Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense. What does "Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense" mean?

Local) emergency supreme and local authorities were created. The Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense was formed in execution.

The Defense Council was the main emergency military-economic and planning center of the Republic during the war. The activities of other military bodies were also placed under the control of the Council.

He was appointed Chairman of the Defense Council as Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR. In addition to him, the Council included: Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic, People's Commissar of Railways, Deputy People's Commissar of Food, Chairman of the Extraordinary Commission for the Production of Supplies (later - the Extraordinary Commission for Supply of the Red Army) and a representative of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. The secretary of the Council of People's Commissars was appointed secretary of the Council.

The main feature of the emergency body of the Civil War was that it did not replace party, government and military bodies, but performed, first of all, coordinating functions. In particular, the relationship between the Defense Council and the Council of People's Commissars was determined by the inclusion of all members of the former in the composition of the latter and the general chairmanship. Thanks to this, the Council became virtually a permanent military-economic committee of the workers' and peasants' government.

“The Council is responsible for coordinating and strengthening the activities of departments in the field of ensuring the country’s defense and economic construction”

In its work, the Council relied on the institution of extraordinary commissioners. The resolutions of the Defense Council were binding on central and local departments and institutions, and on all citizens.

One of the Resolutions of the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense.

The activities of the Council mainly concerned topics related to the war, such as the fight against desertion, the organization of mobilization, Vsevobuch, etc. The Council was tasked with increasing labor productivity everywhere to supply the army, providing food for the army, navy, Moscow, Petrograd and other industrial centers, the uninterrupted operation of food and transport authorities, the establishment of military discipline in the army, navy, food and transport sectors. One of the most important areas was legislative support for the effective functioning of the state apparatus, full and timely implementation by local authorities of the directives of senior management. In order to solve the assigned tasks, appropriate committees and commissions were created and operated under the Council.

Thus, at the end of December 1918, to directly implement measures to combat desertion, a Central Temporary Commission was established consisting of representatives of the All-Russian General Staff, the All-Russian Bureau of Military Commissars and the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs. In the resolutions adopted by the Council “On desertion”, “On measures to combat desertion” and “On measures to eradicate desertion”, it was equated with betrayal and qualified as one of the most serious and shameful crimes.

In war conditions, the key issue was maintaining and replenishing the number of troops. Attempts to found a multimillion-dollar Red Army on a voluntary basis under the slogan “The Socialist Fatherland is in danger!” were unsuccessful, it was necessary to make a quick transition to mobilization. Based on this need, on May 29, 1918, on the basis of the Decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee “On forced recruitment into the Workers' and Peasants' Army,” conscription into the Red Army began. Having received the appropriate powers, the Defense Council on May 12, 1919 adopted the Resolution “On the conscription of soldiers of the disbanded old army who have returned or are returning from captivity” to military service. The same goals were served by the Resolutions of the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense “On the conscription of citizens born in 1901 for military service”, “On the conscription of citizens born in 1888, 1887 and 1886”, “On the appearance of persons for conscription hiding their former officer rank” and others. All conscription evaders and those harboring them were subject to severe liability based on the laws of the military-revolutionary era.

As a result, if in the middle of 1918 there were 378 thousand people under arms in the Red Army, by the end of the year - 1700 thousand, then by the end of 1919 there were 4400 thousand people in it, and in 1920 - already 5300 thousand

Undoubtedly necessary in the conditions of mass military conscription was a system of compulsory military training of citizens - (universal military training). The decision to create it was made in March 1918 by the VII Congress of the RCP(b) and the IV Extraordinary Congress of Soviets, and the legal form was the Decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of April 22, 1918 “On compulsory training in the art of war.” In order to clarify the provisions of the Decree, on September 24, 1919, the Defense Council adopted the Resolution “On the organization of General Military Training of Workers.”

Under the general leadership of the supply commission headed by L. B. Krasin in the second half of 1918, the Red Army received from the supply authorities, using the reserves of the old army and new production, over 2 thousand guns, about 4.5 million shells, 8 thousand machine guns, over 900 thousand rifles, more than 500 million cartridges, 75.5 thousand revolvers, over 1.5 million revolver cartridges, about 1 million hand grenades.

Under the Defense Council, in addition to those mentioned above, there was a Special Committee for the implementation of martial law on the railways of the republic, the Central Commission for the search and distribution of premises for the Red Army and others.

In order to ensure the effective functioning of the state apparatus, the full and timely implementation by local authorities of the directives of senior management, on December 8, 1918, the Council adopted the Resolution “On the accurate and prompt execution of orders of the central government and the elimination of clerical red tape.” Regional and local Soviet institutions were required to carry out the decrees and orders of the central government accurately and unquestioningly. The excessively expanded departmental correspondence and clerical red tape that was slowing down work in the center and locally were ordered to be nipped in the bud. The orders of the central government had to be carried out quickly, without delay, replacing correspondence with telephone conversations, business papers with telephone messages, and be sure to check the fulfillment of each order, each order. Violators of the Decree were prosecuted to the fullest extent of revolutionary laws.

Through the activities of the Council, among others, the problems of regionalism, arbitrary local arrests, etc. were resolved. Thus, on December 14, 1918, the Resolution “On the arrests of responsible officials and specialists carried out by the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission” was adopted. The Cheka and its local bodies were ordered to notify the relevant department in advance regarding their decisions on the arrests of senior employees of Soviet institutions, as well as all specialists, engineers and technicians employed in industrial enterprises and on the railways. No later than 48 hours after the arrest, the appropriate institution should have been notified about it, also informing about the substance of the charges brought against the arrested person. Release from arrest was possible if a written guarantee was submitted by the people's commissariats, city and provincial committees of the RCP (b), provincial and city Councils of Deputies, as well as trade unions.

The devastation of the national economy that began during the First World War and the Provisional Government in the first months of Soviet power worsened even more. To alleviate the fuel crisis the country was experiencing, the Defense Council on November 19, 1919 adopted the Resolution “On natural, labor and horse-drawn service.” All male citizens aged 35 to 50 years, except those clearly unable to work, and female citizens from 18 to 40 years old were subject to labor service for the procurement, loading and unloading of fuel. Remuneration for the labor involved in performing labor duties was made according to the tariff of the corresponding trade unions.

From the beginning of 1920, in connection with the improvement of the military situation in the country, the issues of restoring the economy and transferring it to a peaceful footing came to the fore, which was accordingly reflected in the name of the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense. On April 7, 1920, it was renamed the Council of Defense and Labor, and on April 14 - the Council of Labor and Defense, which, however, was not accompanied by any reorganization of this body. And only after the VIII All-Russian Congress of Soviets (December 22-29, 1920) the Labor and Defense Council (STO) legally took shape as a commission of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR.

Notes

Part two. From the Great October Socialist Revolution to the present day// Brief history of the USSR / Rep. editor academician A. M. Samsonov. - Moscow: Science, 1983. - P. 80. - 744 p. — 50,000 copies.
Right there. P. 81.
Boffa J. History of the Soviet Union: in 2 volumes: trans. with it. - M.: International Relations, 1990. - T. 1. - P. 98. - .
Kovalenko D. A. Defense industry of Soviet Russia in 1918-1920. - M.: Nauka, 1970. - P. 227. - 411 p.
Activities of the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense under the chairmanship of V.I. Lenin in the quartering of Red Army troops and providing them with housing allowances (undefined) . Oboznik.ru is an information and thematic portal about the history of the rear of the Russian army). Retrieved March 8, 2013. Archived March 22, 2013.
Starikov I. V. Legislative activity of the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense during the Civil War in Russia (1918-1920) // Bulletin of the Chelyabinsk State University. - 2012. - No. 37 (291). - pp. 103-107.

Links

Republican Bodies † Local authorities

COUNCIL OF WORKERS' AND PEASANTS' DEFENSE 1918-20 (Defense Council), extraordinary supreme body of the Soviet Union. state, operating in the context of the outbreak of the Civil War and military. interventions 1918-20. Was Ch. military-economics center of Sov. republics. The All-Russian Central Executive Committee was created on November 30. 1918 in pursuance of the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of September 2. 1918, Crimea Sov. the republic was declared war. camp. Possessed full power in mobilizing forces and means to protect the Sov. state Prev. The Council of Defense was appointed by V.I. Lenin as chairman. CHK. The Council included representatives from the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, from the PBC of the Republic, Nar. Commissariat of Railways, Deputy People's Commissar of Food and before. Extraordinary Commission for Supply of the Red Army. Secretary of the Defense Council - L. A. Fotieva. The resolutions of the Defense Council were binding on the center, local departments and institutions, and all citizens. He controlled the activities of PBC and other military personnel. organs. In April 1920, the Defense Council was reorganized into Council of Labor and Defense.
Lit.: On the formation of the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense, "Collection of laws and orders of the Workers' and Peasants' Government", 1918, December 22, No. 91 - 92, art. 924; Lenin V.I., Poly. collection op., 5th ed. (See Reference volume, part 1, p. 603).

The Defense Council was created by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on November 30. 1918 to implement the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of September 2. 1918, Crimea Sov. the republic was declared war. camp. The Defense Council was the extraordinary supreme body of the Soviet Union. state, brought to life by the extremely difficult situation that has developed in the country in connection with the actions of the internal. counter-revolution and foreign military intervention. He was given full authority in mobilizing forces and means to protect the Sov. state Prev. The Council of Defense was appointed by V.I. Lenin as chairman of the Council of People's Commissars. The Council included: from the All-Russian Central Executive Committee I.V. Stalin, from the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic L.D. Trotsky, People's Commissar of Railways V.I. Nevsky, deputy. People's Commissar of Food N.P. Bryukhanov and before. Extraordinary Commission for Supply of the Red Army L. B. Krasin. L. A. Fotieva worked as the Secretary of the Council. The resolutions of the Defense Council were mandatory for central and local departments and institutions, for all citizens of the Soviet Union. republics. He was the chief military-economics officer. and the planning center of the Republic during the war. The activities of the Revolutionary Military Council and other military forces were placed under the control of the Defense Council. organs. In April 1920, the Defense Council was reorganized and became known as the Labor and Defense Council (STO), which acted as a commission of the Council of People's Commissars. By resolution of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR of April 28, 1937, the STO was abolished. Lit.: On the formation of the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense, "Collection of laws and orders of the Workers' and Peasants' Prospect", 1918, December 22, No. 91-92, Art. 924; Lenin V.I., Complete. collection op., 5th ed. (see Reference volume, part 1, p. 558); The emergence of the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense, in the book: Leninsky collection, vol. 18, M., 1931.

Libmonster ID: RU-10094

25 years ago, on November 30, 1918, the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense was established by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. The Chairman of the Defense Council was V. I. Lenin, his actual deputy was I. V. Stalin. The young Soviet country was going through difficult times. External and internal enemies threatened its existence. The Soviet Republic was declared a military camp. The Council of Revolutions was given "full rights in mobilizing the country's forces and means in the interests of defense."

The Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense was entrusted with the task of subordinating all the work of Soviet organizations to one task: helping the front. It was necessary to establish a harsh military regime in all sectors of economic activity and public administration, achieve maximum labor productivity, establish strict labor discipline, and combine the work of military agencies, transport and food. “For all departments and institutions, central and local,” said the resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, “for all citizens, the decisions of the Council of Defense are absolutely binding” 1 .

"a) Resolutions of the Defense Council are not subject to publication, except as specifically stated. Those guilty of violating this will be held accountable.

b) Resolutions of the Defense Council are signed by the chairman. Resolutions of commissions appointed by the Defense Council, signed by vol. Lenin, Stalin and a representative of the relevant department, have the force of resolutions of the Defense Council.

Resolutions of the Defense Council are sent to members of the Defense Council no later than the next day." 2

V.I. Lenin was the almost permanent chairman of meetings of the Defense Council. The IMEL archive preserves numerous notes by V.I. Lenin on the agendas of meetings of the Defense Council, notes he made during meetings of the Council commissions that worked under his leadership.

Of exceptional interest are the materials of the Defense Council commission on cartridges that worked under the leadership of Lenin and Stalin. The commission recognized the need to introduce a system of bonuses for increasing labor productivity at the Tula and Podolsk cartridge factories; she allowed the recruitment of skilled workers without going through the labor exchange; those working in cartridge and weapons factories were exempt from conscription into the army; Representatives from the Extraordinary Commission for Army Supply and the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs were added to the board of the Tula Cartridge Plant; The statistical bureau under the Main Artillery Directorate was instructed to develop a schedule for the movement of productivity in the shops and workshops of cartridge factories. The commission recognized the need to speed up the organization of cartridge production at the Podolsk plant and obliged plant managers to submit weekly reports to the Defense Council on the state of work.

On March 17, 1919, the Defense Council, taking into account the importance of the cartridge and weapons factories for the Red Army and the need for the strictest protection of these factories, decided to create a military revolutionary tribunal in Tula with the rights of a revolutionary tribunal of the army 3. On May 13, based on V.I. Lenin’s report on the situation at cartridge factories, the Defense Council appointed a special commission of representatives of the military department. the All-Russian Council of Trade Unions and the Emergency Supply Commission to examine the situation at the Tula cartridge plant; The Revolutionary Military Council of the Eastern Front was asked to “fulfill with maximum energy and speed all the demands to enhance the productivity of the Simbirsk plant” 4, which will be presented by the plant management; The Central Council of Trade Unions was instructed to take all measures to speed up and strengthen the delivery of qualified Lugansk workers to Simbirsk; The Main Artillery Directorate

Based on materials from the Marx-Engels-Lenin Institute.

2 Lenin collection XVIII, pp. 244 - 245. Sotsekgiz. 1931.

3 Lenin collection XXXIV, p. 107, M. Ogiz. 1942.

4 Ibid., pp. 134 - 135.

tion - to take emergency measures to ensure that Petrograd can produce the maximum amount of semi-finished products needed for cartridge factories.

In order to speed up the opening of the Podolsk plant, it was decided to send there skilled workers from the Tula plant. The Defense Council proposed that the military department and other institutions take emergency measures to collect used cartridges and clarify the issue of the possibility of handicraft production of cartridges. At the same meeting, Comrade. Dzerzhinsky and a representative of the Revolutionary Military Council were instructed to organize an inspection of the security of the Tula cartridge factory.

On May 19, the Defense Council instructed the Tula Provincial Executive Committee to take emergency measures to provide apartments for three thousand workers arriving in Tula; a special commission was asked to consider proposals to increase labor productivity made as a result of the inspection of the plant. In addition, it was decided to mobilize communist women workers at the Tula plant through the Women's Commission under the Central Committee of the RCP(b). On June 11, the All-Russian Council of Trade Unions was instructed to deliver the most qualified workers to the Podolsk, Tula and Simbirsk factories, “at least to the detriment of the other factories.”

On August 1, V.I. Lenin again made a report at a meeting of the Defense Council on the supply of ammunition factories with labor. The Council of Revolutions instructed the Central Committee of the Union of Metalworkers and the Commissariat of Labor to immediately deliver the required number of workers to the cartridge factories of Simbirsk, Kovrov and Podolsk; on August 6, the Defense Council ordered the Petrograd Council and professional organizations to “immediately expel from Petrograd the entire number of workers required for work at the cartridge factories, so how without cartridges no defense of the Soviet Republic is possible" 1 .

On August 13, Chusosnabarm was asked to install a third shift for the Simbirsk and a second shift for the Podolsk plants as quickly as possible.

On August 26, 1919, V.I. Lenin wrote in Tula Executive Committee: “Do not carry out any forced mobilization of workers from arms and ammunition factories for any work, because weapons and ammunition are most important. Notify about the execution. Pre-Soviet Defense Lenin” 2.

Comrade Stalin did a tremendous job in the Defense Council. At almost every meeting of the Council from the first days of its organization, reports from Comrade Stalin were heard on the most important issues that required urgent resolution.

On December 8, 1918, Comrade Stalin made a report on the fight against regionalism and clerical red tape, submitted by him The draft resolution was approved by the Defense Council and published in Pravda on December 13, signed by V.I. Lenin.

The resolution emphasized that in order to raise the defense capability of the Soviet country to the proper height, exceptional unity of Soviet forces, the strictest centralization of actions, speed and accuracy of execution are necessary; that decrees and orders of regional and local Soviet institutions, “constraining the activities of the central government in the management of public property... are subject to immediate cancellation at the direction of the relevant people's commissariats” 3 .

A large place in the work of the Defense Council was occupied by the issue of supplying ten new divisions that were being formed at that time. On December 8, the Defense Council instructed comrades Stalin and Podvoisky, with the participation of comrade. Sverdlov "to do everything possible on the issue of political agitation and sending commissars to the emerging divisions." The Defense Council heard messages from Comrade Stalin on this issue on December 15 and 22, instructing the Revolutionary Military Council to “deliver Comrade Stalin a map of the location of the emerging divisions.”

On December 11, the Defense Council heard a report from Comrade Stalin on the streamlining of railway transport. The Defense Council, by its resolution on this issue, published under the signatures of Lenin and Stalin, unconditionally prohibited various institutions and professional organizations from interfering in the technical and administrative area of railway affairs. The same decree established general liability for the delay of trains and cargo on their way to their destination, for the untimely delivery of locomotives and cars, and for malicious accidents on the railways. “Monitoring the exact and unquestioning execution of the rules and orders of the People’s Commissariat of Railways and its local agents is entrusted,” the resolution says, “to the commissars of districts and roads, vested with emergency powers, including the right to dissolve organizations disrupting transport, dismissal, arrest and betrayal.” trial of the guilty" 4.

At the same meeting, Comrade Stalin made a report on the results of the meeting on the issue of providing housing for the army. Having made some additions to the resolution developed by the commission, the Defense Council instructed Lenin, Stalin and a representative of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic to sign it on behalf of the Defense Council.

The Defense Council directed and united the actions of various organizations to carry out mobilization. On May 5, 1919, the Defense Council heard a report from Comrade Stalin on the results of the audit of Soviet institutions and on measures to reduce staff. The Defense Council obliged the commissariats to elect commissions from responsible persons with the participation of members of the boards and representatives of the People's Commissariat of State Control to draw up a draft staff reduction from 25 to 50%. On May 28, the Defense Council instructed the Commissariat of State Control to find out within a week how

1 Lenin collection XXXIV, p. 204.

2 Lenin collection XXIV, p. 14. M. Partizdat, 1933.

4 Ibid.

page 11

The commissariats are replacing men drafted into the Red Army with women in Soviet institutions. In connection with the difficult sanitary condition of the army, especially on the southern front, the Defense Council pointed out to the Commissariat of Health the need to reorganize the work of this Commissariat in a combat manner. On March 31, 1919, the Defense Council ordered the People's Commissariat of Health to immediately release doctors early with their mandatory departure to the front, and also to mobilize women doctors.

The Defense Council instructed to further examine the organization of sanitary affairs not only in the large centers of the southern front, but also in small ones, starting with the regiments. July 18, 1919 to the People's Commissar of Health Comrade. Semashko was asked to transfer his work to the southern front for a month or a month and a half and focus his main attention on the sanitary condition of the southern front; The Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic was instructed to provide accurate information as to whether every order of the chief sanitary commander at the front has the force of a combat order, “and also to give a draft resolution that orders also have the force of combat.”

On November 4, the Defense Council ordered a number of executive committees to establish sanitary camps, provide the broadest assistance in repairing and equipping premises for sanitary camps, and satisfy them with established types of allowances and means of transport. Comrade Stalin headed the commission on the placement of hospitals and repeatedly made reports and messages on this issue.

Issues directly related to the defense of the Soviet country occupied a central place in the work of the Defense Council. While resolving the most important issues of a military-strategic nature, the Defense Council simultaneously carried out enormous organizational work on the defense of the country. The Defense Council often heard reports from representatives of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic and representatives of the Main Artillery Directorate; constantly demanded information from these institutions about the supply of weapons to the army and about production capabilities, about what work on fortifications was entrusted to which fronts; to what extent the construction of fortifications is provided with labor; what measures are being taken to speed up military development.

On May 13, 1919, the Defense Council approved the draft resolution introduced by V.I. Lenin on the appointment of a special audit of the military department and the armed forces of the Republic.

On June 19, Comrade Stalin was instructed to present a report to the Defense Council on the results of the investigation into the causes of the uprising on Krasnaya Gorka and the perpetrators of the uprising. On September 24, 1919, the Defense Council determined the boundaries of the area that was subject to martial law and issued a resolution on the establishment of provincial and district revolutionary committees in this area, into which the organization of defense was divided. The issue of strengthening the production of military equipment, as well as careful consideration of the collection of what can be used for this purpose, almost never left the agenda of meetings of the Defense Council. On April 23, the Defense Council decided to schedule a meeting of a commission consisting of Lenin, Stalin, Krasin and a representative of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic on April 22 “to examine in the Extraordinary Commission for the Supply of the Red Army how the accounting of military property in warehouses is carried out.” On April 26, a decree was adopted on the accounting and seizure of military supplies, primarily from Moscow military warehouses. On May 19, the Defense Council instructed comrade. Dzerzhinsky and the representative of the Revolutionary Military Council Take the most energetic measures to remove weapons from the population and transfer them to the military department. Subsequently, a special commission was established under the Defense Council to strengthen the production and collection of military clothing equipment in order to bring it “to the quantity necessary for the active and emerging units of the Red Army.” The commission was instructed, first of all, to pay attention to the production of gun locks and rifle cartridges in Ukraine; The commission was required to submit information about its activities to the Defense Council on a weekly basis. On June 26, V.I. Lenin made a report on this issue to the Defense Council.

Questions about the mobilization of hunting rifles and the progress of work on repairing rifles were repeatedly discussed at meetings of the Defense Council. In the protocol dated May 28, 1919, on the issue of collecting used cartridges, we read: “Entrust the commission sent to Tsaritsyn with responsibility, according to the laws of war, for quickly completing the assignment given to it.” Particularly important was the question of the protection of weapons and their strict accounting. The protocol dated June 18 states: “To request, through Comrade Sklyansky, from the Main Artillery Directorate a report for tomorrow’s meeting of the Defense Council on the number of available cannon shells.

By Monday, request a report on the number of guns that are serviceable, are being released from repair and can be removed."

The Defense Council ordered the strictest investigation of all actions that undermined the defensive power of the Red Army. Thus, the resolution dated June 26, 1919 states: “To strictly investigate the issue of sending armored cars to the Southern Front, which turned out to be unsuitable. Find out all those responsible for this and bring them to justice” 1 .

The most important place in the work of the Defense Council was occupied by the issue of supplying the Red Army with food. On December 29, 1918, according to a report by J.V. Stalin about the food situation in the front line, the Defense Council instructed the Komprod and the Supreme Economic Council to send specially authorized persons to Ukraine to procure raw materials, food and finished products.

1 Lenin collection XXXIV, p. 186.

page 12

On February 17, 1919, based on the report of Comrade Stalin, the Defense Council decided to organize block trains for the transportation of grain and coal. On March 3, the Commissariat of Railways was instructed to “present a weekly summary of departing block trains in the most popular and concise form.” The IMEL archive contains a table of V. I. Lenin’s handwritten notes on the amount of bread and food delivered by three railways to Moscow for seventeen days in March 1919. On March 31, according to a report on the situation in Ukraine, the Defense Council decided to “increase by one hundred times the number of workers sent to grain production places." The People's Commissariat of Food was instructed to establish precise and strict monitoring of the loading of food cargo, so that, based on the data received, it would be possible to "quickly change and correct the direction of cargo."

On July 12, 1919, in a telegram to the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Water Transport Administration signed by Lenin’s pre-Soviet Defense Council and Tsyurupa’s People’s Commissariat for Food, it was said: “Any delays in the delivery of grain threaten complications that are harmful to the cause of the revolution. Strain all your strength and notify us more often and accurately.” 1

One of the main measures that contributed to improving the food situation was the creation of a food army. On June 19, 1919, the Defense Council instructed the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic to “give orders to the military department to immediately send all persons rejected for professional mobilization to the food army... to instruct the All-Russian Council of Trade Unions to take the most energetic measures to recruit 5,000 people by mobilizing and sending out circulars with an explanation “that if the above amount is not received from the workers and peasants of the starving areas to the food army, complete famine threatens in July.” On July 23, in a resolution adopted on the report of V.I. Lenin, the All-Russian Council of Trade Unions was instructed to take the most energetic measures to mobilize 20 thousand people into the food army, and Comrade. Kursky - to investigate the reasons for the delays in mobilization.

The Defense Council made a number of decisions to implement the strictest savings in food consumption, to limit the number of enterprises and institutions entitled to receive Red Army rations, granting this right only to those of them that were of defense importance.

At the beginning of February 1920, the food crisis in Moscow and Petrograd especially worsened. On February 8, signed by the Chairman of the Defense Council V.I. Leniv, the following telegram was sent to the Revolutionary Military Council of the Reserve Army, located in Kazan:

"Moscow, Petrograd, the armies of the Western Front and Northern Front are on the eve of stopping the distribution of grain. The Defense Council instructs the Revolutionary Military Council, Zaparma to make every effort to load grain along the Kazan road and send it according to the instructions of the food authorities. The slightest delay will lead to the fact that in three to five days everything will run out grain reserves. Report by telegraph daily about the measures taken and the results, indicating the loading locations. Pre-Soviet Defense Lenin" 2.

The supply of food to the Red Army depended on the state of transport. The supply of food and fuel to the country's most important industrial centers also depended on the operation of transport. In order to streamline the use of railway transport, the Defense Council decided to assign responsible persons to permanently work in Moscow to control the use of trains. Considering the enormous difficulties in the operation of railway transport. The Defense Council instructed the NKPS to develop the most concise and simple form of reporting that would allow accurate monitoring of the state of the railways.

The Defense Council ordered the railway authorities not to clutter up transport with any cargo other than military cargo. On April 14, 1919, for example, an emergency inspection of cargo was scheduled in Batraki and Syzran in connection with information received about the shipment of wagons with household items along this line. On April 16, the Defense Council decided: “It is prohibited to send any cargo to and beyond Kazan, Simbirsk, Syzran, except military cargo, no matter what mandates for unhindered passage are presented.” The Defense Council demanded the departure of trains on schedule, without delays at intermediate stations, saving firewood when heating steam locomotives, timely repair of steam locomotives, unification of trains, strengthening personal monitoring of the work of workshops and depots by responsible managers of the NKPS.

The life of the Soviet Republic depended on the correct supply of bread and food. The most important railway along which food supplies arrived to the center was the Moscow-Kazan road. On January 16, 1920, the Defense Council instructed the Commissariat of Food and the People's Commissariat of Transport to develop measures to strengthen the capacity of the Moscow-Kazan Railway, and also, together with the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic, to develop practical measures to use the Reserve Army located in Kazan to strengthen the supply of food.

Despite the measures taken, the transport situation remained difficult. In this regard, on February 1, 1920, V.I. Lenin addressed a letter to members of the Defense Council, which said:

1 Lenin collection XXIV, p. 131.

2 Lenin collection XXXIV, p. 259.

page 13

“The situation with railway transport is completely catastrophic. Bread has stopped being delivered. To save oneself, truly emergency measures are needed. For 2 months (II-III), such measures must be taken (and appropriate other measures of this kind must be found):

I. Reduce cash bread rations for those not working in transport; increase for working...

II. 3/4 Responsible workers from all departments, except the Commissariat of Food and Military Affairs, should be hired for these 2 months. d. transport and repair. Accordingly, close (or reduce 10 times) the work of other commissariats for 2 months.

III. In a 30-50 verst strip on both sides of the railway. lines to introduce martial law for labor mobilization to clean the tracks and transfer 3/4 in the volosts of this area responsible workers from the volost and district executive committees of the entire relevant province" 1 .

On February 2, 1920, at a meeting of the Defense Council, V.I. Lenin made a report on the situation in transport. V. I. Lenin’s proposals, outlined by him in a letter to members of the Defense Council, were legalized in a resolution adopted by the Defense Council at this meeting. All grain delivered by trains formed by railway workers was to be at the disposal of railway organizations. The People's Commissariat for Transport, the People's Commissariat for Food and the Revolutionary Military Council of the Reserve Army were instructed to increase the daily loading rate on the Moscow-Kazan road to 140 wagons; People's Commissariat - take measures to speed up the movement of military trains along the Samara-Zlatoust railway and trains with food in the Samara-Chelyabinsk region; Komprod - to ensure increased loading of food in Western Siberia. All departments were asked to send employees to work in the railway workshops of Petrograd and Moscow and on individual roads, and in the text of the resolution, V.I. Lenin personally added: “the best and most responsible” 2.

The Extraordinary Commissioner for Army Supply was instructed to enter into an agreement with the People's Commissariat of Railways and the All-Russian Central Council of Trade Unions on the use of part of the military clothing allowance for bonuses to transport workers, and the People's Commissariat of Food to supply transport workers primarily from the reserves transferred to Chusosnabarm. The resolution provided for a number of measures to combat snow drifts, including providing shovels and mittens for those working to clear paths. The People's Commissar for Internal Affairs was instructed to introduce martial law in the area of fifty miles on both sides of the railway and issue a circular to the provincial executive committees on strengthening the volost and district executive committees located in this area with responsible employees; The chief executive was instructed to strengthen the supply of fuel to the railways and, at the next meeting, to present ideas on creating a seven-day supply of fuel on the railways; The Supreme Council of Transport was asked to revise the plan for food and fuel transport in order to maximize it; The Military Department, NKPS and VOKhR (internal security troops) should develop measures for enhanced security of trains with fuel.

On Minutes No. 97 of the meeting of the Defense Council, in which these decisions are recorded, V. I. Lenin wrote:

“I draw the special attention of all leading Soviet workers to these decisions. The situation with transport is desperate. For salvation, truly heroic and revolutionary measures are needed. 2.II.1920. Lenin” 3.

The implementation of the emergency measures planned by the Defense Council subsequently led to a significant improvement in transport performance and to the mitigation of food difficulties.

Transport workers warmly responded to the call of the Defense Council to improve transport performance. Mass heroism and labor upsurge in transport were reflected in the decisions of the Defense Council.

On February 27, 1920, the Defense Council noted the exceptional energy and labor discipline shown by technical personnel, employees and workers during the restoration of the bridge across the Kama at Perche. The work was completed in extremely difficult conditions, 2 months ahead of schedule. The Defense Council made a decision on monetary rewards for everyone who took part in these works.

In March, the work of the Moscow-Kazan Railway significantly improved. Noting the successes achieved, the Defense Council wrote on March 13, 1920: “This is our first victory on the bloodless front and in its most difficult place - in transport. At the most critical moment of the devastation of transport, work on the road not only did not fall, but rose. This victory proves not in words, but in deeds that there is no difficulty that cannot be overcome by hard work, consciousness and firm determination to fulfill one’s duty to the workers’ and peasants’ republic” 4.

The Defense Council expressed gratitude to all workers, employees, administration and commissars of the road.

On March 16, the Defense Council proposed that the NKPS give monetary rewards to workers and employees who worked to restore the bridge across the Kama near Sarapul. The telegram sent to the Revolutionary Military Council of the Reserve Army on March 20, signed by V.I. Lenin, said:

1 Lenin collection XXIV, p. 62.

2 Ibid., p. 65.

3 Ibid., p. 67.

4 Lenin collection XXXIV, p. 276.

page 14

“The Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense sends comradely gratitude on behalf of the Soviet government to all the workers, Red Army soldiers, technical and administrative personnel who worked on the restoration of the bridge over the Kama at Sarapul, completing it a month before the appointed time, thereby giving new proof of what the proletariat can achieve organization, energy, discipline in work, with the much-needed now conscious attitude towards the general tasks facing the Russian Soviet Republic in the fight against the devastation that has befallen it.

Pre-Soviet Defense Lenin" 1.

The activities of the Defense Council during the civil war took place in extremely difficult conditions. The implementation of the adopted resolutions on the defense of the still very young Soviet country and on supplying the Red Army required a huge amount of effort. The work was carried out in conditions of an acute shortage of workers at military factories, in conditions of food devastation, a fuel crisis, and a difficult, sometimes catastrophic, situation in transport. The volume of work of the Defense Council was extremely large. Meetings of the Defense Council took place twice a week, in addition, emergency meetings were convened very often; The agenda of meetings of the Defense Council was usually loaded with a large number of issues. In order to simplify and speed up the consideration of cases, on March 10, 1920, a decision was made to convene administrative meetings of the Defense Council. Issues about deferments for conscription into the Red Army, the issuance of mandates, registration, accounting, census of property, the appointment of commissions for preliminary discussion of issues, the militarization of enterprises, etc. were transferred to the consideration of administrative meetings.

The entire burden of work in the Defense Council fell on V.I. Lenin and his faithful comrade-in-arms, I.V. Stalin. All the most urgent information concerning the situation at the front was communicated directly to V.I. Lenin as Chairman of the Defense Council; For example, in connection with the difficult situation on the southern front, he was supposed to be informed twice a day about the number of locomotives being sent to the southern front, daily informed about the amount of military equipment being exported from Ukraine and about engineers sent to the southern front to restore bridges. V.I. Lenin received telegrams, requests, letters, and complaints from everywhere every day. All materials about serious facts concerning the situation at the front, the position of the Red Army, and, consequently, the country’s defense capability, V.I. Lenin put for discussion in the Defense Council, entrusting the preliminary preparation of the issue to the appropriate institution. A significant part of the decisions of the Defense Council were published in the form of official resolutions signed by the Chairman of the Defense Council. The author of most of the most important decisions of the Defense Council was V.I. Lenin; He wrote or edited drafts of many resolutions. So, for example, on February 15, 1919, signing a telegram to the Extraordinary Commissioner of Railways of the Southern Front about granting those working on the restoration of destroyed railway bridges the right to return to their previous place of work upon their return, Lenin adds: “This is the text of the resolution of the Defense Council adopted today. You can publish "2.

Lenin did a great job of explaining the decisions of the Defense Council and correcting the wrong actions of local authorities. He warned local workers against incorrect orders, which could lead to disorganization of the work of factory enterprises. In connection with the excessive densification of the housing of the workers of the Vyksa plant, Lenin writes on February 15, 1919: “The importance of the Vyksa plant for the transport and defense of the country obliges you to refrain from any extremes that could upset factory life. Otherwise, you will be subject to the strictest liability” 3.

The uninterrupted supply of food to military factories was the subject of constant attention of the Defense Council.

So, for example, on May 19, 1919, the Defense Council obliged Comrade. Svidersky immediately provide the Chairman of the Defense Council with information about “when exactly the order for seed potatoes was given for the Kovrov Machine-Gun Plant and when this order was executed.”

The work of the Defense Council educated not only the leaders of Soviet institutions, but also the entire Soviet people in the spirit of the strictest discipline, the strictest observance of military secrets, responsibility for work in every sector. This work is indicative of its connection with the masses, its sensitive attitude towards the valiant defenders of the Soviet homeland, towards the exploits of Soviet people on the labor front, attentive attitude to the statements of individual Soviet citizens.

The Council of Revolutions fought against the wrong attempts of local organizations, under the guise of promoting the defense of the Republic, to create special, local bodies, the existence of which could only interfere with the activities of the Council of Defense. Such attempts took place in Astrakhan, Samara, Syzran. On May 12, 1919, according to the report of V.I. Lenin, it was decided “to propose, on behalf of the Defense Council, all local defense committees in assistance to defense to immediately dissolve and carry out their activities through existing interdepartmental meetings under the provincial and city executive committees.”

All facts that testified to the manifestation of carelessness and complacency, about the lack of revolutionary vigilance, were subjected to the strictest investigation and the perpetrators were brought to justice. The Defense Council paid special attention to the procedure for storing secret documents and the rules for transferring secret military information.

On July 18, 1919, the Defense Council decided that inspection of all kinds of institutions, establishments and factories producing military supplies for the Red Army could be allowed “exclusively only with special permissions issued signed by the Chairman of the Defense Council, or the Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic , or his deputy, or the Extraordinary Commissioner for Supply. All such mandates must be registered without withdrawal from the Extraordinary Commissioner of the Defense Council" 1 .

On August 15, 1919, the Council of Defense made a decision: “Give the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic, through the persons sent by it, the right to verify the order of storage of secret military documents in all civilian institutions of all People's Commissariats” 2.

V.I. Lenin attached great importance to the clear and uninterrupted operation of all types of communications in wartime conditions. On October 15, 1919, V.I. Lenin wrote to Sklyansky: “Cavalry radio stations are absolutely necessary for the Southern Front, as well as light field mobile ones,” which are available in large quantities in the warehouses of the Main Military Engineering Directorate. Make an immediate order for the urgent transfer of 50 pieces of each type to the Southern Front. This is demanded by Stalin, who complains very much about the lack of communication" 3.

Many times the Defense Council declared comradely gratitude to the units of the Red Army that showed an example of heroic defense of the homeland, an example of true devotion to the cause of the revolution. Thus, gratitude was declared to the V, II and Turkestan armies, which showed energy and courage in battles with the Kolchak gangs; parts; XV Army, which captured Pskov after stubborn battles; the III and V armies, which suffered great hardships during the rapid advance in Siberia; to the valiant units of the IV Army, the defenders of Uralsk, who withstood a two-month siege.

On May 5, 1919, the Defense Council issued a resolution expressing warm gratitude to the workers and employees, whose selfless efforts in a short time raised, repaired and put into operation the railway ferry on Uvek, which was flooded by the enemies of the Soviet people.

The content of the Defense Council's work is extremely diverse. Some of the issues discussed seemed insignificant and secondary to the grouse, but in those conditions a lot depended on their successful resolution. These are, for example, questions about the development of short forms of reporting on the actual progress of work on collecting rags and other waste, on experiments in the use of newsprint for the production of blankets, on the manufacture of mosaic soles, on the absence of lubricants at the front, etc.

At the beginning of April 1920, the Defense Council was transformed into the Labor and Defense Council (STO). The resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on December 11, 1920 approving the regulations on the Labor and Defense Council states the following:

“Fulfilling the task assigned to it, the Defense Council united the work of the military and other departments in mobilizing the country’s forces and resources in the interests of defense.. Yandex

Permanent link for scientific papers (for citation):

K. OSTROUKHOVA, N.. Update date: 10/02/2015. URL: https://site/m/articles/view/BOARD-WORKERS-PEASANTS-DEFENSE-1918-1920-YEARS (access date: 04/21/2019).

The creation of a single center for the management of military operations - the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense, measures to combat mass desertion, labor mobilizations and the militarization of labor as a factor in the defeat of anti-Bolshevik elements in the Civil War.

Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below

Students, graduate students, young scientists who use the knowledge base in their studies and work will be very grateful to you.

Posted on http://www.allbest.ru/

Legislative activity of the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense during the Civil War in Russia(1918-1920)

The reasons for the defeat of anti-Bolshevik elements in the Civil War have been discussed by historians for many decades. In general, it is obvious that the main reason was the political and geographical fragmentation and disunity of the whites and the inability of the leaders of the white movement to unite under their banners all those dissatisfied with Bolshevism. Numerous national and regional governments did not have the ability to fight the Bolsheviks alone, and they were also unable to create a strong united anti-Bolshevik front due to mutual territorial and political claims and contradictions. The victory of the Reds was undoubtedly facilitated by successes in state building and the creation of a single center for directing military operations in the form of the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense 1 .

During the years of the Civil War and military intervention in Soviet Russia, emergency supreme and local authorities were created in parallel with the constitutional ones. The highest emergency authority was the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense (SRKO), formed by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK) on November 30, 1918 to implement the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of September 2, 1918, which declared the Soviet Republic a military camp. He was given full authority to mobilize forces and means to defend the Soviet state. V.I. was appointed Chairman of the Defense Council. Lenin (Ulyanov), as chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (SNK). The Council included: from the All-Russian Central Executive Committee I.V. Stalin (Dzhugashvili), from the Revolutionary Military Council L.D. Trotsky (Bronstein), People's Commissar of Railways V.I. Nevsky (Krivobokov), Deputy People's Commissar of Food N.P. Bryukhanov and Chairman of the Extraordinary Commission for Supply of the Red Army L.B. Krasin. L.A. worked as the Secretary of the Council. Fotieva 2. The resolutions of the Defense Council were binding on central and local departments and institutions, and on all citizens of the Soviet Republic. In his activities, he relied on the apparatus of his extraordinary commissioners. He was faced with the tasks of mobilization, armament, food supply and operational leadership of the Red Army. It was the main military-economic and planning center of the Republic during the war. The activities of the Revolutionary Military Council and other military bodies were placed under the control of the Defense Council.

The relationship between the SRKO and the Council of People's Commissars was determined by the inclusion of all members of the former in the composition of the latter and the general chairmanship. Thanks to this, the SRKO became a de facto permanent military-economic committee of the workers' and peasants' government. However, the highly competent nature of the SRKO composition determined the fact that in practice its functions were broader. A number of decrees of the Council of People's Commissars were issued with a postscript “on behalf of the SRKO,” which indicates not only the close cooperation of these bodies, but also their relative organizational unity 3 .

The vast majority of resolutions of the SRKO dealt with topics related to the war: the fight against desertion, the organization of Vsevobuch, mobilization, etc. The primary task was to provide legislative support for the effective functioning of the state apparatus and the full and timely implementation by local authorities of the directives of senior management. It was necessary to solve the problems of regionalism, arbitrary local arrests, etc. The problem was complicated by the fact that half of the entire Bolshevik Party was in the army; personnel were sent there after party, Komsomol and trade union mobilizations. A well-known notice on the doors of institutions in those years read: “The district committee is closed, everyone has gone to the front” 4 . During the formation of the Soviet state apparatus, much attention was paid to simplifying and rationalizing office work.

Thus, on December 8, 1918, the SRKO adopted the Resolution “On the accurate and prompt execution of orders of the central government and the elimination of clerical red tape.” Regional and local Soviet institutions were required to carry out the decrees and orders of the central government accurately and unquestioningly. The excessively expanded departmental correspondence and clerical red tape that was slowing down work in the center and locally were ordered to be nipped in the bud. The orders of the central government had to be carried out quickly, without delay, replacing correspondence with telephone conversations, business papers with telephone messages, and be sure to check the fulfillment of each order, each order. Those guilty of violating this Decree were to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of revolutionary laws.

A few days later, on December 14, 1918, the Resolution “On the arrests of responsible officials and specialists carried out by the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission” was adopted. The Cheka and its local bodies were ordered to notify the relevant department in advance regarding their decisions on the arrests of senior employees of Soviet institutions, as well as all specialists, engineers and technicians employed in industrial enterprises and on the railways. No later than 48 hours after the arrest, the appropriate Soviet institution should have been notified about it, also reporting on the substance of the charge brought against the arrested person. Release from arrest was possible if a written guarantee was submitted by the people's commissariats, city and provincial committees of the RCP (b), provincial and city Councils of Deputies, as well as trade unions. At the same time, the Cheka could withdraw such guarantees and in these cases transfer the case to a higher authority.

During the Civil War, one of the most acute problems of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army, as well as a number of other warring armies, was mass desertion. In fact, in the fall of 1919, several times more soldiers deserted from the Red Army than served in the White Guard armies. According to the calculations of G.F. Krivosheev, in the period from June 1919 to June 1920, 2,846 thousand deserters were “identified” (of which 837 thousand were detained) 5 . The increase in the scale of desertion led to tougher criminal penalties. Desertion began to be classified as one of the most serious and shameful crimes. In the SRKO resolutions “On desertion”, “On measures to combat desertion” and “On measures to eradicate desertion” it was equated with betrayal 6 .

According to the Resolution “On Desertion” adopted on December 25, 1918, a Central Temporary Commission was established to directly implement measures to combat desertion, consisting of representatives of the All-Russian General Staff, the All-Russian Bureau of Military Commissars and the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs. Punishment was established for both caught deserters, ranging from monetary deductions (triple the amount due to them during their absence from part of the maintenance) up to and including execution, and for all harborers of deserters to be subject to forced labor for up to five years.

March 3, 1919 The Decree of the SRKO “On measures to combat desertion” obliged local military commissariats, police departments, executive and house committees to implement all decrees related to the fight against desertion. Officials guilty of harboring deserters were prosecuted and imprisoned for up to five years with mandatory forced labor or without it at all. Officials for improper implementation of measures to combat desertion were subject to dismissal from office or imprisonment for up to three years, depending on the circumstances. Owners of apartments where deserters were found were subject to imprisonment for up to five years.

Finally, on June 3, 1919, the Decree of the SRKO “On measures to eradicate desertion” significantly increased liability for desertion and complicity in the commission of this crime. The document established a seven-day period for the voluntary reporting of deserters to law enforcement agencies. Persons who did not appear at military registration and enlistment offices and police authorities within the prescribed period were considered enemies of the people and were subject to severe penalties, in particular the death penalty. Officials guilty of evading military service were also prosecuted and subjected to severe penalties.

Attempts to found a multimillion-dollar Red Army on a voluntary basis under the slogan “The Socialist Fatherland is in danger!” were unsuccessful. The result was a rapid transition to mobilizations. Party members and Red Guards were drafted into the Red Army, and the dissolution of the few units of the former tsarist army that retained combat capability, for example, the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky guards regiments, was prohibited. On May 29, 1918, on the basis of the Resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee “On forced recruitment into the workers’ and peasants’ army,” conscription into the army began. The enormous quantitative superiority in mobilization resources allowed the Bolsheviks to easily make up for losses incurred as a result of hostilities and desertion.

On May 12, 1919, the Resolution “On the conscription of soldiers of the disbanded old army who returned or are returning from captivity” was adopted. All former soldiers returning from captivity were required to register with the local commissariats for military affairs immediately upon arrival at their place of residence. Digital information about the number of those who returned and those returning from captivity was concentrated in the district military commissariats. Citizens enrolled in military service were required to serve depending on the military situation of the country, pending the instructions of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic. All persons who evaded conscription were subject to trial by the Revolutionary Tribunal.

Soviet sources indicate that in the RSFSR there were 378 thousand people under arms in the middle of 1918, 1,700 thousand by its end, 4,400 thousand by the end of 1919, and finally 300 thousand - - in 1920 7 The increase in the size of the Red Army took place mainly due to mobilizations. On December 31, 1920, the SRKO issued resolutions “On the conscription of citizens born in 1901 for military service.” and “On the conscription of citizens born in 1888, 1887 and 1886 for military service.” All conscription evaders and those harboring them were subject to severe liability based on the laws of the military-revolutionary era.

Since the summer of 1918, the Bolsheviks, despite their extreme antipathy towards former officers, had to move on to mobilizing them en masse. The first decree on the conscription of officers, military doctors and military officials was issued on July 29, 1918. On April 16, 1919, by decree of the Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic E.M. Sklyansky, a Special Temporary Commission was created to register former officers under the Administration of the Affairs of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic. In total, from July 12, 1918 to August 15, 1920, 48,409 former officers, 10,339 military officials, 13,949 doctors and 26,766 junior medical personnel were drafted into the Red Army, i.e. 72,697 officers and class officers ranks 8. In all areas under the control of the Bolsheviks, registration of officers was carried out, who, not wanting to serve, often hid their ranks. On January 5, 1920, the SRKO adopted the Resolution “On the appearance for conscription of persons hiding their former officer rank.” Those guilty of concealing their former officer rank after April 1, 1920 were to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the revolutionary wartime laws.

During the Civil War, a system of compulsory military training for citizens was introduced, called Vsevobuch (universal military training). The decision to create it was made in March 1918 by the VII Congress of the RCP(b) and the IV Extraordinary Congress of Soviets, and the legal form was the Decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee “On compulsory training in the art of war” dated April 22, 1918. 9

In order to clarify the provisions of this Decree, on September 24, 1919, the SRKO adopted the Resolution “On the organization of General Military Training of Workers.” The training was carried out by Vsevobuch instructors; only the labor element aged 18 to 40, workers and peasants who did not exploit the labor of others, were involved in it. The conscription of the working population for training should not have violated the interests of the national economy and labor. Peasants were to be trained in their free time from field work; the procedure for attracting workers to study the art of war was to be developed by the All-Russian General Staff together with the Supreme Council of the National Economy (VSNKh), the People's Commissariat of Labor and the Council of Trade Unions. worker peasant defense desertion

The devastation of the national economy, which began during the First World War and the Provisional Government, worsened even more in the first months of Soviet power. In emergency conditions, such as wars, there are always restrictions on labor and even forced labor is introduced. For the Soviet leadership, labor mobilizations and the militarization of labor in general were not only forced measures (this is obvious), but also the embodiment of their views on the system of labor organization in a socialist society. Soviet historian

V.V. Kabanov, arguing that “labor and horse-drawn conscription played a huge role in increasing the volume of firewood procurement and transportation,” also shows the negative consequences of labor and horse-drawn conscription. “In general, horse-drawn conscription not only distracted significant forces of the peasantry for a long time, especially in times of need, but also had a direct negative impact on the productive forces of the peasant household: it discouraged the peasants from increasing the number of horses and forced them to reduce the number of livestock. The situation was aggravated by the mistakes made” 10.

In view of the need to strain all the country’s forces to alleviate the ongoing fuel crisis, the SRKO, on November 19, 1919, adopted the Resolution “On natural, labor and horse-drawn service.” In certain areas of the RSFSR the following types of state duties were introduced: natural firewood duty; labor duties for the procurement, loading and unloading of all types of fuel; horse-drawn service for the transportation of fuel, military, food and other government cargo to cities, railways, marinas and other receiving points. All male citizens aged 35 to 50 years, except those clearly unable to work, and female citizens from 18 to 40 years old were subject to labor service for the procurement, loading and unloading of fuel. Remuneration for the labor involved in performing labor duties was made according to the tariff of the corresponding trade unions. The People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs and its local bodies were charged with the duty of bringing to trial by the Revolutionary Tribunals persons who criminally or even ineptly use the announced mobilization and untimely, as well as incorrectly pay for the work of those called into service.

Since 1920, the activities of the Soviet state have brought to the fore the issues of economic restoration and transferring it to a peaceful path. The growing importance of economic issues and economic methods of work was reflected in the name of the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense. First, it was renamed the Council of Defense and Labor (April 7, 1920), and then the Council of Labor and Defense (April 14, 1920), which was not accompanied by a reorganization of this body.

After the VIII All-Russian Congress of Soviets (December 22-29, 1920), the Council of Labor and Defense legally took shape as a commission of the Council of People's Commissars. The number of its members from economic departments has increased. A system of provincial and regional bodies of the STO was formed locally, and in the provinces the revolutionary councils of labor armies, becoming bodies of the STO, were transformed into economic conferences with the aim of formalizing and consolidating organizational experience and establishing a unified economic plan by the Council.

On April 28, 1937, by a resolution of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, the STO was abolished with the transfer of functions to the Economic Council under the Council of People's Commissars (ECOSO). During the Great Patriotic War, the experience of creating a supreme emergency body was successfully repeated and was expressed in the creation

June 29, 1941 State Defense Committee (GKO). However, there were many differences from SRKO. The main feature of the emergency body of the Civil War was that it did not replace party, government and military bodies. Fundamental issues of conducting an armed war were considered at the same time at the Politburo and the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee, at meetings of the Council of People's Commissars. During the Great Patriotic War, no plenums, much less party congresses, were held; all cardinal issues were resolved by the State Defense Committee 11.

Let us consider the characteristic features of the SRKO as a body performing coordination functions. Firstly, it is its representative nature, which ensures, on the one hand, the possibility of quickly coordinating the functions of the relevant parts of the state apparatus to implement joint actions, and on the other hand, taking into account the interests of various departments in order to maximize the use of their capabilities. At the same time, as the range of tasks changes, the composition and content of the representative office changes. Thus, if initially the SRKO (STO) included 8 government agencies, by 1921 there were 10 of them. Individual departments (for example, the Central Statistical Office) were involved in participation in the STO with the right of an advisory vote. The change in the composition of the representation reflects the change in the composition of the tasks facing the country as a whole and the Council in particular. It is worth noting two types of representation in the STO: bodies to which the STO is subordinate, accountable or controlled (for example, the Council of People's Commissars, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee); sectoral or functional bodies (for example, People's Commissariat for Food, NKPS). The former, like STOs, generally played the role of subjects of coordination, the latter - objects.

Secondly, as stated in the Regulations on the SRKO dated November 3, 1918, “the council is responsible for coordinating and strengthening the activities of departments in the field of ensuring the country’s defense and economic development.” This emphasized the interdepartmental nature of the SRKO. Its functions can thus be defined in terms of structuring the functions of the merged departments, streamlining and strengthening them. In connection with the above, three groups of functions of the SRCS can be distinguished:

1) coordinated functions of representative departments (the Council of People's Commissars and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee as superior organizations are excluded);

2) functions for coordinating and streamlining the activities of representative bodies and subordinate organizations;

3) emergency functions of the SRKO, due to its exclusive competence.

They represent, taken to a higher level of management hierarchies, those own coordinated functions of representative bodies that need strengthening.

Thirdly, SRKO is an institution of a supra-departmental nature. This circumstance is confirmed both by its constitutional position (see the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918) and institutionally (see the Regulations on the SRKO). The supra-departmental position of the STO makes it possible not only for real interaction between the bodies included in its composition, but also for influencing bodies that are not part of it. In addition, for the first time in the structure of the state apparatus, a hierarchy of coordination functions is observed, consisting of at least two levels: coordination functions of the SRKO; coordination functions of representative bodies.

Thus, the activities of the SRKO in the first years of Soviet power proved the ability of the Soviet state apparatus to effectively solve complex military and economic problems, which was confirmed more than once in the future in the practice of state-legal construction at all stages of the development of our state.

Notes

1. See: Zakharov, M.V. General Staff in the pre-war years. M., 1989. P. 18.

2. Collection of documents on the history of the USSR during the era of socialism (1917-1920). M., 1978. Issue. 1. P. 199 -- 200.

3. Shakhnovsky, A.A. Coordination in the activities of the central state bodies of the RSFSR (1917-1921) // Jurisprudence. 1985. No. 5. pp. 65-68.

4. Khromov, S.S. Civil war and military intervention in the USSR: encyclopedia / S.S. Khromov,

5. N.N. Azovtsev. M., 1987. P. 283.

6. See: Levshin, K.V. Reasons for desertion in the Red Army (1918-1921) // Contemporary history of Russia. 2011. No. 2. P. 73.

7. History of Soviet criminal law / A.A. Gertzenzon, Sh.S. Greenhouse, N.D. Durmanov [and others]. M., 1947. S. 219-220.

8. Boffa, J. History of the Soviet Union: in 2 volumes. M., 1990. T. 1. P. 98.

9. Volkov, S. V. The tragedy of Russian officers. M., 2001. P. 316.

10. Soviet military encyclopedia: in 8 volumes. M., 1976. T. 2. P. 395.

11. Kabanov, V.V. Peasant farming under the conditions of “war communism”. M., 1988. S. 190-191.

12. Munchaev, Sh.M. History of Russia: textbook. for universities / Sh.M. Munchaev, V.M. Ustinov. M., 1997. P. 196.

Posted on Allbest.ru

Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense. What does "Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense" mean?

see also

Notes

Links

Permanent link for scientific papers (for citation):

The creation of a single center for the management of military operations - the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense, measures to combat mass desertion, labor mobilizations and the militarization of labor as a factor in the defeat of anti-Bolshevik elements in the Civil War.

Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below

Similar documents