The All-Russian Congress of Soviets evolved from 1917 to become the supreme governing body of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1918 until 1936, effectively. The 1918 Constitution of the Russian SFSR mandated that Congress shall convene at least twice a year, with the duties of defining (and amending) the principles of the Soviet Constitution and ratifying peace treaties.Constitution (Fundamental Law) of the RSFSRJerry F. Hough, Merle Fainsod, How the Soviet Union is Governed, US: Harvard College, 1979, reprint, p. 50-51 61–63, 67–68, 73, 81–84. The October Revolution ousted the provisional government of 1917, making the Congress of Soviets the sole, and supreme governing body. This Congress was not the same as the Congress of Soviets of the Soviet Union which governed the whole Soviet Union after its creation in 1922.
For the earlier portion of its life, the Congress was a democratic body. Over Russia there were hundreds of soviets, democratic local governing bodies in which the surrounding population could participate. The soviets elected the delegates to the Congress, and then in turn the Congress held the national authority, making the highest decisions. There were several political parties represented in the various sessions of the Congress, each of which fought for increasing their own influence in the soviets. However, as the Russian Civil War progressed, the soviets' authority was progressively reduced, with the rise of Stalinism effectively cementing this situationModels of Democracy, David Held, p. 225. "Stalinism destroyed the possibility of a radical workers' democracy, installed briefly in the Soviet Union in October 1917 under Lenin's leadership" and decisively turning the Congress into a rubber stamp. The Congress was formed of representatives of city councils (1 delegate per 25,000 voters) and the congresses of the provincial (oblast) and autonomous republican councils (1 deputy for every 125,000 inhabitants).
The exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress consisted of the election of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, adoption of the Constitution of the Russian SFSR and amendments to it, approval of amendments proposed by the Central Executive Committee, and approval of the autonomous republics' constitutions. On the other issues, the Congress and the Central Executive Committee had the same authority. The Congress ceased to exist at the end of the constitutional reform of 1936–1937, when first on the union and then at the republican levels indirect election to Soviets were replaced by direct elections at all levels with the Supreme Soviet as the highest legislative body.
History Origin of Soviets
The first soviets appeared during the 1905 Russian Revolution as councils (soviets) of workers in those cities that were captured by mass strikes (strike action).Kulchytskyi, S. Soviets of workers', peasants', and soldiers' deputies of toilers, people's deputies (РАДИ РОБІТНИЧИХ, СЕЛЯНСЬКИХ І СОЛДАТСЬКИХ ДЕПУТАТІВ, ДЕПУТАТІВ ТРУДЯЩИХ, НАРОДНИХ ДЕПУТАТІВ). Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine Enterprises that were participating in those strikes had delegated to those councils their delegates to coordinate joint actions. In various locations those councils carried different names such as "Soviet of workers deputies", "Delegate assembly", "Assembly of deputies", "Commission of elected", and others. By October 1905 the "Soviet of workers deputies" became more common. Following the example of Soviets of workers deputies in other locations were appearing Soviets of workers, sailors, and soldiers deputies, Soviets of workers and peasants deputies, Soviet of peasants deputies.
Originally, those soviets were mass political organizations.
For socialist parties the appearance of soviets was unexpected, yet each made an effort to delegate to them their representatives. Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries viewed the soviets as strike committees or local authorities of self-government. Bolsheviks saw them as the means to implement workers' power, and to lead the workers' dictatorship as well. In 1905 Vladimir Lenin noted that in political relations the Soviet of workers deputies should be viewed as the kernel or germ of provisional revolutionary government.
In 1917 Vladimir Lenin in his April theses came up with the famous slogan "All power to the Soviets!". Following the February Revolution, Lenin considered that in Russia dual power existed as an interweaving of bourgeoisie power (Provisional Government) and the powers of the revolutionary masses (soviets). All other Russian political parties considered soviets as temporary public organizations and dual power was not relevant for them as they were preparing for elections to the All-Russian Constituent Assembly.
The embedding of the Bolsheviks into the Soviets (Bolshevization of the Soviets) established the Communist-Soviet system of state power in the USSR which existed until the 1988 constitutional reform.Kulchystskyi, S. Communist-Soviet system of state power in the USSR: creation, basic stages of development, collapse (КОМПАРТІЙНО-РАДЯНСЬКА СИСТЕМА ДЕРЖАВНОЇ ВЛАДИ В СРСР: ТВОРЕННЯ, ОСНОВНІ ЕТАПИ РОЗВИТКУ, КРАХ). Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine It was a political regime that had combined in itself the dictatorship of the Communist Party and the power of soviets (councils) (see: Dictatorship of the Proletariat). The mechanism of such combination was theoretically designed by Vladimir Lenin and put into practice by the Bolshevik party. In the communist-soviet system of power, the dictatorship of the Bolshevik party (professional revolutionaries) was supplemented or concealed by the sovereignty of the soviets and therefore the system was called Soviet power.
Main meetings Conference
Following the February Revolution, on 11–16 April 1917 in Petrograd the All-Russian conference of Soviets of workers and soldiers deputies was held.All-Russian conference of Soviets of workers and soldiers deputies (Всероссийское совещание Советов рабочих и солдатских депутатов). Great Soviet Encyclopedia.
At the conference, 480 delegates out of 139 Soviets, 13 military rear area garrisons, 7 of regular army, and 26 separate frontline councils attended.
On the agenda were attitude towards the War attitude towards the Russian Provisional Government organizational issues organization of revolutionary forces preparation to the Russian Constituent Assembly food issue land issue issues of peasants' life workers' issues others
Majority was composed of Mensheviks and SRs. The Bolshevik group introduced its own resolution drafts on key issues of agenda.
In its resolution on war that was rather defensive, presented by Menshevik-SR Petrograd Soviet Executive Committee, the conference approved the declaration of the Provisional Government about the war (of 28 March) as if it abandoned aggressive goals. The Bolshevik group, on behalf of which Lev Kamenev had been speaking, took "a wrong position" by taking off own resolution draft and voting for the Menshevik-SR resolution after it was added with resolutions about "control and impact" of revolutionary democracy on the Provisional Government and its local authorities. Recognizing the need for a legislative establishment of 8 hour workday, the conference did not call the workers upon its immediate establishment by revolutionary means. On peasant and land issues, the conference adopted its resolution about support in the Constituent Assembly for gratuitous alienation from all privately owned lands and transferring them to working people, but spoke against "arbitrary resolution of land issue at local level", leaving, thus, the land in hands of landowners.
On 16 April 1917 the conference elected 10 delegates from oblasts and 6 from the Army and the Navy to the Petrograd Soviet Executive Committee turning it in this way in central authority of Soviets of the whole country until the opening of First All-Russian Congress of Soviets of workers and soldiers deputies. On 17 April 1917, Vladimir Lenin made a report about war and revolution in which he outlined his April theses to that conference. The same day he repeated his report at a joint conference of Bolsheviks and Mensheviks who took part.
First Congress
The First All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies (June 16 – July 7, 1917) was convened by the National Conference of the Soviets.Leonard Schapiro, The Origin of the Communist Autocracy: Political Opposition in the Soviet State First Phase 1917–1922, Second Edition, New York: MacMillan Press, 1977, p. 41, 363. It was dominated by pro-government parties (Socialist-Revolutionaries, etc.) and confirmed the supremacy of the Russian Provisional Government.
There were 1090 delegates, 822 acting as voting delegates, representing 305 workers', soldiers' and peasant soviets, and 53 regional, provincial and district soviets. The breakdown of delegates by party was thus: 285 Socialist-Revolutionaries, 248 Mensheviks, 105 Bolsheviks, 32 Menshevik Internationalists, and others.First All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, Saint Petersburg Encyclopaedia. A. M. Kulegin.First All-Russian Congress of Soviets: Composition of the First All-Russian Congress of Soviets , June 26, 1917, Rech’, 26 June 1917; Frank Golder, ed., Documents of Russian History, 1914–1917 (New York: The Century Co., 1927), pp. 360–361.Vladimir Lenin, First All Russia Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, June 3–24 (June 6 – July 7), 1917; V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, 4th English Edition, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1974, Vol. 25, pp. 15–42. Translated from the Russian, Edited by Stephan Apresyan and Jim Riordan. The right to vote was given to these soviets containing at least 25,000 persons, and each representative from 10,000 to 25,000 members was asked to speak on behalf of the Soviet of his locality or employment.
Second Congress
Following the overthrow of the Provisional Government of Russia in the October Revolution, the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies (November 7–9, 1917) ratified the revolutionary transfer of state power.Leonard Schapiro, The Origin of the Communist Autocracy: Political Opposition in the Soviet State First Phase 1917–1922, Second Edition, New York: MacMillan Press, 1977, p. 54, 58, 64, 363.
Precise numbers are difficult to determine, but the Credentials Committee of the Congress reported that there were about 300 Bolsheviks, 193 SRs (more than half of which were Left SRs), and 82 Mensheviks (of which 14 were Internationalists) with 670 delegates total. Other sources state that there were 338 Bolsheviks, 98 Left SRs, 40 Centre SRs, 33 Menshevik-Internationalists, 32 unaffiliated SRs, 22 Menshevik-Defencists, 16 Right SRs, 11 National Social Democrats, 4 National SRs, 1 Popular Socialist, and 23 non-partisans. However, this count is likely based on incomplete data and includes some double-counts and other errors. The St. Peters Encyclopedia counts 649 total delegates, representing 318 local soviets; 390 being Bolsheviks, 100 Left SRs, about 60 other SRs, 72 Mensheviks, 14 United Socialist Democrat-Internationalists, 6 Menshevik Internationalists and 7 of other factions.All-Russian Congress of Workers' and Soldiers' Soviet Deputies, Second. A. M. Kulegin. Encyclopaedia of St. Petersburg.