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The first socialist transformations in the economy. The first revolutionary transformations of the Bolsheviks Socialist transformations

The first socialist transformations in the economy. The first revolutionary transformations of the Bolsheviks Socialist transformations

After coming to power, the priority tasks of the Bolsheviks were the elimination of existing social structures, the formation of proletarian statehood, and the assertion of their own power. The Bolsheviks, having come to power, created a fundamentally new political system. They liquidated all the old state institutions (the State Council, ministries, local self-government bodies - city dumas and zemstvos). The former system of justice, the principles of the formation and functioning of the army were rejected. The activities of the new government unfolded in turbulent times. In December 17, the Bolsheviks formed a coalition with the Left SRs - the SRs agreed to pursue Soviet policy and received seats in the government. This first and only government coalition played a huge role in strengthening Soviet power and the position of the Bolsheviks - without an alliance with the Left Social Revolutionaries it was difficult to establish itself in peasant Russia. In January 1918, the 3rd All-Russian Congress of Soviets was convened as a substitute for the Constituent Assembly. This congress approved the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly. To protect the revolutionary gains in the fall of 1918, by decrees of the Council of People's Commissars, a workers' and peasants' militia, a criminal investigation department were created, courts and revolutionary tribunals were formed, and the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution (VChK) was created. In January, the Workers' and Peasants' Army was created. The role of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK) was limited. The real political power belonged to the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars (SNK), which appropriated not only executive, but also legislative power. His decrees were subject to immediate execution. The 5th Congress of Soviets approved the first Constitution of the RSFSR. It included the "Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People" and proclaimed the proletarian nature of the Soviet state. The constitution fixed the system of central and local organs of Soviet power. She declared the introduction of political freedoms (speech, press, meetings, rallies and processions). In February, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee adopted the "Basic Law on the Socialization of the Land", according to which, in the spring of 1918, the implementation of the Decree on Land began. The peasants were to receive land free of charge. Established free education and medical care. The 8-Hour Working Day Act and the Labor Code were passed, which prohibited the exploitation of child labor, guaranteed a system of labor protection for women and adolescents, and the payment of unemployment and sickness benefits. The church was separated from the state and from the education system. Most of the church property was confiscated.

The internal policy of the Soviet government in the summer of 1918 - early 1921 was called "war communism". The policy of "war communism" included a set of measures that affected the economic and socio-political sphere. The policy of "war communism" led to the destruction of commodity-money relations. The sale of food and industrial goods was limited, they were distributed by the state in the form of wages in kind. Trade unions, placed under party and state control, lost their independence. They ceased to be defenders of the interests of the workers.

The economic legacy of Chernyshevsky is multifaceted and impressive. It is worth noting that he will be the author of numerous works, polemical and critical publications.

It is possible to single out the following areas of Chernyshevsky's work in the field of socio-political and economic topics.

1. Active criticism of the serfdom. An irreconcilable democrat, an excellent connoisseur of the peasant question, Chernyshevsky put forward and defended a program for the abolition of the serf system, the elimination of landlordism, and the transfer of land to the peasants without redemption.

After the reform of 1861, Chernyshevsky reveals its real meaning. The cycle of works of the scientist and publicist is completed by "Letters without an address".
It is worth noting that the main conclusion is that the desires of the peasants will not be carried out by a reform “from above”, only a revolution can do it.

2. Analysis and detailed analysis of the works of famous economists, incl. works by D. Ricardo, A. Smith, J. S. Mill. Chernyshevsky recognizes the validity of the classics' starting points, but finds contradictions in their works and believes that there should be no monopolists in economics as a science. Mill and other writers often treat particulars without noticing or ignoring general issues.

3. Development of their own concept (“Capital and Labor” - 1860; “Essays from Political Economy (according to Mill)” - 1861, etc.)

Based on the labor theory of value, on the provisions of the classical school, the scientist put forward the ϲʙᴏyu interpretation of labor, its structure and significance. Productive labor is directed towards the satisfaction of material needs. It is worth saying that political economy is not the science of wealth, but is "the science of human well-being, to what extent it depends on things and conditions produced by labor."

That beginning of economic science, which is contained in the works of Ricardo and Mill, it is extremely important to develop further and draw conclusions that make it possible to overcome the limitations of bourgeois theory, to reject the distortions introduced by vulgar economics, to present and justify common features societies of the future.

The scientist offers a ϲʙᴏu interpretation of the main categories: value, capital, money, wages, profits. Exchange will play a minor role. Money will lose its true meaning.

In the future system, the “internal value” will become the basis, which can be represented as the need of people, the usefulness of the goods produced. It will not be about price, but about a more efficient distribution of forces between industries.

Let us note that the theory of the political economy of the working people, which Chernyshevsky opposes to the system of capitalist production, had a considerable influence on the formation of public consciousness. Chernyshevsky became one of the forerunners of populism.

Economic views of V. I. Lenin

Numerous works are devoted to the analysis of populist views: “On the so-called question of markets”; “What are ‘friends of the people’ and how do they fight against the Social Democrats”; "The Economic Content of Populism and Its Criticism in Mr. Struve's Book"; “The Development of Capitalism in Russia”, etc. In fact, V. I. Lenin summed up all the arguments directed against the concept of populism and the model of agrarian socialism.

First of all, Lenin considers unjustified the initial statement about the admissibility of the formation of a non-standard nationally oriented form of social structure. According to Lenin, finding original features in agriculture is nothing but a justification for backwardness.

Leaning on Marx's schemes of reproduction, Lenin (like the "legal Marxists") rejects Vorontsov's postulate that society's limited demand hinders the formation of an internal market. The market is growing due to productive consumption. Capitalism is ruining the peasantry, dividing the direct producers into workers and capitalists. And ϶ᴛᴏ forms the internal market for capitalist production.

In the work "The Development of Capitalism in Russia" the process of formation of the Russian market and the involvement of peasants in the system of market relations is considered. It is worth saying that, arguing with these opponents, V. I. Lenin substantiates the conclusion that capitalism in Russia actually already exists.

Lenin considers the agrarian question to be the main one in assessing the future socio-economic development of Russian society. Since Lenin did not share the views of Narodnik economists regarding the specificity of the peasant reform and the possibility of the Russian way of eliminating landlordism, he proceeds from two possible variants of transformations. In ϲᴏᴏᴛʙᴇᴛϲᴛʙii with the data, the thesis about two ways of improving capitalism in agriculture (American and Prussian) is explained

It is worth saying - arguing with R. Hilferding and K. Kautsky in the work "Imperialism as the highest stage of capitalism", the author describes the main features of capitalism at the imperialist stage.

The first socialist transformations. War communism as a stage in the formation of the command-administrative system (1917 - 1921)

It is important to know that the Bolsheviks aimed at the complete destruction of private property.

In December 1917, foreign trade was placed under the control of the People's Commissariat of Trade and Industry, and in April 1918 it was declared a state monopoly. The refusal to pay the royal debts and the debts of the Provisional Government was announced.

The system of commodity exchange was introduced everywhere. On November 14, 1917, a decree was adopted on the establishment of workers' control in production. At the same time, due to the sabotage of industrialists and the inability of workers to establish management of enterprises, in May 1918 a course was proclaimed towards nationalization and state control over nationalized enterprises. Large banks, enterprises, transport, large trading enterprises were nationalized. This became the basis of the socialist way of life.

Control functions were transferred to the Supreme Council National economy. An 8-hour working day was introduced, the use of child labor was prohibited, and the payment of unemployment and sickness benefits became mandatory.

In the spring of 1918, a decree on land was put into effect, during which the Bolsheviks supported the rural poor, thereby causing discontent among the wealthy peasants - the main producers of marketable bread. By refusing to hand over their grain, they put the Soviet power in plight. In May 1918, the state declared a food dictatorship and began the forcible seizure of grain stocks from wealthy peasants.

The estate system was destroyed, pre-revolutionary ranks, titles and awards were abolished. Electiveness of judges was established, secularization of civil states was carried out. Established free medical care and education. Women have equal rights with men. The decree on marriage introduced the institution of civil marriage. The church is separated from the education system and the state. It is important to know that much of the church's property has been confiscated.

On July 4, 1918, at the V Congress of Soviets, the Soviet Constitution was adopted, which proclaimed the creation of a new state - the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (RSFSR). The bourgeoisie and landowners were deprived of their rights.

"War Communism" - social economic policy Soviet power during the civil war - provided for a very quick transition to communism with the help of emergency measures. In the economic area, ϶ᴛᴏ were: surplus appropriation in the countryside, complete nationalization of industry, a ban on private trade, the rejection of market forms of economic regulation, and forced labor mobilization. In the political sphere, a dictatorship based on emergency bodies that replaced the Soviets. In the ideological field - the concept of socialism as a social system with the dominance of the state form of ownership and non-commodity production, the idea of a quick victory of the world revolution, the course towards building socialism in the USSR.

For the period of "war communism" were familiar:

unsettled life, famine, epidemics, increased mortality;
"man with a gun", his behavior influenced the behavior and thinking of people in the years civil war– mobilizations, confiscations, “extraordinary emergency”, “fast” sentence, “red” and “white” terror;
moods of fear and hatred, rupture of family and friendship ties, readiness to fight, kill and be killed.

Growing crisis phenomena in the economy and the beginning of the NEP

By 1921, Russian industrial production was at the level of the times of Catherine II. The Bolshevik Party won, but emerged from the war in a divided struggle of factions, platforms and programs.

No sooner had one civil war ended than a new one, even more terrible, was ripe in the country. Peasant unrest broke out across the country, fueled by the ongoing surplus-appropriation policy. As soon as foreign intervention and white resistance began to weaken, the peasantry immediately announced their rejection of the surplus appraisal. If in the civil war that ended, the Bolsheviks defeated the white minority with the support of the peasant majority, then in the imminent civil war, almost all the peasantry (except the poor) could resist them. Under these conditions, the retention of power by the Bolshevik party became questionable. The last fact that showed the intolerance of the situation with the surplus was the Kronstadt rebellion, since one of the forces supporting it, the army, came out against the authorities.

In March 1921 the question of the tax in kind arose. Thus began the New Economic Policy. The following measures were taken: the food tax replaced the food appropriation (2 times less), business and private trade were legalized, as well as the use of hired labor of farm laborers in the countryside.

The NEP declared civil peace instead of civil war, but under ϶ᴛᴏm in 1921-1922. the first political trials began against the Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries, as a result of which these parties were banned by law, and their members began to be persecuted. At the same time, the intelligentsia was deported from the country. The initiative of the members of the party was fettered, they could not conduct a discussion and even the usual exchange of views, so necessary for the only ruling party, when there was no serious scientific and political examination of the decisions adopted by it.

But despite all the difficulties and difficulties, crises and conflicts, the NEP surprisingly quickly produced beneficial results. For 5 - 7 years, NEP Russia restored the pre-war (1913) level of production, that is, in ϶ᴛᴏ time it did as much as it took tsarist Russia a century and a quarter. The New Economic Policy made it possible to optimally combine the interests of the state, society and the worker. Tens of millions of people got the opportunity to profitably work for themselves, the state and society. And this concerted effort has made a salutary breakthrough; in addition, NEP found the optimal combination of capitalism in the basis, i.e., in the economy, and socialist ideas in the socio-political sphere - what will later be called a mixed economy and a welfare state. It is necessary to take into account the enthusiasm of the Soviet people, who themselves created their own destiny, narrated the history of the country and even world history. But from such an effective policy, albeit not without internal contradictions, which were worth deciding, the Soviet government refused.

In October 1929, the NEP was finally curtailed. Some members of the party understood that the continuation of the NEP for them could result in a loss of power. There were also social classes that existed during the civil war at the expense of state distributions, and now they have lost a convenient source of existence. Excluding the above, the workers of the defense complex during the years of the NEP détente began to live worse than the proletariat of civilian industries. It is worth noting that they also turned out to be dissatisfied with the NEP and became the social support of the supporters of its curtailment. The administrative-command system, which was formed mainly during the years of the civil war, received "room for development" after the collapse of the NEP.

Changes in the monetary and credit and financial sphere

To carry out the NEP, a stable monetary system and the stabilization of the ruble were necessary. People's Commissar for Finance G. Sokolnikov was against the issue of money, but was not understood. The issue continued, and only by a miracle did not materialize the plan of the complete annulment of money and the closure of the People's Commissariat of Finance as unnecessary.

To stabilize the ruble, banknotes were denominated, and in 1922 Soviet signs were issued. The new ruble was equal to 10,000 former rubles. In 1923, other Soviet signs were issued, 1 ruble of which was equal to 100 rubles issued in 1922. Along with this, a new Soviet currency was issued - a chervonets, equal to 7.74 g of pure gold or a pre-revolutionary gold 10-ruble coin. The value of chervonets was high: the monthly salary of skilled workers was about 6-7 chervonets, but no more. It is worth noting that they were intended for lending to industry and commercial organizations in the wholesale trade. The State Bank was forbidden to use chervonets to compensate for the budget deficit, which ensured their anti-inflationary stability for 3-4 years.

In 1922 stock exchanges opened.
It is interesting to note that there was a sale and purchase of government bonds, currency, gold at a free exchange rate. The State Bank bought up gold and foreign currency, if the gold exchange rate exceeded the official parity, issued an additional amount of money, and vice versa. Therefore, during 1923, the rate of the chervonets exceeded the rate foreign currencies. The final stage of the reform was the procedure for the redemption of Soviet signs. In February 1924, the USSR began issuing change coins in denominations from the ruble to the kopeck.

At the same time, tax reform was carried out. Main source of income state budget were not taxes from the population, but deductions from the profits of enterprises. The transition from natural to monetary taxation of peasant farms was the result of a return to a market economy. Taxes are imposed on matches, tobacco, beer, honey, spirits, mineral water and other goods.

The credit system was gradually restored. In 1921, the State Bank began its work again. Lending to trade and industry enterprises on a commercial basis has started.

In the summer of 1922, a subscription was opened for the first state grain loan. It was another step towards stabilizing the financial system.

A network of joint-stock banks is being created. The shareholders were the State Bank, cooperatives, syndicates, foreign entrepreneurs, individuals. Basically, these banks lend to certain industries. Often used commercial credit - mutual lending various enterprises and organizations.

continued to increase money supply. From July to December 1925, compared with 1924, it increased one and a half times. There was a threat of inflation. In September 1925, there was an increase in commodity prices and a shortage of essential products. The measures taken by the government only led to the depletion of foreign exchange reserves. From July 1926, it was forbidden to export chervonets abroad. This was done to exclude the sale of foreign currency, which was allowed to be carried only by those traveling abroad.

At the second meeting of the congress on October 26, 1917, the first decrees were adopted: the Decree on Peace (a proposal to the warring parties to start negotiations on signing a just democratic peace without annexations and indemnities), the Decree on Land (the abolition of landlord ownership of land without redemption; the land was transferred to the disposal of volost land committees and uyezd Soviets of peasant deputies); Decree on power (elected by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars). The congress also adopted an appeal to the front and the Cossacks, as well as a resolution to abolish the death penalty at the front.

The main task of the Bolsheviks after they came to power was the creation of a new system of state power. As such a universal form, the Soviets were chosen, which were considered as organs of the dictatorship of the proletariat. All other structures of the state apparatus were to be controlled by them and formed with their direct or indirect participation. The executive power in the country was exercised by the Bolshevik government - the Council of People's Commissars (hereinafter - SI K), headed by V. I. Lenin.

The first decrees of the Soviet government were aimed at satisfying the demands of the workers and peasants in order to enlist their support, as well as to strengthen the new government (Table 16.5).

In the difficult conditions of the post-October formation of Soviet power, the Bolsheviks entered into a political alliance with the Left SRs: on November 17, 1917, three representatives of this party entered the Council of People's Commissars as people's commissars (A. L. Kolegaev, I. 3. Shternberg, I. P. Proshyan ). The coalition of the Bolsheviks and the Left SRs would last until March 1918, when, in protest against the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, the latter withdrew from the Soviet government. An important place in the political system created by the Bolsheviks began to be occupied by punitive bodies, primarily the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage, headed by F. E. Dzerzhinsky.

Table 16.5

The first decrees of the Soviet government


Land Decree		The liquidation of landownership, the nationalization of land and the transfer of the right to dispose of it to the volost land committees and local Soviets of peasant deputies
Peace Decree		Offers to the belligerents to conclude peace without annexations and indemnities
Decree on the press		The ban on the publication of a number of right-wing newspapers that opposed Soviet power
Decree on the eight-hour working day		Establishment of the eight-hour working day in industry
Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia		Proclamation of the equality and sovereignty of the peoples of Russia, the right to free self-determination up to secession
Decree on the destruction of estates, civil, court and military ranks		Elimination of the class division of society and the introduction of a single name - a citizen of the Russian Republic
Decree on the organization of the Supreme Council of the National Economy (VSNKh)		Creation of a body for the implementation of the nationalization of industry and the management of nationalized enterprises
Decree on the formation of the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage (VChK)		Creation of the first punitive body of Soviet power to fight its opponents

As mentioned above, the demand for the convocation of the Constituent Assembly from February 1917 became universal, but the elections were postponed under various pretexts. The Bolsheviks seized the initiative: having seized power, they achieved the adoption by the Second Congress of Soviets of decrees on land and peace, which met the basic aspirations of the peoples of Russia. That is why, having held elections to the Constituent Assembly and not winning them, they managed to disperse this body on January 6, 1918 and retain power in the country (Fig. 16.6).

Rice. 16.6

After the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, the Bolsheviks quickly implemented additional measures to strengthen the Soviet statehood. On January 10, 1918, the III All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies opened in Petrograd, proclaiming the Russian Soviet Republic. The Congress adopted the following documents:

- "Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People", rejected by the Constituent Assembly;
- the law "On the socialization of land", which approved the principles of egalitarian land use;
- resolution "On Federal Institutions of the Russian Republic";
- a document on the renaming of the Provisional Workers' and Peasants' Government into the "Workers' and Peasants' Government of the Russian Soviet Republic";
- sanction for the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly.

One of the most difficult problems was the war. In November 1917, the Bolsheviks began work on the implementation of the Decree on Peace. People's Commissar

but for foreign affairs, L. D. Trotsky addressed the heads of all the belligerent states with a proposal to conclude a general democratic peace (Fig. 16.7). However, only the powers of the German bloc expressed their consent to negotiations.

Rice. 16.7

On the Bolshevik side, the complexity of the problem lay in the fact that, firstly, the questions of war and peace were linked with the idea of a world revolution, with the victory of socialism on an international scale through a revolutionary war and the provision of assistance to the proletariat of other countries in the fight against the bourgeoisie, and, secondly, in the Bolshevik party itself there was no unity on this issue. V. I. Lenin insisted on concluding a separate peace with Germany in order to preserve Soviet power in the face of the collapse of the army and the economic crisis. V. I. Lenin’s opponents were a group of left-wing communists headed by N. I. Bukharin, who insisted on continuing the revolutionary war, which, in their opinion, should lead to a world revolution.

L. D. Trotsky took a compromise and at the same time paradoxical position, expressed in his formula: "We stop the war, we demobilize the army, but we do not sign peace." L. D. Trotsky believed that Germany was not capable of conducting major offensive operations, and apparently overestimated the revolutionary potential of the European workers. proceeding

From this, the initial tactics of the Bolshevik delegation at the negotiations that began in Brest-Litovsk was based on the principles of dragging out the process, because it was believed that the socialist revolution was about to break out in Europe. However, these were illusory expectations.

On January 28, 1918, the Soviet delegation headed by L. D. Trotsky refused to accept the German terms of the peace treaty, broke off negotiations and left Brest-Litovsk. Already on February 18, 1918, the Germans launched an offensive along the entire Eastern Front and advanced significantly inland. On February 23, 1918, Soviet Russia received a new German ultimatum with even more difficult conditions for concluding peace. Through incredible efforts, V. I. Lenin managed to achieve the consent of the party and Soviet leadership to accept the German conditions for a peace treaty. The peace treaty between Soviet Russia and the states of the German-Austrian bloc was signed on March 3, 1918 in Brest-Litovsk. Russia was losing a territory of 1 million square meters. km: Poland, the Baltic States, Finland, Belarus, Ukraine, as well as the cities of Kars, Ardagan and Batum, transferred to Turkey. The treaty obligated Soviet Russia to demobilize the army and navy, establish customs duties favorable to Germany, and pay an indemnity. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany confirmed the defeat of Russia in the First World War.

The country was completely undermined economy. The period from October 1917 to the spring of 1918 Lenin called "the Red Guard attack on capitalism." According to the concept of the Bolsheviks, this attack required, first of all, accounting and control over production and distribution. This was achieved through the introduction of workers' control, national banks, the merchant fleet, foreign trade, and industrial enterprises. To manage the entire national economy, a VSNKh decree of December 2, 1917.

Proclaimed food dictatorship. There was a problem of supplying cities with food, and the Bolsheviks had several options for solving this problem:

1. Restore the market in a collapsing economy.

2. Use coercive measures.

May 13, 1918 People's Commissar of Food was given emergency powers. To organize the supply of cities with food, created combos- they seized surplus food from wealthy peasants. But at the same time, part of the seized products remains in the hands of the committees themselves, which does not help solve the problem.

There is also an equalization of the rights of women in men, the old ranks, titles and awards are abolished, civil marriage and divorce procedures are recognized.

January 23, 1918 a law was issued according to which the church was separated from the state and the school was separated from the church. The church was no longer legal entity, i.e. did not have the right to own property, to conduct education in private and public schools.

The Bolsheviks declared the clergy to be enemies of the people.

Recognized freedom of conscience.

In parallel with the Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, there was a Soviet peasant deputies in which the Socialist-Revolutionaries take the leading role.

AT November 1917 convened in Petrograd extraordinary congress of peasant deputies and a decision is made to unite with the workers' deputies. Main provisions of the declaration:

1. The nationalization of the land and the equalizing principle of its division are being established.

2. Nationalization of banks and cancellation of the debts of the tsarist government.

3. The introduction of universal labor service.

The independence of Finland and the self-determination of Armenia are recognized.

The Congress adopts a resolution on federal institutions Russian republic. The Congress of Soviets became the supreme body, and between its convocations - VTsIK- legislature.

SNK had executive power. Russia was proclaimed a republic of councils, and in relation to the state structure - a federation of the RSFSR.

January 5, 1918 was opened constituent Assembly. He was asked to approve the resolutions of the 2nd Congress of Soviets, i.e. recognize the October Revolution, the decrees on peace and land, the Council of People's Commissars and the "Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People" as legal. But the Constituent Assembly did not approve the proposal of the Bolsheviks by a majority of votes. And on January 6, it was dissolved.

The first transformations of Soviet power after the October Revolution of 1917 consisted in the demolition of the old bourgeois state apparatus and the construction of a new Soviet apparatus in the center and in the regions, the elimination of the remnants of feudalism, estates and national oppression, and the creation of a socialist way of life in the economy.

As a result of this work, by February 1918. was created and strengthened Soviet state- a state of a new, socialist type. The transition period from capitalism to socialism began.

Education of the USSR. In December 1922, congresses of Soviets were held in all the republics, the participants of which approved the proposal. I. Lenin. Delegations were elected to prepare documents on the creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The first

On December 30, 1922, the All-Union Congress of Soviets approved the Declaration and Treaty on the Formation of the USSR. Subjects USSR became the RSFSR, the Ukrainian SSR, the Byelorussian SSR and the ZSFSR. The declaration proclaimed the principles of voluntariness of association, equality of the republics and their right to freely secede from the union. The treaty defined the system of federal authorities, their competence and relations with the republican administrative structures. At the congress, the Central Executive Committee of the USSR was elected, which included the chairmen of the Central Executive Committee of the union republics M.I. Kalinin, G.I. Petrovsky, A.G. Chervyakov and N.N. Narimanov. executive power up to

before the adoption of the Constitution of the new state was to be carried out by the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR.

In July 1923, the II session of the Central Executive Committee adopted the Constitution, which was approved in January 1924 by the II Congress of Soviets of the USSR. The constitution legislated the formation of the USSR. The federation of republics with the right to freely secede from the union and independent decision issues of domestic policy, justice, education, health and welfare. Relations with foreign states, the implementation of foreign trade, the management of transport and postal and telegraph communications were included in the functions of the allied departments. The structure and scope of powers were established supreme bodies power and control. The All-Union Congress of Soviets became the supreme legislative body, and in the intervals between congresses - the bicameral Central Executive Committee: the Council of the Union and the Council of Nationalities. Executive power belonged to the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. Under the Council of People's Commissars, all-Union people's commissariats, the State Bank, and the State Planning Commission were formed. The All-Union Central Executive Committee was given the right to issue decrees and resolutions binding on all republics.

Between sessions of the Central Executive Committee, the entirety of legislative, executive and administrative power was transferred to its presidium. The supreme all-Union bodies were entrusted with determining the foundations of national economic plans, approving the state budget, and establishing a single monetary system. They were responsible for the development of civil, criminal and labor legislation, the establishment general principles development in education and health. The Presidium of the Central Executive Committee had the right to resolve disputes arising between the union republics. He could cancel the decisions of the republican authorities in case they were inconsistent with the Constitution of the USSR. Under the Council of People's Commissars, the United State Political Directorate (OGPU) was established to combat counter-revolution, espionage and terrorism. The constitution established a single union citizenship for citizens of all republics. Moscow was declared the capital of the USSR. In the field of suffrage, the principles of the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918 remained unchanged, giving preference to the working class over the peasantry. The multi-stage elections and the open system of voting in the election of deputies to the Soviets were preserved. Exploiting elements and religious clergy continued to be disenfranchised.