From October to February 1917, the establishment of Soviet power on the territory of the former Russian Empire began.
On October 25, the 2nd Congress of Soviets adopted a decree according to which power passed to the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies.
On October 27, a resolution was adopted on the creation of a temporary (until the convocation of the Constituent Assembly) Soviet government - the Council of People's Commissars (SNK), which included the Bolsheviks (62) and the Left SRs (29). It was headed by Lenin. People's Commissariats (more than 20) were created in all spheres (economy, culture, education, etc.).
The All-Russian Congress of Soviets became the supreme legislative body. In between congresses, its functions were performed by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK), which was headed by L.B. Kamenev, and then Ya.M. Sverdlov.
Elections in constituent Assembly held in November 1917 showed that 76% of voters did not support the Bolsheviks. They voted for the Socialist-Revolutionaries, Mensheviks and Cadets, who are pursuing a course towards the establishment of bourgeois democracy. However, the Bolsheviks were supported by large cities, industrial centers, as well as soldiers.
In December 1917, the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (VChK) was created to combat counter-revolution, speculation and sabotage and its local departments in the regions.
In January 1918, the Bolsheviks dispersed the Constituent Assembly, banned the Kadet Party and the publication of opposition newspapers.
Cheka headed by F.E. Dzerzhinsky had unlimited powers (up to the right to shoot) and played a huge role in establishing Soviet power and the dictatorship of the proletariat.
In January 1918, a Decree was adopted on the organization of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army and Navy. The army, created on a voluntary basis from representatives of the working people, was intended to defend the gains of the proletariat.
In May 1918, in connection with the danger of intervention, a Decree on universal military duty was adopted. By November 1918, L. Trotsky managed to create a regular, combat-ready army, and by 1921 its number had reached 4 million people.
Using agitational and violent methods (the whole family was taken hostage for refusing to cooperate with the Red Army), the Bolsheviks managed to attract more military specialists from the old tsarist army to their side than the whites.
After the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly and the signing of the shameful agreement with Germany, the socio-political situation in the country worsened. Actions began against the power of the Bolsheviks: the rebellion of the junkers in Petrograd, the creation of the Volunteer Army on the Don, the beginning of the White movement, the unrest of the peasants in central Russia.
The most acute problem facing the new government was the way out of the war. L. Trotsky disrupted the first negotiations. Taking advantage of this, the German troops launched an offensive along the entire front line and, without meeting resistance, occupied Minsk, Polotsk, Orsha, Tallinn and many other territories. The front collapsed, and the army was unable to resist even the insignificant forces of the Germans.
On February 23, 1918, Lenin achieved the acceptance of the German ultimatum and signed an "obscene" peace with Germany's colossal territorial and material claims.
Having received a respite, having suffered huge losses for the sake of preserving the gains of the revolution, the Soviet Republic began to transform its economy.
In December 1917, the Supreme Council of the National Economy (VSNKh) was organized, the largest banks, enterprises, transport, trade, etc. were nationalized. State-owned enterprises became the basis of the socialist structure in the economy.
On July 4, 1918, the 5th Congress of Soviets adopted the first Soviet Constitution, which proclaimed the creation of a state - the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic.
Every slave has his own pride: he wants to obey only the greatest master.
Honore de Balzac
The formation of Soviet power in Russia became possible as a result of the 2nd Congress of the Bolsheviks, which actually crowned the revolution and the forcible seizure of power. This contributed to legitimizing those actions that led to the collapse Russian empire and the overthrow of the emperor.
To understand the events of that era, it is necessary to consider the chronology of events in terms of the formation of Soviet socialist power in Russia. It will show the sequence of actions of Lenin with his comrades-in-arms, as well as their key steps that contributed to the formation of Soviet power.
Let's start with the fact that the October coup ended with the opening of the 2nd Congress of Soviets. It happened at the end of the day on October 25, 1917 in Petrograd, in the Smolny Palace. With short breaks, the congress lasted until October 27 inclusive. The meeting was attended by:
- Bolsheviks - 390 people.
- Socialist-Revolutionaries (left and right wing) - 190 people.
- Mensheviks - 72 people.
- SD-internationalists - 14 people.
- Ukrainian nationalists - 7 people.
- Menshevik-internationalists - 6 people.
In total, 739 people attended the meeting, most of which belonged to the Bolsheviks, allowing them to manage the processes of this meeting. The Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks put forward a demand to recognize the illegality of the power of the Bolsheviks, since it was seized as a result of a coup d'état! This demand was not satisfied and the representatives of the opposition left the hall. Thus began the formation of Soviet power, which is simply impossible to describe briefly.
The 2nd All-Russian Congress of Soviets continued at 11 am on October 26. On it, Lenin read out the "Decree on Peace", which obliges Russia to begin negotiations on peace without annexation and indemnity, as well as on an immediate truce for 3 months for negotiations. In this document there was a clause according to which all nationalities, previously included by force into Russia, have the right to independence.
The formation of Soviet power took place at an accelerated pace. The Bolsheviks understood that if they did not give the people what they wanted in the shortest possible time, they would not hold out in governing the country for a long time. At the 2nd Congress of Soviets, the Bolsheviks, who clearly defined measures that could strengthen the formation of the state, adopted a directive on peace, a directive on land and a directive on power.
The land directive was announced at 2 am on October 26, 1917. It completely abolished private ownership of land. An egalitarian system of land distribution was introduced throughout the country, while the authorities undertook to periodically produce new sections. The Bolsheviks were not in favor of such a reform. In the form in which it was adopted, this was one of the provisions of the Socialist-Revolutionary program. But they accepted this directive, essentially a Socialist-Revolutionary one, in order to win the love of the peasants. They succeeded. Briefly, the decree on land can be presented as follows:
- all transactions with land that becomes completely state property are prohibited;
- hired labor on land is prohibited;
- all land plots become the property of the state, which provides it to all citizens without exception;
- land is provided free of charge, no rents are allowed;
- those unable to cultivate the land for health reasons receive a state pension.
The next directive of the Bolsheviks on power was that all power in the country now belonged to the Soviets.
After the adoption of the main directives that the common people demanded, the Bolsheviks set about reforming the country. V short time the following directives were adopted for the formation of order in the Soviet state. October 29 - directive on the eight-hour working day. November 2 - directive on the equality of the peoples of Russia. November 10 - directive on the liquidation of the estates. November 20 - Decree on the recognition of the national culture of the country's Muslims. December 18 - Decree on the equalization of the rights of men and women. January 26, 1918 - the decision on the withdrawal of the church from the state.
On January 10, 1918, after the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, the 3rd Congress of Soviets of Soldiers' and Workers' Deputies took place. Soon the peasant deputies also joined him. This meeting completed the formation of the Soviet authorities, as well as the adoption of the directive on the rights of workers.
In July 1918, the 5th Congress of Soviets was held. As a result, the name of the country was determined - the Russian Socialist Federative Socialist Republic. In addition, the country's constitution was approved. The Congress of Soviets was designated as the supreme body of the state. Executive legislation was assigned to the Council of People's Commissars. The 5th Congress of Soviets ended with the adoption of the emblem and flag of the state.
The formation of Soviet power was actually completed, in the future it was already required to keep it.
The October Revolution and fundamental changes in the state and
the social structure of Russia. Constitution of the RSFSR 1918.
After the fall of the autocracy in February 1917, Russia developed along the path of a parliamentary republic. However, the democratization of public administration, the judiciary and public life in the crisis conditions of the war and the growing economic devastation, it resulted in a total collapse of the institutions of power. The provisional government was never able to cope with this destructive process.
As a result of the political and economic crisis events took place in Russia that radically changed the course of development of the Russian state.
These and many other factors predetermined the October Revolution of 1917, the transfer of all power to the Soviets, and the creation of the Soviet state. The Soviet state and law were fundamentally different from all those that still existed. But it was not born by chance, but was the result of the action of certain historical factors, the main of which was Great October Socialist Revolution.
The October Revolution and fundamental changes in the state and social system of Russia.
The revolution was caused by certain objective and subjective reasons. This is described in most detail in the monograph of the famous Russian historian, Professor I.Ya. Froyanov "October 17th" (looking from the present). SPb., 1997.
First of all, it is class antagonisms between labor and capital, which is characteristic of any bourgeois society. The Russian bourgeoisie was unable or unwilling to reduce the intensity of the class struggle as much as possible.
has not been resolved and peasant question. The peasants were not satisfied with either the 1861 reform or the Stolypin reforms. They frankly wanted all the land. In addition, as a result of the differentiation of the peasantry in the countryside, a new contradiction has become aggravated. Along with the landowner, a kulak also appeared there, who left the community and enriched himself as a result of the redistribution of peasant lands.
By 1917, escalated and national contradictions, the national liberation movement grew sharply.
Importance had and World War in which Russia was one of the belligerents. The bulk of the population and, especially, the soldiers suffered from the many-sided hardships of the war, wished for a speedy conclusion of peace. Only the upper class of the bourgeoisie, which made huge amounts of money on military supplies, was in favor of continuing the war to a victorious end.
On the other hand, the war armed the millions of the population, taught them how to handle weapons, created a psychological prerequisite for overcoming the moral barrier that forbids a person to kill other people.
Another important prerequisite was that provisional government lost prestige among the bulk of the population, without solving a single important issue raised by the revolution.
Among the subjective factors, a number of the most important should be noted:
Widespread popularity in the society of socialist ideas in the elections to the Constituent Assembly, all socialist parties together received 85% of the mandates);
Unpopularity among the broad masses of bourgeois and monarchist views (thus the Cadet Party received only 5% of the seats in the elections);
The existence in Russia of a party that is ready to lead the masses to revolution - the Bolshevik, the presence of a strong leader, authoritative both in the party itself and among the people (V.I. Ulyanov-Lenin).
historical background the emergence of Soviet statehood were the views of K. Marx, F. Engels, developed politically by V.I. Lenin. The course of Lenin's thought was such that the revolution for our country is not a national catastrophe, but a means of preventing or saving it, a new political basis for the all-round development of civilization.
According to Academician P.G. Volobuev, the October Revolution in those conditions was a Russian, different from the Western European version of the path to a modern industrial civilization.
In this regard, the thought of the American scientist A.E. Rabinovich, professor at Indiana University, USA. He believes that the October Revolution is one of the most important events of the 20th century. In his opinion, it became a turning point in the history of not only Russia itself, but also had a huge, both positive and negative impact on the fate of Europe.
A.E. Rabinovich notes two main reasons for the victory of the Bolsheviks. First lies in the fact that the Bolshevik Party in 1917 was a democratic and decentralized organization that had extensive ties with the masses. The Bolsheviks knew better the mood of the masses, their aspirations. Second the reason, which follows directly from the first, is that the program of action of the Bolsheviks proceeded from the knowledge of the masses. The slogans put forward by them most of all reflected the desires of the people: peace, land for the peasants, power for the Soviets.
The October Revolution opened up the possibility of putting the ideal state-legal concept into practice on a national scale.
The October armed uprising won victory in Petrograd with great ease and almost without bloodshed. Its result was the emergence of the Soviet state.
Events in October 1917 developed very rapidly. On October 12, at the initiative of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party, Military Revolutionary Committee under the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies and existed until December 5, 1917. It was a non-party body.
Created as a legal body to counter the counter-revolutionary plans of the Provisional Government, it soon became the body for the preparation and conduct of the uprising in Petrograd.
On October 21, 1917, the St. Petersburg garrison, after rallies and resolutions, recognized the Soviet as its supreme authority, and named the Military Revolutionary Committee as its immediate leader.
The Military Revolutionary Committee was the highest authority in the country from 10 am on October 25, 1917, until the adoption at 5 am on October 26, 1917 by the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies of the appeal "To the Workers, Soldiers and Peasants", which stated that " ...the congress takes power into its own hands...”.
In fact, the All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, with the formation of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars, was gradually losing these powers with the opening of the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. with the creation of departments of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the apparatus of the people's commissariats.
The Military Revolutionary Committee had real power, relying on Red Guard units, army units loyal to the Bolsheviks, sailors of the fleet, on the district and Petrograd Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, on the Soviets and local military revolutionary committees.
The Military Revolutionary Committee appointed its commissars to military units, to individual institutions, enterprises of Petrograd and to the provinces. From its inception until November 10, 1917, it appointed 184 commissars to civil institutions, 85 to military units, and 72 to the provinces.
The commissars of the Military Revolutionary Committee were empowered to reorganize the state apparatus, to dismiss personnel, and to arrest "obvious counter-revolutionaries." They had to work closely with general meetings and committees of soldiers and workers, with the Soviets.
It was, in essence, the only well-established apparatus (along with the Soviets) through which the new government carried out all state activities. According to its competence, it was a comprehensive emergency body of the Soviet state.
After victory October uprising The Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee becomes an all-Russian body. His connections and relations with other authorities (the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars) were determined by the requirements of the moment.
The first task of any revolutionary power is to prevent its liquidation by military means until it has taken shape and has not received a minimum of popular support. The most dangerous period is the first hours and days, when even the information about the seizure of power has not yet spread in society.
Immediately after October 25, 1917 Soviet power had to repel the attack on Petrograd by the troops of Kerensky-Krasnov, and in Petrograd itself - put an end to the junkers. These counter-revolutionary actions were not successful, they showed a decline in the strength and spirit of the Provisional Government, which had exhausted its potential.
With all its severity, the new state faced the problem exit from the world imperialist war . Even in the summer of 1917, it became obvious that after the destruction of the statehood of tsarist Russia, it was impossible to continue the war. Having taken power under the slogan of “peace without annexations and indemnities”, the Soviets began peace negotiations, and on March 3, 1918, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed with Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey (with annexations and indemnities).
Against the background of the continuous emergence and solution of critical, urgent problems that threatened complete collapse, the formation of a new state began.
The apparatus of the state of tsarist Russia was basically broken in February. The new order has not yet taken shape, it was replaced by “temporary constructions”, because. leaders of the liberal bourgeois revolution took a position of "nonprejudice".
The processes of demolition of the bourgeois state apparatus and the creation of a new one were interrelated.
Consider the practice of the formation of the Soviet state after October.
The beginning of the creation of the actual Soviet state system was laid by II All-Russian Congress of Soviets, which began its work on the night of October 25-26.
The absolute majority of the Soviets represented at the congress demanded the abolition of the power of the landowners and capitalists and its transfer into the hands of the Soviets.
A group of leaders of the Mensheviks and Right Social Revolutionaries who objected to an armed uprising demanded that the congress be suspended, but was not supported by the majority of the delegates. Hoping to disrupt the work of the congress, their supporters (about 10% of the congress delegates) left it. In this regard, among a certain part of domestic and foreign historians, there is a point of view about the unrepresentativeness of the congress. However, the facts say otherwise. All of what was then Russia, including its national regions, was represented at the congress. Not even all the rank-and-file members of the Menshevik and Right Socialist-Revolutionaries left the congress.
In the very first document of the congress - the Appeal: "To the workers, soldiers and peasants" - it was said that "... the congress takes power into its own hands", and the Provisional Government was overthrown. The congress decided that local power would be transferred to the Soviets of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies. Thus, the congress legally formalized the Republic of Soviets.
The congress adopted two important decrees: "On Peace" and "On Land". All warring peoples and their governments were asked to immediately conclude a truce and start negotiations for a just, democratic peace.
Congress elected All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK), which consisted mainly of Bolsheviks and representatives of some other left parties (Left SRs, Ukrainian Socialists), since the Mensheviks and Right SRs left the congress in protest against the usurpation of power by the Bolsheviks. L. B. Rosenfeld (Kamenev) became the chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. The All-Russian Central Executive Committee was declared the highest authority in the country during the breaks between congresses of Soviets.
It consisted of 101 people, among whom were 62 Bolsheviks and 29 Left Social Revolutionaries. The working body of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee was its Presidium, which prepared materials for the meetings of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. Trying to find a compromise of all leftist forces, the congress decided that the All-Russian Central Executive Committee could be replenished with representatives of groups that had left the congress.
At the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets was created Council of People's Commissars(SNK) headed by V.I. Lenin, called upon to play the role of the government of Russia up to the Constituent Assembly.
The government was headed by V.I. Lenin, L.D. became People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs. Bronstein (Trotsky), People's Commissar for Internal Affairs - A.I. Rykov, People's Commissar for Nationalities - I.V. Dzhugashvili (Stalin). The creation of the apparatus of people's commissariats was greatly complicated by the mass sabotage of officials of the former ministries and the lack of personnel.
At the end of October 1917, the Mensheviks and Right SRs, who opposed the Bolsheviks, decided to liquidate the Bolshevik monopoly on power by extra-parliamentary methods. Occupying a leading position in the All-Russian Executive Committee of the Trade Union of Railway Workers (Vikzhel), they, threatening a general strike in transport, demanded in an ultimatum form the creation of a “homogeneous socialist government” from representatives of all socialist parties. This idea was supported by some Bolshevik leaders: Kamenev, Rykov and others.
As a result of the internal party discussion, the supporters of V.I. Lenin and L.D. Trotsky, and 15 members of the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b) and the Council of People's Commissars, who were inclined towards the option of creating a coalition government, were forced to resign. Ya.M. became the chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. Sverdlov.
On November 1, 1917, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee adopted a resolution on the question of the terms of the agreement with other parties: their recognition of the program of the Soviet state, expressed in the above-mentioned decrees; recognition of the need to fight counter-revolution (Kerensky, Kornilov, Kaledin); recognition of the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies as the only source of power and responsibility of the government to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.
At the Extraordinary All-Russian Congress of Railway Workers, held in December 1917, the policy of the Vikzhel leadership was condemned, the delegates spoke in favor of supporting the Soviet government. Thus, the crisis was eliminated.
On November 4, 1917, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee adopted a resolution on the right of the Council of People's Commissars to publish urgent decrees within the framework of the general program of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets. Thus, three bodies were endowed with legislative powers: the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars.
On November 15, 1917, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, elected by the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, merged with the Executive Committee (108 people), elected at the Extraordinary All-Russian Peasants' Congress.
This greatly strengthened the position new government. The joint session of these Central Executive Committees and the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies unanimously confirmed the laws "On Land", "On Peace" and the "Regulations on Workers' Control" adopted by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.
An important document of a constitutional nature was adopted by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on January 3, 1918. Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People. It determined the geographical scope of the competence of the Soviet state (Russia) and the type of state (Soviet Republic).
Local authorities and administrations. On the eve of the October Revolution, city and zemstvo self-government bodies existed in the localities. Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, Soviets of Peasants' Deputies, commissars of the Provisional Government, bodies of class self-government.
The II All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies approved the principle of absolute power and autocracy of the Soviets in the field, and also announced the liquidation of the posts of commissars of the Provisional Government. By the Decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of November 10, 1917, all estates and estate divisions of citizens and estate organizations and institutions were abolished.
Local power passed to the Soviets. So, during the period from October 25, 1917 to February 11, 1918, Soviet power was established in 90 provincial and other large cities. The process of merging the Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies with the Soviets of Peasants' Deputies began.
The Decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of November 24, 1917 established the right of voters to recall their elected representatives, including those from local Soviets. Local Soviets created their own armed formations (detachments of the workers' militia), which strengthened their power.
The Soviets were a form of power that most corresponded to the level of political culture, the traditions of the life of the Russian people, and the conditions of 1917.
They were characterized by such features as electivity, collective decision-making, delegation of powers from lower to higher bodies, unity of legislative, executive, judicial power (less bureaucracy), omnipotence in solving everyday problems.
The Soviet state selectively approached the zemstvo and city self-government bodies: those who actively opposed the Soviet government were abolished, the loyal ones were temporarily kept until the local Soviets created their own apparatus. This process was completed by August 1918.
In order to unify local authorities, the NKVD addressed on December 24, 1917 to all the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers', Peasants' and Laborers' Deputies and sent out an instruction "On the rights and obligations of the Soviets." It noted that the Soviets are independent in solving local issues, but must act in accordance with the normative acts of the central bodies and higher Soviets. This was an important step towards a unified state system with a hierarchy of power.
The Soviets and their bodies were entrusted with the tasks of managing and servicing the administrative, economic, financial, cultural and educational aspects of local life. They were endowed with the right to issue decrees, i.e. local regulations. The Soviets elected from among their members an executive body (executive committee, presidium), to which they entrusted the implementation of resolutions and all current management work.
Local Soviets could make requisitions and confiscations, impose fines, close counter-revolutionary press organs, make arrests, dissolve public organizations that called for active opposition or the overthrow of Soviet power. As a temporary measure, the appointment of commissars was allowed in those provinces and districts where the power of the Soviets was not sufficiently strengthened. The councils were state funded.
The Bolsheviks were the first party in terms of the number of deputies in the local Soviets. So, in the composition of the congresses of provincial soviets in 19 provinces in the first half of 1918, there were about 47.5% of Bolsheviks, and about 25% of representatives of other parties, mainly Left Socialist-Revolutionaries. On June 14, 1918, representatives of the Socialist-Revolutionaries (right and center) and the RSDLP (Mensheviks) were expelled from the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, and it was proposed to all Soviets "to remove representatives of these factions from their midst."
constituent Assembly. On October 27, 1917, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee at its first meeting decided to hold elections to the Constituent Assembly on November 12, 1917, appointed by the Provisional Government. The elections were held according to lists drawn up before the revolution.
For example, divided into two parties with different attitude the Left and Right Socialist-Revolutionaries went to Soviet power on the same list as Socialist-Revolutionaries. Historians, including bourgeois ones, admit that the ratio of the number of deputies of the Right SRs (370) and the Left SRs (40) was accidental and did not reflect the position of the peasantry towards these already two different parties. Among the delegates to the peasant congresses, for which the Right and Left SRs were already elected on separate lists, the Left SRs predominated, and in the elections to the Soviets in the cities, the SRs were even inferior to the Cadets.
The attitude towards the Constituent Assembly was a matter of principle, since it was an organ that, in its type, corresponded to the bourgeois-liberal path of development of the revolution.
It said that the possibility of coexistence of two types of statehood was exhausted, since the peasantry and the army definitely went over to the side of Soviet power, and the bourgeois forces began an armed struggle with it (the Kaledin uprising, the actions of bourgeois regimes in Ukraine, Belarus, Finland and the Caucasus) . Therefore, the question of the attitude towards the Constituent Assembly is not a legal one. It can be included in state building only if it recognizes Soviet power. Being the pinnacle of democracy in the course of the bourgeois revolution, the Constituent Assembly was "late".
There are discrepancies in the data given by historians on the number of votes cast for certain parties in the elections. Apparently, about 44 million voters took part in the elections, 715 deputies were elected (according to other sources - 703). About 60% voted for the Social Revolutionaries, Mensheviks, various national parties, about 25% for the Bolsheviks, about 15% for the Cadets and other right-wing parties.
Thus, parties with a fundamentally bourgeois program received about 15% of the votes of those who took part in the elections, parties with various socialist programs - 85%.
The conflict that arose in connection with the Constituent Assembly is a conflict between the socialists, and, above all, between the two revolutionary parties of the socialists - the Bolsheviks and the Socialist-Revolutionaries (the Mensheviks had 16 seats, and the Socialist-Revolutionaries -410). V.M. Chernov, as chairman of the Assembly, even declared "the will to socialism."
On the eve of the convocation of the Constituent Assembly, on January 3, 1918, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee adopted a resolution “On recognizing as counter-revolutionary action all attempts to appropriate the functions of state power”, which stated that all power belongs to the Soviets and Soviet institutions and therefore any attempt to appropriate the functions of state power will be suppressed up to before the use of armed force.
The Constituent Assembly began its work on January 5, 1918 in Petrograd, in the Tauride Palace, about 410 deputies were present with a quorum of 400. The Right Social Revolutionary V.M. was elected chairman. Chernov (former Minister of the Provisional Government). Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee Ya.M. recognize Soviet power and its most important decrees: on peace, land, etc. The Left SRs also called on the assembly to adopt the Declaration and transfer power to the Soviets.
The Constituent Assembly rejected the Declaration (237 votes against 138), after which the Bolsheviks, Left SRs, Muslim nationalists and Ukrainian SRs left it. However, the Assembly, no longer having a quorum, adopted a resolution that the supreme power in the country belongs to it.
At five o'clock in the morning, the anarchist sailor A.G. Zheleznyakov suggested V.M. Chernov to stop the work of the Assembly, saying: "The guard is tired." At 4:40 the Constituent Assembly interrupted its activities. On January 6, 1918, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee adopted a decree "On the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly." It was not necessary to shoot the Taurida Palace, its doors were simply locked.
The refusal of the right SRs to cooperate with the Soviet government directed the development of events in the worst case scenario. A compromise, according to V.I. Lenin, would have prevented a civil war.
The Constituent Assembly as an alternative to the Soviets in those historical conditions was not viable. It did not have a social base that could support it, although the Social Revolutionaries did work in the troops and in factories. Judging by the recollections of eyewitnesses, the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly did not attract much attention at that moment (it has become an important topic in the recent anti-Soviet ideological campaign).
The further fate of the deputies is eloquent. Some of them, having created an illegal "Interfactional Council of the Constituent Assembly", in the summer of 1918 formed on the Volga and the Urals, where the Soviet power was liquidated by the White Czechs, anti-Soviet governments (Komuch, the Provisional Siberian Government, then the Directory, declared by the All-Russian authorities, the Provisional Regional Government of the Urals , Supreme Administration of the Northern Region). After Kolchak came to power, part of the deputies - the "founders" - were sent abroad, the other was arrested. On December 23, they were shot in Omsk on the orders of Kolchak.
January 10, 1918 gathered III All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies who looked like the successor to the Constituent Assembly. On January 13, the III All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Peasants' Deputies began its work. These congresses united, and thus a single supreme body of power arose in the country. The congress approved the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, and also decided to remove the word "provisional" from the name of the Soviet government.
At the congress, the Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People was adopted, in which for the first time the name of the country was given and its federal structure was announced: “The Soviet Russian Republic is established on the basis of a free union of free nations as a federation of Soviet national republics.”
In the resolution "On federal institutions of the Russian Republic, the congress instructed the All-Russian Central Executive Committee to develop the main provisions of the Constitution for submission to the next Congress of Soviets. The congress elected the All-Russian Central Executive Committee in the amount of 306 members, among whom were 160 Bolsheviks, 125 Left Social Revolutionaries and representatives of other parties: Mensheviks (internationalists and defencists), Right Socialist Revolutionaries, anarchist communists.
Customs. After the October Revolution, the Central Committee of the Trade Union of Customs Employees and its grassroots organizations took the platform of Soviet power. The customs authorities and institutions of Russia continued to fulfill their functional duties.
The first government document, which fixed the subordination of the customs authorities and their functional duties, as well as the procedure for the import and export of goods, was the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of December 29, 1917 "On the procedure for issuing a permit for the import and export of goods." It stated that permits for the export and import of goods from abroad were issued by the foreign trade department of the Commissariat of Trade and Industry.
The declaration of foreign trade as a monopoly of the Soviet state required a revision of the legislative acts on the customs business.
May 29, 1918 V.I. Lenin signed a decree "On the delimitation of the rights of the central and local authorities to collect duties and regulate the activities of local customs institutions."
The preamble of the decree stated that in the interests of a precise delimitation of the rights of the central and local Soviet authorities to collect duties, as well as to regulate the activities of local customs institutions, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR decided that the imposition of customs duties with other fees on goods transported across the border belongs exclusively to the central government. Customs offices are organs of central Soviet power and are directly administered by the Commissariat of Finance for the Department of Customs Duties. No civil and military authorities, as well as professional organizations, have the right to interfere within the borders of customs operations with orders arising from the course of customs affairs. On the contrary, all authorities give full support to the legitimate demands of the customs authorities.
The decree of May 29, 1918 regulated the relationship between customs institutions and local authorities. Regional and local Councils of Deputies had the right to oversee the activities of customs institutions, without interfering in the technical and administrative part of customs work.
This decree obliged the customs authorities to be guided in their work by all existing provisions on the nationalization of foreign trade, allowed the application of procedural norms, until the revision of the tsarist customs charter relating to traditional inspection operations, the calculation of duties, the release of goods.
In essence, the decree was an act of creating Soviet customs institutions. On June 29, 1918, a decree was signed, according to which the Department of Customs Duties was renamed into the Main Directorate customs control under the People's Commissariat of Trade and Industry: from now on, not only in essence, but also in form, control over all property transported across the border, and not collecting steel, has become the main thing in the work of customs. This main department was headed by G.I. Kharkov.
Changes in the social order. The October Revolution brought about fundamental changes in the social structure of Russia. The main thing was the transition from the previous socio-economic formation to a new one - socialist. The proletariat, which took power, had to create a new system on the ruins of the old one.
The socialization of the means of production was carried out primarily through their nationalization ie, the transfer of the property of the bourgeoisie and landowners to the ownership of the state.
Historically, the first object of nationalization was the land. This problem has already been solved by the well-known decree of the Second Congress of Soviets. The law turned into public property not only the property of the exploiters, but also the land of the peasants. This did not bother the latter, because. the nationalized land remained in their use, and with a huge increment at the expense of the landowners' lands.
The socialization of the means of production in the countryside proceeded along the line industrial cooperation. Collective farms arose already in the first days of Soviet power. Their most common form then was communes. They were usually created on the landowners' estates, from where their former owners were expelled. The distribution in the communes was egalitarian.
It was more difficult to socialize the means of production in the cities. The nationalization of industry took place gradually and in stages. The transitional step in this process was work control. After October, it was declared a state institution and played a major role in the fight against sabotage by entrepreneurs. The organs of workers' control also performed such an important function as training workers in the ability to manage production.
This transitional period was short-lived. At the end of 1917, the Likinskaya manufactory in the Moscow region was the very first to be nationalized. By the summer of 1918, almost all large and medium industry was socialized.
As a result economic transformation a multi-structural Soviet economy with socialist, state-capitalist, capitalist, small-scale commodity and patriarchal sectors took shape.
The idea of abolishing private property also entailed the abolition of the exploiting classes by depriving them of their property. These issues were resolved in the process of nationalization. The kulaks in the countryside were pushed back, but not eliminated.
The revolution also changed the position of the working classes. The dictatorship of the proletariat was initially carried out in alliance with the poorest peasantry, which constituted the bulk of the country's rural population.
The fate of the intelligentsia was not easy. She met in the majority of October negatively. She feared, and not without reason, that the revolution would cause irreparable damage to culture. Most of the intelligentsia took a wait-and-see position, and its elite, closely associated with the former government, showed open hostility and emigrated from the country.
The Soviet government soon began to take steps to win it over to its side. Yes, and life itself forced the intelligentsia to go to the service of the new government.
Immediately after the victory of the October Revolution, for the first time in the history of the country, a decisive step was taken to eliminate class and other privileges, to establish equal rights for citizens.
The Decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of November 11, 1917 stated that all ranks (nobles, merchants, philistines, peasants), titles (count, prince, baron, etc.) and the names of civil ranks were destroyed, one common one was established for the entire population title "citizen of the Russian Republic".
By decree of the Council of People's Commissars of December 16, 1917, all ranks and ranks in the army were abolished, all advantages associated with previous ranks, as well as titles, orders and other insignia, were abolished.
Along with the elimination of class restrictions, the inequality of men and women in all areas of state, social and economic life was eliminated, the special position of the church in society was abolished. It was separated from the state, and the school from the church.
The first step in resolving the national question, which was acute in Russia, was the "Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia" and the Appeal "To all the working Muslims of Russia and the East." These were political important documents. They proclaimed: equality and sovereignty of the peoples of Russia; the right to free self-determination; abolition of national and national-religious privileges and restrictions; free development of national minorities and ethnic groups; freedom and inviolability of beliefs and customs of the working Muslims of Russia and the East.
Thus, as a result of the October Revolution of 1917, significant changes took place in the country's social and state system. The form of government was declared the Republic of Soviets, the form of government - the Soviet federation, the political regime was defined as socialist democracy for the working classes.
Constitution of the RSFSR 1918. Starting from the first day of its existence. The Soviet state publishes whole line acts of a constitutional nature. They were mentioned above. But the forms of power and administration were largely formed spontaneously, in the course of the revolutionary process. In order to regulate this process and consolidate those forms that corresponded to the main foundations of the new statehood, an official Constitution was needed. Its creation is a turning point in the formation of the Soviet state.
On the initiative of the Left SRs, the Third All-Russian Congress of Soviets instructed the All-Russian Central Executive Committee to develop the main provisions of the Constitution of the RSFSR and present them to the next Congress of Soviets. However, in the conditions of an acute crisis (the breakdown of the peace talks in Brest-Litovsk, the German offensive at the front, the strengthening of the opposition of the left communists and the left SRs), the All-Russian Central Executive Committee was unable to fulfill this order.
An inter-party commission was created (in proportion to the representation of parties in the All-Russian Central Executive Committee), which prepared an agreed text of the draft Constitution in three months, it was published on July 3, 1918 and submitted for approval to the Central Committee of the RCP (b) for subsequent discussion at the V All-Russian Congress of Soviets. Prior to this, the materials of the commission were published in Izvestia of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the draft sections were discussed in the press.
The disputes in the commission were fundamental, but nevertheless it was possible to create a document that did not hinder the search for state forms: the main provisions of this Constitution, despite amendments and additions, were preserved until 1936, during 18 very turbulent years. The main contradictions that caused controversy were between supporters of the weakening of the central power of the state, the development of the initiative of local authorities, and those who sought to concentrate power in the center. Another plane, in principle, of the same problem concerned the type of federation: some demanded, in the current language, greater “sovereignty of the regions”, others sought to strengthen, under a new ideological design, “one and indivisible” Russia. The first set of principles (“less than a state”), reflecting the hostility of syndicalism to any statehood, was mainly defended by the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, as well as a prominent worker of the NKJ M.A. Reisner, who believed that the RSFSR should become an association of "labor communes". The practical Bolsheviks (above all I.V. Stalin) stood for a stronger statehood. The latter won, but the very topic of the dispute anticipated many future contradictions in state building.
On July 10, 1918, the V All-Russian Congress of Soviets adopted the Constitution. At the suggestion of V.I. Lenin, the first section of the Constitution was adopted by the III Congress of Soviets in January 1918 "Declaration of the rights of the working and exploited people."
This declaration, which consisted of 16 articles, was the first constitutional act of the Soviet Republic, which consolidated the results of the October Revolution and proclaimed the basic principles of the new socialist state. The draft declaration was written by V.I. Lenin.
The text of the declaration consists of 4 sections:
Section 1 establishes the political foundations of the Soviet socialist state. Russia was proclaimed a Republic of Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies, who held all power in the center and locally. The Soviet Republic was established on the basis of the free Union of Free Nations as a federation of Soviet national republics.
Section 2 defined the main task declared by the Soviet government - the destruction of all exploitation of man by man, the complete elimination of the division of society into classes, the suppression of the resistance of the exploiters and the establishment of a socialist organization of society. Further, the abolition of private ownership of land, decrees on workers' control, the organization of the Supreme Council of National Economy, and the nationalization of banks were confirmed. General labor service was introduced; to protect the results of the revolution, the formation of the Red Army and the complete and complete disarmament of the propertied classes were decreed.
The 3rd section declared the principles of Soviet foreign policy - the struggle for peace, the abolition of secret treaties, respect for the national sovereignty of all peoples, a complete break with the policy of developed bourgeois states that enslave the working people of colonies and dependent states, the proclamation of the Council of People's Commissars of Finland's independence, the withdrawal of troops from Persia , introduced there during the 1st World War, declared freedom of choice in the self-determination of Turkish Armenia, the annulment of loans concluded by the tsarist, and then by the Provisional Government.
The 4th section proclaimed the elimination of the exploiting classes from participating in the administration of the Soviet state, emphasized the belonging of power to the working people and their authorized representatives - the Soviets, it was emphasized that Soviet power was limited to establishing the fundamental principles of the federation of Soviet republics, allowing the workers and peasants of each nation to take an independent part in the federal government and other federal agencies.
The Declaration laid the cornerstone of the foundations of the constitutional order of the RSFSR, the main directions of economic and social policy. While expressing the aspirations of the working people, the main provisions of the declaration nevertheless had a pronounced class coloring, which significantly limited its democratic potential.
Section “Design of Soviet power” strengthened the relationship between government and administration.
The basis of the Soviet state apparatus was principle of democratic centralism. It should be emphasized that the Constitution endowed the executive body of the Council of People's Commissars with legislative powers (just like the body of the Congress of Soviets of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee - with executive powers). This was dictated not only by the emergency situation, but also by the very idea, through the reunification of legislative and executive functions, to overcome the weaknesses of bourgeois parliamentarism, whose task was to achieve a balance of class interests.
The Soviet government was not going to look for such a balance, since it declared itself as a “dictatorship of the proletariat”, which, as it strengthens, will lead to the construction of a classless society. The Constitution did not specifically stipulate the principles for the exercise of the judicial function. However, the fact that the organization of judicial activity and control over it was entrusted to the NKJ clearly showed its subordination to the executive body.
This idea had a theoretical and ideological justification in Marxism. But, in essence, the assertion of a single and indivisible power (“the dictatorship of the proletariat”) meant the unconscious restoration of the autocratic state in its conciliar, Soviet image. The significance of this decision was extremely important - the entire development of Soviet statehood was directed towards a path that rejected the main principle of the liberal state of civil society, the principle of separation of powers. The fact that this cardinal decision did not cause discussions and almost did not attract attention among the existing opposition suggests that it was very consonant with the notions of power and the state rooted in culture.
The real problem of the formation of the Soviet state was that the Soviets arose spontaneously, without clearly defined functions and powers, in factories and villages. The petty soviets were a model of direct democracy (for example, the factory soviets included all factory workers).
The big Soviets consisted of representatives citizens or workers. For some time, such Soviets were even called “Soviet Deputies” - as opposed to just Soviets.
The transformation of the Soviets into system state power was a complex and completely new task. The constitution, which was supposed to solve this problem, managed to reflect the existing contradiction and leave open paths its decisions: “all power” belongs to the Soviets, but “supreme power” belongs to the central bodies, whose powers the Constitution did not limit, but only illustrated with a list of “issues of national importance”.
And then followed Art. 50, which warned that "in addition to the issues listed above, the jurisdiction of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee is subject to all issues that they recognize as subject to their resolution."
The constitution fixed the most important events of the Soviet state in Economics: nationalization of banks and land; the introduction of workers' control as the first step towards the nationalization of factories and transport; cancellation of foreign loans concluded before the revolution. The constitution reflected the federal principle of the state structure of the RSFSR.
The constitution proclaimed a class, proletarian democracy for the working people. In other words, it did not recognize the formal equality of rights (although the class distinctions that existed in tsarist Russia were abolished and a single category of citizens was established). A number of civil rights were deprived of about 5 million people. A separate article justified this discrimination as a temporary measure to prevent "damage to the interests of the socialist revolution."
The task was to provide the working people with “complete, comprehensive and free education". The equal rights of citizens were recognized regardless of their race and nationality. The church was separated from the state and the school from the church, and the freedom of religious and anti-religious propaganda was recognized for all citizens.
The Constitution does not contain the right to work, rest, education, etc., since it was decided to write in it only those rights that could be exercised under those conditions.
There was some discrimination in the suffrage of workers and peasants: one delegate from 25 thousand people was elected to the All-Russian Congress of Soviets in the cities. voters and in the village - from 125 thousand rubles. residents. This was done so as not to change the usual methods of calculation, according to which they were previously elected to separate congresses: one - workers' and soldiers', and the other - peasant deputies (although earlier there was one delegate from the peasants from 150 thousand inhabitants).
Elections to all parts of the Soviets, except for urban and rural ones, were multistage, indirect. The right to elect and be elected to the Soviets was enjoyed by working people who had reached the age of 18 by the day of elections, regardless of religion, nationality, gender, settlement, etc. Soldiers also enjoyed this right. Voters had the right to recall an elected deputy.
The Constitution outlined program tasks for the transitional period from capitalism to communism: the destruction of the exploitation of man by man, the merciless suppression of the resistance of the exploiters, the elimination of the division of society into classes, the building of socialism.
Creation of the foundations of Soviet law. Sources of Soviet law. The appeal of the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee “To the citizens of Russia” and the appeal of the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets “To the workers, soldiers and peasants” can be considered the first legal acts of the Soviet state. An important legal act, which was almost entirely included in the first Soviet Constitution, was the Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People, adopted by the III All-Russian Congress of Soviets on January 12, 1918.
This Declaration was not the traditional document of the liberal state on the rights of the individual. It proclaimed the principles of social and economic policy, and already in this document expressed main idea which distinguished the Soviet state from the bourgeois-liberal one: human freedom must be protected not from the state, but with the help of the state.
Of course, the restructuring of the entire system of law could not be instantaneous, and in 1917-1918. along with the laws of the Soviet state acted old law, which gradually lost their force as the formation of new legislation.
The All-Russian Congress of Soviets, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the Council of People's Commissars had the right to issue legislative acts. and since 1919 also the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. Legal acts were also issued by the central government and local Soviets. In a number of cases, public organizations of workers (for example, trade unions in the field of labor law) took part in the development of normative acts. Most often, legislative acts were called decrees.
Until the end of the civil war, the Soviet state acted in a state of emergency. Neither a coherent system of legal norms, nor a system law enforcement has not yet been created.
In the absence of established legal norms, practical issues were resolved either on the basis of old norms, or on the basis of “revolutionary legal consciousness”, the source of which was class consciousness (or even “class instinct”). In practice, this often meant making decisions under the pressure of circumstances, based on “revolutionary expediency.” In general, common sense and common cultural norms prevailed, but all parties to the multidimensional conflict that broke out in Russia repeatedly resorted to extreme measures and terrible excesses, characteristic of any revolution and civil war.
Civil law. In the course of the first measures taken by the Soviet government, land and its subsoil, banks, industrial enterprises, railways and fleet, etc. The sphere of citizens' private ownership of tools of labor and means of production, which serves to extract income, has been sharply reduced.
Many acts were directly aimed at undermining private property and, especially, at stopping the growing wave of transactions aimed at selling off and dividing large property in order to bring it out of the threat of nationalization.
Obligation law. Contractual relations were reduced. At the same time, back in December 1917, the Council of People's Commissars confirmed that all obligations arising from contracts for the supply and procurement of food for the army remained in force. Relations between enterprises that became state property were built mainly on administrative, and not on civil law.
Inheritance law. The decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee "On the abolition of inheritance" (April 27, 1918) abolished inheritance both by law and by will.
After the death of the owner, both movable and immovable property became public property. Only part of the property, worth no more than 10 thousand rubles, was transferred to the spouse or close relatives (in the instructions of the NKJ it was explained that the main thing was not the established limit, but the source of the acquisition of inherited property). However, the property of the deceased could be received by his needy and disabled relatives.
In reality, the decree abolished the inheritance of bourgeois private property, but not labor. A special decree prohibited donations and any other gratuitous provision, transfer, assignment, etc. property worth more than 10 thousand rubles. In the field of intellectual property, the state was given the right to nationalize copyrighted works and inventions. Copyright was not transferable.
labor law. In the former systems of law in Russia, labor law was not singled out as a separate branch, it was a short part of civil law. Now it is being formed as an independent branch of law. Questions of labor relations constituted an important section of the political economy of Marxism and were discussed in the documents of the RSDLP from its very inception. The general provisions of the views of the Bolsheviks on labor relations were reflected in the decrees of 1917-1918.
The categories of labor power, labor, surplus value and wages inherent in Marxism were developed in relation to the market economy of the West in its pure, even abstract form. They did not reflect real labor relations in Russia and were perceived by the public consciousness in a significantly different way than in theory.
At the revolutionary stage of the development of the Soviet state, this did not matter much, because. From Marxism were taken, basically, the topical ideas of equality, justice and liberation from the exploitation of man by man. Subsequently, the discrepancy between the theory of Marxism and Soviet reality became more and more harmful to the health of Soviet society.
The first legal act on labor was the decision of the Council of People's Commissars of October 29, 1917 "On the eight-hour working day, the duration and distribution of working time." The Soviet state was the first in the world to legislate 8 hour work day for all employed persons. The working week should not exceed 46 hours.
The night work of women and adolescents under 16 years of age was banned (by the way, this caused protests by some factory committees). Women and teenagers under 18 were not allowed to work underground and overtime. The working day for teenagers under 18 was limited to 6 hours. Overtime work was paid at double the rate, and so on.
This decree was transmitted to the localities by telegraph and entered into force immediately. In December 1917, sickness insurance was introduced by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. In June 1918, the Council of People's Commissars introduced paid two-week vacations for workers and employees.
The Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People introduced universal labor service. Later, this provision was included in the first Constitution of the RSFSR, which declared labor to be the duty of all citizens and proclaimed the slogan: "He who does not work, let him not eat!"
In December 1918, the first Labor Code(Labor Code). It regulated in detail labor relations and related social rights (for example, rights to unemployment benefits). The Labor Code was valid for both state and private enterprises. He determined the place of trade unions, their powers in regulating hiring and firing, wages, etc. The Code replaced social insurance with social security from state funds.
State provision pensions and disability pay has become important social law, which, after the emergency period of the civil war, was strictly observed throughout the existence of the Soviet state.
Family law. In the Soviet state, family law for the first time began to form as an independent branch, previously it was part of civil law.
Already in December 1917, two decrees were issued: "On civil marriage", "On children and on the maintenance of books of acts of civil status" and "On the dissolution of marriage."
A monogamous form of marriage was established, voluntary marriage was established, and many previous restrictions were abolished. For marriage, the consent of parents, superiors was not required, belonging to a class, religion, nationality did not affect.
Illegitimate children were equated with married ones in terms of rights and obligations both in relation to parents to children, and children to parents. The parents of the child were recorded by the persons who filed this application. A judicial procedure for establishing paternity was allowed.
A free divorce was introduced at the request of one or both spouses (with mutual consent - without trial, directly in the registry office). With whom the minor children remain, how the duties of the spouses for their upbringing and maintenance are distributed, the court decided.
On September 16, 1918, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee adopted Code of Laws on Civil Status, Marriage, Family and Guardianship Law- the first code in Soviet law. It notes that church marriages, concluded before December 20, 1917, had the force of registered marriages. However, a marriage performed after the revolution according to religious rites did not give rise to any rights and obligations if it was not registered in the registry office.
Marriage did not create a community of property of the spouses. Spouses could enter into all property-contractual relations permitted by law. A needy (i.e., without a living wage and unable to work) spouse was entitled to support from the other spouse if the latter was able to support him.
Interested parties were given the right to prove or challenge paternity in court. The court, which recognized paternity, determined the participation of the father in the costs associated with pregnancy, childbirth, the birth and maintenance of the child. If the mother was in close relations with several persons at the same time, the court imposed on all of them the obligation to participate in the above expenses.
It was written in the Code that parental rights are exercised exclusively in the interests of children, and if this was not done, the court was given the right to deprive parents of these rights. Parents were obliged to take care of underage children, their upbringing and preparation for useful activities. Parents were obliged to support minors, disabled and needy children, and those, in turn, were obliged to support disabled and needy parents if they did not receive maintenance from the state.
The Code did not allow the adoption of either one's own or other people's children, fearing their exploitation by the adoptive parents. The implementation of this Code in a multinational country was a difficult task, especially in the Muslim regions of the RSFSR. For example, the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the Kirghiz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic only on December 20, 1920 adopted a decree on the prohibition of kalym.
Customs law. As noted above, on December 29, 1917, V.I. Lenin signed the decree of the Council of People's Commissars "On Permits for the Import and Export of Goods", according to which control functions over the transport of goods began to be of paramount importance in the activities of the customs authorities.
Permits for the import and export of goods began to be issued exclusively by the Department of Foreign Trade and Industry of the Commissariat of Trade and Industry, the export and import of goods without such destruction was recognized as smuggling. This decree set before the customs authorities the task of combating smuggling, which for the first time was recognized as a dangerous crime.
This decree was put into effect on January 1 (January 14), 1918. All previously issued documents for import and export were considered invalid.
On April 22, 1918, the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars "On the nationalization of foreign trade" was adopted. According to the Decree, trade transactions with foreign states and individual enterprises abroad were carried out by authorized representatives on behalf of the Russian Republic. Any other trading operations abroad were forbidden.
Solving customs issues in foreign trade legislated by the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918. The right to conclude customs and trade agreements was assigned to the jurisdiction of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.
This is how the customs law of Soviet Russia began to take shape.
Criminal law. The first act of the new state in the field of criminal law was the resolution of the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets “On the abolition death penalty”.
In fact, starting from February 1918, the Cheka used the death penalty. In June 1918, the revolutionary tribunal sentenced Admiral A. Shchasny to death, accused of trying to surrender the Baltic Fleet to the Germans. The Left Socialist-Revolutionaries sharply protested against this verdict. It is noteworthy that, being supporters of terror and extrajudicial executions in the Cheka, they rejected the court verdict as "the revival of bourgeois statehood."
On June 16, 1918, a resolution of the NKJ was issued, giving the revolutionary tribunals the right to apply capital punishment.
By April 1918, 17 criminal law decrees and 15 acts on individual crimes were adopted, by the end of July 1918, 40 and 69, respectively.
The legal acts include the manuals and instructions of the NKJ for revolutionary tribunals. They created the norms of the Special Part of Criminal Law in relation to cases within the jurisdiction of the tribunals. October 6, 1918
The cassation department at the All-Russian Central Executive Committee systematized these norms. An attempt was made to formulate the elements of crimes referred by law to the competence of the tribunals, to reveal the content of the concept counterrevolutionary activities.
The list of acts falling under this category was very wide and unequal (from counter-revolutionary actions aimed at overthrowing the Soviet government, to threats against officials of Soviet or economic bodies).
A feature of the legal acts of this period is the ability to bring provocateurs, informers or other employees of the old regime, whose activities before the establishment of Soviet power were recognized as harmful to the revolution, to the court of the Revolutionary Tribunal.
However, this each time required a special resolution of the local Council or executive committee, formally in this part the law was given reverse force - something unacceptable by the standards of the modern state. In fact, it was rather a preventive measure in order to neutralize a potential enemy.
In 1919, the NKJ, having summarized the legislation and judicial practice of general courts and revolutionary tribunals, issued an act on the General Part of Criminal Law: Guidelines for the criminal law of the RSFSR.
The guiding principles give a general definition of law and criminal law in class phraseology. Thus, the task of Soviet criminal law is to protect, through repression, a system of social relations that corresponds to the interests of the working masses.
The document included eight sections: on criminal law, on criminal justice, on crime and punishment, on the stages of a crime, on complicity, on types of punishment, on probation, on the scope of criminal law.
In general, if we ignore the ideological (“class”) coloring, the basic principles of the Guiding Principles are quite consistent with the ideas about crime and punishment that have developed in modern times in civil society, and not in traditional law.
A crime was defined as a violation public relations, and punishment as a measure by which the authorities protect this order public relations. That is, the purpose of punishment was defined as community protection from future possible crimes, both of this person and other persons, i.e. as a general warning task - not as revenge,"liquidating" the crime.
In determining the punishment, the court had to assess the danger to society identity of the perpetrator and not just what he did.
Thus, from the very beginning of Soviet criminal law, the possibility of preventive punishments was allowed - before the commission of crimes.
The signs by which it was possible to predict the likelihood of acts dangerous to society were class. Thus, all criminal law was implicitly divided into two completely different sections. There were “ordinary” crimes for which it was possible to apply humane methods education and correction, and "counter-revolutionary" crimes, which should have been punished and suppressed by the most extreme measures. So, from the very first steps, the category of “state crimes” began to stand out, which was formalized later.
At the same time, “class” discrimination against criminals arose. It was believed that even a proletarian and a peasant could commit common crimes, while state crimes could be committed by a “class enemy”, even if disguised as a worker. Based on these categories, both the system of courts and the process were built. The circumstances that the court had to take into account were listed. For example, the revolutionary tribunal found out whether the offender belongs to the propertied class, whether the crime was aimed at restoring, maintaining or acquiring any privilege associated with property, or whether it was committed by the poor in a state of hunger and need, etc.
Criminal liability came from the age of 14. In a special section, exemplary types of punishments suggestion, public censure, boycott, compensation for damages, removal from office, prohibition to hold one position or another, confiscation of property or part of it, deprivation of political rights, declaration of an enemy of the revolution or the people, forced labor without placement in places of deprivation of liberty, deprivation of liberty for a certain period or for an indefinite period before the onset of a certain event, outlawing, execution (only by a verdict of a revolutionary tribunal).
It was envisaged probation who committed a crime for the first time in a difficult confluence of circumstances of his life, when the security of society does not require his isolation.
Note that Soviet criminal law from the very beginning included forced labor in number the most important types punishment. Decree of the People's Commissariat of Justice of July 23, 1918 established that imprisonment always involves forced labor. The same decree established “insulators special purpose” - for prisoners guilty of disciplinary violations, “incorrigible” (potentially all class enemies were considered “incorrigible” for the duration of the emergency period).
The criminal law of the RSFSR applied both to Russian citizens and foreigners who committed crimes on its territory, as well as to those who committed crimes on the territory of another state, but evaded court at the scene of the crime and were within the RSFSR.
Modern researchers note that the Guiding Principles played a big role in improving the activities of the judiciary, in the development of criminal law, and were an important step towards the creation of the Criminal Code.
Thus, the Soviet state and law arose as a result of the October Revolution, which was caused by certain objective and subjective factors. It led to a radical breakdown of social relations. Russian society has taken a course towards building socialism, i.e. social order based on the socialization of the means of production, a planned economy, the exclusion of private property, market relations and the exploitation of man by man.
The revolution led to the demolition of the former and the creation of a fundamentally new state mechanism, the basis of which was the Soviets of Workers', Peasants', Red Army and Cossack Deputies.
The emergence of a new state also predetermined the emergence of the corresponding law. Its branches began to take shape, creating together a new legal system. A definite milestone in the process of legal construction was the adoption of the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918, which became not only the first Soviet, but also the first in the history of Russia.
Those sections of Russian society and foreign countries that lost a lot as a result of these events could not come to terms with the victory of the revolution and the creation of the Soviet state, which predetermined the beginning of the civil war and foreign military intervention.
Lecture 12. SOVIET STATE AND LAW DURING THE CIVIL WAR AND FOREIGN MILITARY INTERVENTION (1918-1921).
Causes and background of the Civil War and foreign military intervention
(1918-1922). Creation and development of the system of emergency bodies of Soviet power. Judicial system. Development of alternative statehood projects on the territory of Russia.
Causes and preconditions of the Civil War and foreign military intervention (1918-1920). The civil war in Russia is more complicated than the contradictions between workers and capitalists, peasants and landowners. It included the struggle of socialist, anarchist, bourgeois-democratic, reactionary-monarchist forces, centrifugal and centripetal tendencies, national and political currents.
Unlike conventional wars, civil war has no clear boundaries - neither temporal nor spatial. It is difficult to set a specific date for its start, to clearly draw a front line.
Applying the principles of a civilizational approach to the knowledge of history, it should be noted that civil wars have been known in history since ancient times. There is a general judgment that a civil war is a war between citizens of one state or the most acute form class struggle (V.I. Lenin). At the same time, civil wars, for example, in England (XVII century), in the USA (1861-1865), in Spain (30s of the XX century), in the presence of some common features had their own characteristics, the opposing forces, their correlation, their goals were completely different.
In this regard, we can agree with the definition of the civil war in Russia in 1917-1922 given by academician Yu.A. Polyakov: “The civil war in Russia is an armed confrontation that lasted about 6 years between times
October Revolution of 1917 in Russia
Great October Socialist Revolution took place October 25-26, 1917(November 7-8, new style). This is one of the greatest events in the history of Russia, as a result of which there were cardinal changes in the position of all classes of society.
The October Revolution began as a result of a series of weighty reasons:
· In 1914-1918. Russia was involved in the First World War, the situation at the front was not the best, there was no sensible leader, the army suffered heavy losses. In industry, the growth of military products prevailed over consumer products, which led to an increase in prices and caused discontent among the masses. The soldiers and peasants wanted peace, and the bourgeoisie, who profited from the supply of military equipment, longed for the continuation of hostilities.
· National conflicts.
The intensity of the class struggle. The peasants, who for centuries dreamed of getting rid of the oppression of the landowners and kulaks and taking possession of the land, were ready for decisive action.
· The prevalence of socialist ideas in society.
The Bolshevik Party achieved tremendous influence over the masses. In October, there were already 400,000 people on their side. On October 16, 1917, the Military Revolutionary Committee was created, which began preparations for an armed uprising. During the revolution, by October 25, 1917, all the key points in the city were occupied by the Bolsheviks, led by V.I. Lenin. They capture the Winter Palace and arrest the provisional government.
On the evening of October 25, at the 2nd All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, it was announced that power was transferred to the 2nd Congress of Soviets, and in the localities - to the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies.
On October 26, the Decree on Peace and Land was adopted. At the congress, a Soviet government was formed, called the "Council of People's Commissars", which included: Lenin himself (chairman), L.D. Trotsky (People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs), I.V. Stalin (People's Commissar for National Affairs). The “Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia” was introduced, which stated that all people have equal rights to freedom and development, there is no longer a nation of masters and a nation of oppressed.
As a result of the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks won, and the dictatorship of the proletariat was established. The class society was liquidated, the landlords' land was transferred into the hands of the peasants, and industrial facilities: factories, factories, mines - into the hands of the workers.
As a result of the October Revolution, the Civil War began, due to which millions of people died, and emigration to other countries began. The Great October Revolution influenced the subsequent course of world history.
From October to February 1917, the establishment of Soviet power on the territory of the former Russian Empire began.
On October 25, the 2nd Congress of Soviets adopted a decree on power, according to which it passed to the soviets of workers', soldiers' and peasants' deputies.
On October 27, a resolution was adopted on the creation of a temporary (until the convocation of the Constituent Assembly) Soviet government - the Council of People's Commissars (SNK), which included the Bolsheviks (62) and the Left SRs (29). It was headed by Lenin. People's Commissariats (more than 20) were created in all spheres (economy, culture, education, etc.).
The Congress of Soviets became the supreme legislative body. In between congresses, its functions were performed by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK), which was headed by L.B. Kamenev, a. then Ya.M. Sverdlov.
The elections to the Constituent Assembly held in November 1917 showed that 76% of voters did not support the Bolsheviks. They voted for the Socialist-Revolutionaries, Mensheviks and Cadets, who are pursuing a course towards the establishment of bourgeois democracy. However, the Bolsheviks were supported by large cities, industrial centers, as well as soldiers.
In January 1917, the Bolsheviks dispersed the Constituent Assembly, banned the Kadets and the publication of opposition newspapers.
In December 1918, the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (VChK) was created to combat counter-revolution, speculation and sabotage and its local departments in the regions.
The Cheka, headed by F.E. Dzerzhinsky, had unlimited powers (up to execution) and played a huge role in establishing Soviet power and the dictatorship of the proletariat.
In January 1918, the "Decree on the organization of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army and Navy" was adopted. Created on a voluntary basis from representatives of the working people, the army was intended to defend the gains of the proletariat.
In May 1918, in connection with the danger of intervention, the "Decree on universal military duty" was adopted. By November 1918, L. Trotsky managed to create a regular combat-ready army, and by 1921 its number reached 4 million people.
Using agitational and violent methods (the whole family was taken hostage for refusing to cooperate with the Red Army), the Bolsheviks managed to attract more military specialists from the old tsarist army to their side than the whites.
After the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly and the signing of the shameful Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, the socio-political situation in the country worsened. Protests against the Bolsheviks began: the rebellion of the junkers in Petrograd, the creation of the Volunteer Army on the Don, the beginning of the White movement, the unrest of the peasants in central Russia.
The most acute problem facing the new government was the way out of the war. L. Trotsky disrupted the first negotiations. Taking advantage of this, the German troops launched an offensive along the entire front line and, without meeting resistance, occupied Minsk, Polotsk, Orsha, Tallinn and many other territories. The front collapsed, and the army was unable to resist even the insignificant forces of the Germans.
On February 23, 1918, Lenin achieved the acceptance of the German ultimatum, and signed an "obscene" peace with Germany's colossal territorial and material claims.
Having received a respite, having suffered huge losses for the sake of preserving the gains of the revolution, the Soviet Republic began transformations in the economy.
In December 1917, the Supreme Council was organized National economy(VSNKh), nationalization of the largest banks, enterprises, transport, trade, etc. was carried out. State enterprises became the basis of the socialist structure in the economy.
On July 4, 1918, the 5th Congress of Soviets adopted the first Soviet constitution, which proclaimed the creation of a state - the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic.
Main dates and events: October 25 - armed uprising in Petrograd, the beginning of the work of the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets; October 26 - the adoption of the Decree on Peace, the Decree on Land, the formation of the Council of People's Commissars headed by V.I. Lenin; October 25, 1917 - March 1918 - the establishment of Soviet power in the regions of Russia; 1870-1924 - years of life of V. I. Lenin.
Historical figures: V. I. Lenin; L. D. Trotsky; L. B. Kamenev; Ya. M. Sverdlov; V. M. Chernov.
Answer plan: 1) the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets and its decisions, the formation of the Council of People's Commissars headed by Lenin; 2) V. I am Lenin; 3) a bloc with the Left SRs; 4) features of establishing the power of the Soviets in the capitals and largest cities of the country; 5) Vikzhel's ultimatum; 6) dispersal of the Constituent Assembly, III All-Russian Congress of Soviets and its decisions; 7) features of the organization of the power of the Soviets.
Reply material: Immediately after coming to power, the Bolsheviks began to form a new political system. The Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets formed a Provisional (before the convocation of the Constituent Assembly) government - the Council of People's Commissars - headed by V. I. Ulyanov (Lenin) and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, headed by L. B. Kamenev. From that moment began the process of organizing the central government in Petrograd, as well as the establishment of Soviet power in the field. It was important for the Bolsheviks to give their power a legitimate character, to show that it was supported by various political forces. To this end, despite many fundamental differences with the Left SRs (leader - M.A. Spiridonova), Lenin entered into an alliance with them, which lasted until July 1918. Under the leadership of the Bolsheviks, military revolutionary committees were created in all armies and at the fronts. Supreme Commander instead of General N. N. Dukhonin, N. V. Krylenko was appointed. In the localities, the power of the Bolsheviks was established until February 1918, and out of 97 large cities of the country, this transition was peaceful in 79 cases. In Moscow, the change of power took place in the course of fierce fighting, which ended only on November 3.
Initially, few people believed that the Bolsheviks would hold out at least until the convocation of the Constituent Assembly (their chances of success seemed too insignificant). The head of the Provisional Government A.F. Kerensky, having arrived at the headquarters of the Northern Front, sent troops to Petrograd, but they were defeated. Attempts by the "Committee for the Salvation of the Motherland and the Revolution", formed in the capital from all opponents of the armed seizure of power, to push back the Bolsheviks did not find support among the population. The first centers of resistance to the new government arose in the Don, Kuban and the Southern Urals, in places with a large proportion of the Cossack population. Already in November 1917, the Volunteer Army began to form on the Don, the backbone of which consisted of officers of the tsarist army and the Cossack elite, headed by Ataman of the Don Army A. M. Kaledin. However, the first performances of the Volunteer Army were repulsed by revolutionary troops in early 1918. The performance of the armed detachments led by Ataman of the Orenburg Cossack army A. I. Dutov had a similar result.
After the adoption on November 2, 1917 of the Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia, the power of the Soviets was established in Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic states, and Baku. At the same time, in December 1917, the Bolsheviks were forced to recognize the independence of Poland and Finland.
At this stage, all attempts by the anti-Bolshevik forces to find mass support in the struggle against the new government were in vain. main reason This consisted in the fact that, unlike the Provisional Government, the Council of People's Commissars began to address almost all pressing issues.
In November 1917 elections to the Constituent Assembly were held. It was the most democratic elected body in the history of the country. The leaders of all political parties and major public organizations, many deputies of the State Duma, famous scientists, etc. The opening of the meeting took place on January 5, 1918. The leader of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, V.M. Chernov, was elected its chairman. The leadership of the Bolsheviks demanded to approve all the decrees of the Council of People's Commissars adopted after the Second Congress of Soviets, and thereby approve their actions. The next logical step was to confirm the authority of the Bolshevik leadership. However, the deputies refused to comply. Then the Constituent Assembly was dissolved.
The Bolsheviks convened III Congress of Soviets, at which the Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies united with the Soviets of Peasants' Deputies. The Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People was adopted, which was based on the provisions of the first decrees of Soviet power. The estate system was liquidated; the church was separated from the state, and the school from the church; women were equal in legal rights with men; the Congress of Soviets was declared the supreme legislative body, and between congresses - VTsIK. Ya. M. Sverdlov was elected chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, and V. I. Lenin was elected head of government (SNK). In December 1917, the Cheka was created, whose functions were to "fight counter-revolution and sabotage"; in January 1918 - the Red Army, which was formed on voluntary basis on a class basis. In the regions, the Soviets dissolved the city dumas and zemstvos, taking full power into their own hands. The main feature of the organization of Soviet power in the center and in the localities was that it was based on party leadership, carried out through members of the Bolshevik Party delegated to various state bodies. Taking into account the majority of votes that they had while maintaining the bloc with the Left SRs, any decision of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) or a local party body was taken as a decision of the Soviet. From the very beginning of the existence of the new government in the center and in the localities, there was a merging of the party and Soviet apparatus.