-21. were not multilateral, but bilateral.”

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 the instability of the 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 “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” was included. In the project, this phrase sounded slightly different. 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, and now - 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 national minorities the right to free development and use of their native language, 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 of the all-Union budget, while the list of incomes and amounts 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.

Closing the congress, Kalinin summed up the results of its work, calling it “an event of world importance.” On the same day, December 30, 1922, the First Session of the USSR Central Executive Committee took place, chaired by G.I. Petrovsky.

3. Adoption of the USSR Constitution of 1924

April 1923 The Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR adopted a resolution on the completion of the activities of all previously formed commissions for the development of individual chapters of the Union Constitution and, in order to prepare the final draft of the Constitution, formed another, the so-called Expanded Commission, which included 25 people representing the Union republics. There were 14 people from the RSFSR, of which 5 were representatives from the autonomous republics, 5 from the Ukrainian SSR, and 3 people each from the BSSR and TSFSR. M.I. Kalinin was placed at the head of the Commission. The activities of this Commission were based on a draft draft of the USSR Constitution drawn up back in February of the same year. In May, a discussion of the draft Constitution took place in special commissions of the Central Executive Committee of the union republics. The expanded commission began its work in the second half of May. An important stage in its work were the meetings of June 8 -16, 1923. On June 13, a resolution was adopted so that before the session of the USSR Central Executive Committee in the Commission, only the draft Constitution (Treaty) should be discussed, first of all, starting to discuss the issue of the all-Union budget, the Supreme Court , about the union coat of arms and flag. Next, it was decided to turn to the consideration of the general provisions on the People's Commissariats and then submit all these issues to the next session of the USSR Central Executive Committee.

It was decided to postpone the provisions on individual People's Commissariats until the next session of the USSR Central Executive Committee. In the meantime, the People's Commissariats were ordered to work on the basis of the previous provisions regarding them. By a special decision of this Commission dated June 16, the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR was instructed to “develop the issue of equality of languages ​​in all government and judicial institutions.” Of great interest are not only the specific resolutions of the Expanded Commission, but also the substantive discussion of certain issues. At the very first meeting of the Commission on June 8, an exchange of views took place on the question of whether to call the Declaration and Treaty on the Formation of the USSR the Constitution of the USSR. H.G. Rakovsky, in general, opposed the use of the term “constitution,” but M.I. Kalinin, D.Z. Manuilsky, M.V. Frunze insisted on the adoption of the constitution. At this meeting, however, it was decided not to prejudge the question of what to call the all-Union fundamental law - the Treaty or the Constitution. This decision was made only at the last meeting, where it was considered appropriate to call the basic law the Constitution of the USSR.

June, the subject of lively discussion was a very important constitutional provision on changing the territory of each of the Soviet republics. ON THE. Skrypnik saw a huge difference between the wording of the draft presented by the Central Committee Commission, which stated that “the territory of each of the Soviet republics cannot be changed without consent” and the wording “can be changed only with consent.” The discussion of the item on union citizenship was equally lively, in which a number of members of the Commission took part, including Stalin, with whom Rakovsky again polemicized, however, on a private issue. On June 16, the Commission adopted a resolution to request the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the Union to develop the issue of equality of languages ​​in all government and judicial institutions of the USSR. On the same day, a number of other decisions were made on the relationship between the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the Union and the Council of People's Commissars and the commissariats, on symbolism, etc. In general, on June 16, the Expanded Commission completed an article-by-article consideration of the draft Constitution, adopting the text of the draft.

However, this project was not final either. It was transferred to the constitutional commission of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) and there it was again considered article by article by introducing clarifications into a number of formulations, and then transferred to the Plenum of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), which met on June 26, 1923. The Plenum heard the report of I.V. Stalin on the Constitution of the USSR and generally approved the presented draft. The project was then discussed at sessions of the Central Executive Committee of the union republics.

The second session of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the 10th convocation began its work on June 29, 1923. After listening to the report of T.V. Sapronova, unanimously ratified the Declaration on the Formation of the USSR and the Treaty adopted at the First Congress of Soviets of the USSR, taking into account the amendments made by the Expanded Commission of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR. The draft Constitution was also approved by the third session of the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee, the third session of the Central Executive Committee of Belarus and the second session of the Central Executive Committee of Transcaucasia. The next important step towards the adoption of the Constitution of the USSR was the Second Session of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, which opened on July 6, 1923. Information about the work of the Constitutional Commission was heard and the draft Constitution was again discussed chapter by chapter. On the same day, the session adopted a resolution on the Constitution of the USSR. The very first paragraph of this resolution proclaimed: “The Basic Law (Constitution) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics shall be approved and immediately put into effect.” The same resolution provided for the Constitution to be submitted for final approval by the Second Congress of Soviets of the USSR, and also before the formation of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, all powers by virtue of Chapters 4 and 5 of the Constitution of the USSR were to be assigned to the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, elected at the 1st session of the Central Executive Committee of the Union SSR on December 30, 1922, consisting of 19 members.

July 1923, a resolution of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR was also adopted, which emphasized that in accordance with the powers given to it by the second session of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, the Presidium “began work as the highest authority of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, according to Chapter. fifth Constitution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics." On the same day, the Presidium also decided to approve and publish all decrees and resolutions of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and its Presidium, so that they would have force throughout the entire territory of the USSR, and also invited the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR to immediately begin its activities by virtue of the sixth chapter of the Constitution USSR. It was also proposed that the People's Commissariats of the Union begin their activities, form the Council of Labor and Defense, establish the Central Statistical Directorate of the USSR, transform the State Bank of the RSFSR into the State Bank of the USSR, appoint collegiums of people's commissariats of the USSR, form the State Planning Committee of the USSR and other union institutions. In parallel, it was prescribed to form commissions to develop relevant regulations on the People's Commissariats, the Supreme Court and the OGPU of the USSR, as well as on the budget of the USSR.

By virtue of these resolutions, corresponding commissions were created. So, then, on July 13, the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR created a Commission of 10 people, headed by Kalinin, which was tasked with developing regulations on the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, general regulations on the People's Commissariats and on each People's Commissariat separately. At the same time, a Commission was created to develop regulations on the budget of the USSR and the already existing Commission for the preparation of regulations on the Supreme Court of the USSR and the OGPU of the USSR was approved. But the direct management of the activities of all these commissions was carried out by the Commission of the Central Committee of the RCP (b).

At a meeting of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR on August 3, 1923, a resolution was adopted to celebrate the day of adoption of the Constitution of the USSR throughout the entire territory of the USSR on the sixth of July. Thus, on July 6, 1923, the Constitution of the USSR was not only put into effect, but this day was declared a holiday throughout the country. In parallel, the process of creating union government institutions was going on.

The first Constitution of the USSR included the Declaration and Treaty on the Formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which stated that “This Union is a voluntary association of equal peoples, and that each republic is guaranteed the right to freely secede from the Union.” A special chapter was devoted to the sovereign rights of the Union republics and Union citizenship, and it was written in it: “The sovereignty of the Union republics is limited only within the limits specified in this Constitution, and only in subjects within the competence of the Union. Outside these limits, each union republic exercises its state power independently. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics protects the sovereign rights of the union of republics." In addition, there was a special chapter entitled “On the Union Republics,” which talked about their supreme and executive bodies and the relationship between the republican authorities and the all-Union ones. The Constitution also had chapters on the supreme and executive bodies of the Union, the Supreme Court of the Union, the United State Political Administration, the coat of arms, the flag and the capital of the USSR. The Constitution provided for the publication of decrees and resolutions of the Central Executive Committee, its Presidium and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR in the languages ​​of the union republics - Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Georgian, Armenian and Turkic-Tatar.

According to this Constitution, all decrees, resolutions and orders of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR were binding for direct execution throughout the entire territory of the USSR, just as the Central Executive Committee of the USSR had the right to suspend and cancel decrees, resolutions and orders of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, as well as congresses of councils and Central Executive Committees of the union republics and others authorities on the territory of the USSR. The Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Supreme Court of the USSR had similar rights within their competence. In turn, in case of violation of the Constitution of the USSR, the legislation of the Union or the legislation of the union republic, the orders of the people's commissariats of the USSR could be suspended by the Central Election Commission or the presidiums of the republics. The Central Executive Committees of the Union republics and their presidiums also received the right to protest the decrees and resolutions of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR to the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, without suspending their execution.

The term “federation” is never used in the Constitution, but from its content it could be understood that the USSR is a federal state of the Soviet type, and the inviolability of the foundations of Soviet power was already proclaimed in the preamble of the Constitution. The Constitution also never mentions the word “party” and says nothing about its role, and this immediately raised the question of the relationship between formal guidelines and the actual state of affairs. In fact, after the adoption of the USSR Constitution, the role of the party not only did not decrease, but even intensified. But in general, the Second Congress of Soviets of the USSR completed the process of creating the USSR as a single federal state. It is no coincidence that in 1924 the so-called “first wave of recognition of the USSR” would follow. This year, diplomatic relations are being established with Austria, Albania, Great Britain, Greece, Denmark, Italy, China, Mexico, Norway, France, Hejaz, and Sweden.

This, by no means, meant that further union construction ceased completely. In 1924, the Uzbek SSR was formed, in 1925 - the Turkmen SSR, in 1929 - the Tajik SSR, etc. But these were changes within the already created Soviet Union. With all the difficulties of the 20s-30s. after all, interethnic relations were largely regulated and there was no need to talk about the national question in the USSR as an antagonistic issue at that time.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the course work should be concluded that the creation of the USSR was not a one-time act, but was the result of a rather long-term, multi-stage path, which showed how complex and, at the same time, important the creation of a new type of state was. Its formation was the result of an intensive exchange of opinions, sometimes heated discussions, during which various proposals and approaches emerged. The most powerful national movements of that time demanded that all political parties take a close look at the national issue and develop their own recipe for resolving it. There was clearly a struggle between these political parties to gain the support of the so-called Nationals.

At the Seventh (April) All-Russian Conference of the RSDLP (b) V.I. Lenin first put forward the idea of ​​​​creating a union of Soviet republics and, essentially, from that time on, the Bolshevik Party, which previously professed the principle of centralism and built its national program primarily on the principles of internationalism and the right of nations to self-determination, includes the principle of federalism in its program. In 1917, it was the federalists who were in the majority on the national outskirts and outnumbered both the unifiers and the secessionists. The creation of a federation made it possible to preserve a single country and at the same time take into account the wishes of its many peoples.

One of the most important stages on the path to unification was the military union of the Soviet republics of Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania and Belarus on June 1, 1919, which provided for close unification not only in the military field, but also in the field of economic, financial and communications upon recognition of independence , freedom and self-determination of national republics. In general, a number of Soviet republics retained their sovereignty and pursued their own not only domestic but also foreign policy, maintaining diplomatic ties with foreign countries. The end of the bloody Civil War and the difficult foreign policy situation required the establishment of not only a unified military and economic policy, but also coordination and then the implementation of a unified foreign policy.

In the first half of 1922, the so-called autonomization plan was developed, which provided for the inclusion of the remaining independent Soviet republics in the RSFSR on the principles of national autonomy. This approach did not receive support in Georgia, Ukraine and Belarus and was replaced by V.I. Lenin proposes another plan - a plan for a union of republics, with the creation of a new upper management floor, a plan that a prominent specialist in national relations

However, the proclamation of a new state at the First Congress of Soviets of the USSR on December 30, 1922 still required a lot of subsequent work in order to put these ideas into practice. This work was completed at the next Congress of Soviets of the USSR, which approved the first Constitution of the USSR, already in force on July 6, 1923. The sovereignty of the Union republics under this Constitution, of course, was limited, it became noticeably less significant than it was by the end of 1922, but in general the USSR protected the sovereign rights of the Union republics, each of them had the right to freely secede from the Union, had its own constitutions, supreme and executive bodies, the right to use one’s own language and develop national culture.

In the numerous domestic literature published on the history of the formation of the USSR, one can find disagreement about what the Soviet Union really was as a state entity. In general, the literature was dominated by the statement about the USSR as a federal state.

Bibliography

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