The first decrees of Soviet power

In 1917, opened in the history of our country new page. The point is not only and not so much that, as a result of an armed coup, the Socialist-Revolutionary-Menshevik was replaced by the Bolshevik Council of People's Commissars, but that, starting from this significant October night, in Russian republic The basic principle of the organization of power changed, a radical revolution took place in the relationship between the state and society.

In the first hours, days, months, they adopted a number of legislative acts that created a legal basis for the exercise of their power. Until the adoption of the first official Constitution in 1918, it was the first decrees Soviet power 1917 and represented the basis of the constitutional legislation of our country. This process began at the Second Congress, which included workers’ and soldiers’ deputies, which took place in the alarming atmosphere of the October Uprising. The first decrees of the Soviet government were adopted by this congress in the early morning of October 26, they concerned three main issues current moment- about peace, about land and about power.

With the Decree “On Peace,” the newly emerged Soviet state called on all warring countries to conclude a truce and sit down at the negotiating table. Moreover, these negotiations should be conducted without any demands for annexations and indemnities. In addition, this decree declared Russia’s renunciation of secret diplomacy, and also spoke of the new government’s desire to fight for the liberation of countries and peoples from colonial oppression. The first decrees of the Soviet government could not help but touch upon the most important internal problem of the country - the question of land.

The Decree “On Land”, adopted at the same congress, was copied in many of its provisions from the program of the Socialist Revolutionaries, who never decided to implement it. In particular, the cornerstone of this decree was the rejection of private ownership of land; the so-called “socialization of the land” was proclaimed, that is, its transfer to the ownership of the entire people. In fact, this meant two most important consequences for the peasants: firstly, they could not dispose of the land at their own discretion, but had to coordinate their actions with local authorities authorities or with collective farms. Secondly, peasants were supposed to receive income from common land ownership in the form of direct subsidies, as well as in the form of various social projects. The first decrees of the Soviet government and, first of all, the “Decree on Land” gave a clear understanding that all subsoil resources would belong to the state, which would take upon itself the responsibility not only to develop them, but also to redistribute the income received from their exploitation.

The first decrees of the Soviet government were obliged to make it clear to both the population and foreigners who were closely following the development of events what this very Soviet power would mean in practice. The first building block in this process was the decree “On the Establishment of the Council of People’s Commissars,” also adopted on October 26. the first composition of which consisted exclusively of Bolshevik representatives was announced in Soviet Russia. At the same time, the same decree specifically emphasized that control over the activities of the Council of People's Commissars, including the right to make changes to its composition, belongs to the Congress of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies; it thus became the nominally highest authority in the state .

At the same time, the concept of “the first decrees of Soviet power” cannot be limited only to these three legal acts. In the first weeks and months after the revolution, a number of decrees were adopted that laid the foundations of the Soviet system. All of them can be divided into the following groups:

1. Decrees that laid the economic foundation of the new system. These include the “Regulations on Workers’ Control”, the decrees “On the Nationalization of Banks” and “On the Nationalization of Foreign Trade”. In fact, it was these decrees that became the basis for the subsequent introduction of the policy of “war communism.”

2. Decrees that formulated the legal foundations of the new state. These are, first of all, the decrees “On the approval of laws”, “On the court”, “On the Supreme Economic Council”.

3. The first decrees of the Soviet government, paying attention legal status various groups and layers of the population. This includes the decree “On the eight-hour working day”, the decrees “On the press”, and “On the abolition of estates”.

Thus, the first decrees of the Soviet government in 1917 laid a certain foundation in the formation of the young Soviet state. At the same time, it should be emphasized that the rapidly changing internal and external situation very quickly forced Lenin and his colleagues to make changes to their original resolutions.

In the morning October 25, 1917 The Military Revolutionary Committee, on behalf of the Petrograd Soviet, declared the Provisional Government overthrown.

Opened that evening II All-Russian Congress of Soviets, at which delegates from 402 Soviets of Russia were represented, authorized the transfer of power to the Soviets. Of the 670 delegates to the congress, 390 were Bolsheviks, 160 were Socialist Revolutionaries, 72 were Mensheviks, 38 were others; The decision of the congress was supported by the majority of delegates.

2 hours after the arrest of the Provisional Government, the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets ratified two main decrees - “ Peace Decree" And " Decree on land" According to the first decree, all warring countries were invited to begin negotiations for a fair and democratic peace. It was assumed that secret diplomacy would be abolished and secret treaties would be published. Peace should have been made without annexations and indemnities. All of Russia's allies refused to consider these proposals.

“Decree on land” took into account peasant demands and was based on the Socialist Revolutionary program, developed on the basis of 242 peasant local orders. The abolition of private ownership of land and the nationalization of all land were proclaimed. Landowner property was abolished and transferred to the disposal of local peasant committees. Equal land use was introduced, hired labor and land rental were prohibited.

At the congress, a one-party Bolshevik government was formed (the Left Socialist Revolutionaries entered the government only in December 1917) - the Council of People's Commissars. The government was headed by V.I. Lenin, the remaining posts were distributed as follows: A.I. Rykov - People's Commissar of Internal Affairs; L.D. Trotsky - People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs; A.V. Lunacharsky - People's Commissar of Education; I.V. Stalin - People's Commissar for Nationalities; P.E. Dybenko, N.V. Krylenko and V.A. Antonov-Ovseenko - Commissars for Military and Naval Affairs.

The composition of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK) of the Congress of Soviets was elected. L.B. became the chairman. Kamenev. It consisted of 62 Bolsheviks, 29 Left Socialist Revolutionaries and several representatives of other parties.

In the first months October revolution government adopted a large number of decrees that consolidated changes in the political and economic situation Soviet state.

So, from October to December 1917 the following were adopted:

Decree on the introduction of an eight-hour working day;
Decree on the press;
Decree on the abolition of estates and civil ranks;
Regulations on workers' control;
Decree on the formation of the Supreme Council of National Economy (VSNKh);
Decree on the democratization of the army;
Decree on civil marriage, on children and the introduction of deeds;
Decree on the nationalization of banks;
The creation of the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (VChK) headed by F.E. Dzerzhinsky;
Decree on the creation of people's courts and revolutionary tribunals.

In January 1918, decrees appeared:

On freedom of conscience, church and religious societies;
On the cancellation of government loans;
On the nationalization of the merchant fleet;
On the introduction of the Western European calendar, etc.

Considering bad experience The Provisional Government, which had lost its credibility due to its reluctance to solve the main problems of the revolution, Lenin proposed that the Second Congress of Soviets adopt decrees on peace, land and power.

The Peace Decree proclaimed Russia's exit from the war. The Congress addressed all warring governments and peoples with a proposal for universal peace without annexations and indemnities.

The Decree on Land was based on 242 local peasant orders to the First Congress of Soviets, which set out the peasants’ ideas about agrarian reform.

The decree on power proclaimed the widespread transfer of power to the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies. The congress elected a new composition of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK). It included 62 Bolsheviks and 29 Left Socialist Revolutionaries. A certain number of places were left for others socialist parties. Executive power was transferred to a provisional government - the Council of People's Commissars (SNK) - headed by V.I. Lenin. When discussing and adopting each decree, it was emphasized that they were temporary - until the convocation Constituent Assembly, which will have to legislate the principles of government.

On November 2, 1917, the Soviet government adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia. It formulated the most important provisions that determined national policy Soviet power: equality and sovereignty of the peoples of Russia, the right of the peoples of Russia to free self-determination, up to secession and the formation of an independent state, the abolition of all and all national and national-religious privileges and restrictions, the free development of national minorities.

October 29, 1918. The All-Russian Congress of Unions of Workers' and Peasants' Youth announced the creation of the Russian Communist Youth Union (RCYU).

In December 1917, the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (VChK) was created under the Council of People's Commissars to “fight counter-revolution, sabotage and profiteering” - the first punitive body of Soviet power. It was headed by F. E. Dzerzhinsky.

The fate of the Constituent Assembly.

Having stood in opposition to the Bolshevik government, the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries for the time being did not attempt to overthrow it by force, since initially this path was unpromising due to the obvious popularity of Bolshevik slogans among the masses. The bet was placed on an attempt to seize power by legal means - with the help of the Constituent Assembly.

The demand for the convening of the Constituent Assembly appeared during the first Russian revolution. It was included in the programs of almost all political parties. The Bolsheviks waged their campaign against the Provisional Government, among other things, under the slogan of defending the Constituent Assembly, accusing the government of delaying elections to it.

Having come to power, the Bolsheviks changed their attitude towards the Constituent Assembly, declaring that the Soviets were a more acceptable form of democracy. But since the idea of a Constituent Assembly was very popular among the people, and besides, all the parties had already put up their lists for elections, the Bolsheviks did not risk canceling them.
The election results deeply disappointed the Bolshevik leaders. 23.9% of voters voted for them, 40% voted for the Socialist-Revolutionaries, and right-wing Socialist-Revolutionaries predominated in the lists. The Mensheviks received 2.3% and the Cadets 4.7% of the votes. The leaders of all major Russian and national parties, as well as the entire liberal and democratic elite, were elected members of the Constituent Assembly.

On January 3, 1918, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People, written by V. I. Lenin. The Declaration recorded all the changes that had occurred since October 25, which were regarded as the basis for the subsequent socialist reconstruction of society. It was decided to present this document as the main document for adoption by the Constituent Assembly.

On January 5, the opening day of the Constituent Assembly, a demonstration in its defense, organized by the Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, took place in Petrograd. By order of the authorities, she was shot.

The Constituent Assembly opened and took place in a tense atmosphere of confrontation. The meeting room was filled with armed sailors, supporters of the Bolsheviks. Their behavior went beyond the norms of parliamentary ethics. Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee Ya. M. Sverdlov read out the Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People and proposed to accept it, thereby legitimizing the existence of Soviet power and its first decrees. But the Constituent Assembly refused to approve this document. A discussion began on the draft laws on peace and land proposed by the Social Revolutionaries. On January 6, early in the morning, the Bolsheviks announced their resignation from the Constituent Assembly. Following them, the Left Socialist Revolutionaries left the meeting. The discussion, which continued after the departure of the ruling parties, was interrupted late at night by the chief of security, sailor A. Zheleznyakov, saying that “the guard is tired.” He insistently invited the delegates to leave the room.

On the night of January 6-7, 1918, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee adopted a decree dissolving the Constituent Assembly. The dissolution of the Constituent Assembly made a stunning impression on the parties of revolutionary democracy. Hope for a peaceful way to remove the Bolsheviks from power was lost. Now many considered it necessary to carry out an armed struggle against the Bolsheviks.

Government message No. 2 on taking measures to suppress the rebellion of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries in Moscow July 7, 1918

Yesterday the All-Russian Congress of Soviets overwhelmingly approved the external and domestic policy Council of People's Commissars. The so-called Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, who in recent weeks have completely switched to the position of the Right Socialist-Revolutionaries, decided to disrupt the All-Russian Congress. They decided to involve the Soviet Republic in the war against the will of the overwhelming majority of workers and peasants. For this purpose, yesterday, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the German ambassador was killed by a member of the Left Socialist Revolutionary Party. At the same time, the Left Social Revolutionaries tried to develop a plan for an uprising. Comrade Dzerzhinsky, a Bolshevik, chairman of the Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution, was treacherously captured by the Socialist Revolutionaries at the moment when he appeared at the premises of the Left Socialist Revolutionary detachment. The Bolsheviks were also treacherously captured - Comrade Latsis and the chairman of the Moscow Council of Workers and Red Army Deputies, Comrade Smidovich. A small detachment of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries entered the telegraph building for two hours and, before being expelled from there, the Socialist-Revolutionary Central Committee sent out several false and buffoonish telegrams throughout the country. Completely in the spirit of the unbridled Black Hundreds and White Guards and the Anglo-Japanese imperialists, the Left Socialist Revolutionary Central Committee speaks of the Bolsheviks bringing prisoners of war to Moscow, etc., etc.
The Council of People's Commissars could not, of course, tolerate a handful of intellectuals thwarting the will of the working class and peasantry on the issue of war and peace through bombs and childish conspiracies. The Soviet government, relying on the will of the All-Russian Congress, took all necessary measures to suppress the pathetic, senseless and shameful rebellion. The left-social-revolutionary faction of the congress was detained by the Soviet authorities in the theater building. At the moment, Soviet troops have surrounded the area in which the rebels against Soviet power have strengthened. There is no doubt that within the next few hours the uprising of the Left Socialist Revolutionary agents of the Russian bourgeoisie and Anglo-French imperialism will be suppressed. What further consequences the insane and dishonest adventure of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries will have on the international position of the Soviet Republic is now impossible to predict, but if the German party of extreme imperialism gains the upper hand, if war falls on our exhausted, bloodless country again, then the blame for this will fall entirely to the party of Left Socialist Revolutionary traitors and traitors.
At this critical hour, let all workers and peasants clearly and firmly assess the situation and unite unanimously around the All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies.
Council of People's Commissars. Official message on the liquidation of the counter-revolutionary uprising of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries in MoscowJuly 8, 1918
The insane uprising of the so-called Left Socialist-Revolutionaries has been liquidated. The judicial and investigative authorities will find out in the coming days the exact factual picture of this unprecedented adventure and establish the degree of responsibility of its individual participants. But political meaning of the Moscow events of July 6-7 is completely clear at this moment.
Submitting to pressure from the bourgeois classes of society, the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries have made more and more persistent efforts in recent weeks to involve Russia in the war with Germany. These efforts were expressed not only in pointing out the extremely difficult conditions of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, but also in inventing and disseminating monstrous rumors and suspicions that could have a stimulating effect on the popular imagination. Conscious workers and peasants are, of course, quite clearly aware of the burdensome conditions of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty. But they are no less clear about what the consequences of involving an exhausted and bloodless Russia in the imperialist slaughter would be. That is why the overwhelming majority of workers and peasants consciously rejected the breaking of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, which the Cadets, Right Socialist-Revolutionaries, Mensheviks and Left Socialist-Revolutionaries furiously demand.
The failure of demagogic agitation in favor of war pushed the Left Socialist Revolutionaries onto the path of a senseless and dishonest adventure: they decided to involve Russia in a war against the will of the workers and peasants through a terrorist act. After the Fifth All-Russian Congress of Soviets categorically approved the foreign policy of the Council of People's Commissars, a certain Blumkin carried out, by order of the central committee of the Left Socialist Revolutionary Party, the murder of the German ambassador Count Mirbach.
In carrying out this provocative act, the Left SRs relied not so much on their party apparatus as on the official position they occupied as a Soviet party. With the support of his party, Blumkin infiltrated the Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution. Taking advantage of his official position, he seized some documents into his own hands, forged others, entered the premises of the German ambassador under the official cover of his position and committed there a murder dictated to him by the central committee of the party.
At the same time, the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries openly began rebellious actions, which were aimed at forcibly transferring state power from the hands of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets to the hands of the party that was in the minority at this congress. Members of the central committee of the Left Social Revolutionaries tried to launch an uprising, relying on part of the detachment of the Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution. This detachment was under the command of the left Socialist Revolutionary Popov. Parts of Popov’s detachment involved in the conspiracy, reinforced by demoralized elements from the Black Sea Fleet, set up street guards and patrols, arrested individual representatives of Soviet power, disarmed and fired on separate groups Red Army soldiers. The rebels had machine guns, guns and armored cars at their disposal.
This is how the uprising of the Soviet party, which found itself in the minority, against the power of the Soviets unfolded on July 7.
The success of the uprising (if this adventure could succeed) would mean: an immediate war with Germany and the collapse of Soviet power, since no sane person could, of course, admit that the Left Socialist Revolutionaries would be able to hold in their hands for at least 24 hours power wrested from the hands of the workers, peasants and Red Army Soviets. In essence, the Left Socialist Revolutionaries acted on July 6-7 only as a fighting squad in the service of the counter-revolutionary bourgeoisie, for whom they cleared the way.
Under these conditions, the Council of People's Commissars could make only one decision: to suppress in the shortest possible time a rebellion in which frivolity, treachery and provocation were combined into one disgusting whole.
Vigorous action produced results within a few hours. The Left Socialist-Revolutionaries cleared the post office and telegraph office, where they had been in charge for two hours. Among Popov's detachment after the first shelling from the side Soviet troops decomposition began. A significant part of the detachment was indignant at the adventure and took the entire side of the representatives of the Soviet government captured by the rebels, vol. Dzerzhinsky, Latsis and Smidovich. Only thanks to this their lives were protected from danger.
The liquidation of the rebellion was fully worthy of the original plan and the entire course of this shameful adventure. The complete confusion of the headquarters and the demoralization of the detachment went in parallel. Having set a goal such as capturing state power, the leaders of the Left Social Revolutionaries, apparently, did not at all appreciate the size and significance of this task, which was completely beyond their strength. The rebels, after insignificant attempts at resistance, began to send envoys in different directions, and then proceeded to a disorderly retreat.
The pursuit of the fleeing people is now going on with complete success. The number of those captured is already estimated at several hundred. Detailed data will be presented by the Government at the next meeting of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, which will have its final say both on the uprising of July 6-7 and on the entire fate of the so-called Left Socialist Revolutionary Party.
Resolution of the Fifth All-Russian Congress of Soviets on the food issue July 9, 1918
Recognizing that the strengthening of the indissoluble union of the working class and the poor peasantry in all areas of the economic and political life of the Workers' and Peasants' Republic is the only correct and goal-achieving path to resolving the problems facing Soviet Russia in the fight against the bourgeois world, the V Congress of Soviets of Workers, Peasants, Red Army and Cossack Deputies expresses its full approval of the food policy of the Council of People's Commissars. The Fifth Congress of Soviets resolutely and unconditionally declares that only those who go against the interests of the working class and the poor peasantry can at the present moment wage agitation and practically oppose the steady implementation of the grain grain crisis. monopoly and fixed prices. The inviolability of the grain monopoly and the preservation of fixed prices for bread are the only possible basis for the socialist food policy of the Workers' and Peasants' Union of a certain Soviet government. A merciless fight, not stopping at the most severe measures, against the greedy rich village kulaks who hide grain surpluses and speculate on them is the only way to snatch bread from tenacious hands and get through the most difficult 11/2 months remaining until the new harvest with the least suffering.
In this struggle for bread with the rural bourgeoisie, the Soviet government does not and cannot stop before using open violence against its stubborn enemies, the kulaks and the rich. Without at all hiding from itself and from others that the activities of food brigades in the villages, thanks to the penetration into their composition of irresponsible elements corrupted by the skills of the old regime, sometimes hurt the average working peasantry, the Workers' and Peasants' Government, fighting such manifestations of injustice and not cruelty necessary for anyone, punishing with all severity those responsible for them, cannot and should not, in the face of the death of the hungry, stop at the merciless suppression of resistance to the surrender of grain by fists and the rich. No deviations from this path, no mercy for those who are deaf to the groans of a hungry brother.
Only through the strictest and most accurate accounting of the limited available reserves of grain, only through correct distribution among those in need, only through a merciless fight against the clouds of speculators-baggers who disrupt the correctness of distribution and destroy transport, does the Workers' and Peasants' Republic proceed and can advance. Everyone who opposes, everyone who hesitates and hesitates in taking the most decisive measures in the fight against hunger, everyone who does not exert all their energy for this fight, remaining criminally indifferent to the suffering of their brothers dying from hunger, all of them have no place in the ranks of the Soviets. workers, in the ranks of fighters for the socialist revolution. Granting the People's Commissar of Food emergency powers for this fight against open enemies and saboteurs of workers' and peasants' food policy, vigorous and urgent implementation of the reorganization of food authorities in producing provinces on the basis of subordinating them all to the leadership of the central food authorities and representation in them from food organizations of consuming centers and regions, which found expression in the decrees of May 13 and 27, 1918, met with full approval of the V Congress of Soviets. The measures carried out by the People's Commissariat of Food, aimed at monopolizing the distribution of all essential items and mass consumption and at establishing fixed prices for these items, in accordance with fixed prices for bread, constitute a necessary addition to the policy of the Workers' and Peasants' Government in supplying the needy with bread and are integral part the entire socialist policy of Soviet power.
Only by relying on the rural poor, only by organizing these poor people to fight the rural bourgeoisie in special committees, only by introducing through these committees the correct and fair distribution of grain, agricultural implements and all basic necessities, by providing special preferential conditions in this area to those who do not exploit other people's labor and does not speculate on hunger, the Workers' and Peasants' Soviet power, at the same time, satisfies the urgent needs of the ordinary middle peasantry, gives them fair compensation for the products of their economy obtained by hard (541) labor, will defeat the fierce resistance of the internal and external enemies of the socialist revolution, will strengthen and deepen its gains, will lead Russia out of the severe food crisis, which was a grave consequence of the 4-year war and the centuries-long domination of landowners and capitalists and aggravated as a result of the desperate struggle against the socialist revolution of all enemies of the working class and the community of socialist interests of the rural poor fraternally united with it.

Committee Ya. Sverdlov.

Resolution of the Fifth All-Russian Congress of Soviets on the organization of the Red Army July 10, 1918
1. Russian Soviet Republic like a fortress, which is besieged from all sides by imperialist troops. Inside the Soviet fortress, the counter-revolution is raising its head, having found temporary support in the Czechoslovak mercenaries of the Anglo-French bourgeoisie. The Soviet Republic needs a strong revolutionary army capable of crushing the bourgeois-landowner counter-revolution and repelling the onslaught of imperialist predators.
2. The old tsarist army, which was created through violence and in the name of maintaining the dominance of the wealthy upper classes over the working lower classes, suffered a terrible defeat in the imperialist massacre of peoples. It turned out to be finally finished off by the lies of the Cadet and compromising policies, the criminal offensive of June 18, Kerenskyism and Kornilovism.
Together with the old system and the old army, the old apparatus of military control collapsed and crumbled in the center and locally.
3. Under these conditions, the workers' and peasants' power at first had no other ways and means of creating an army, except for the recruitment of volunteers who were ready to stand under the banner of the Red Army.
4. At the same time, the Soviet government has always recognized, and the V All-Russian Congress of Soviets again solemnly confirms this, that every honest and healthy citizen between the ages of 18 and 40 has a duty, at the first call of the Soviet Republic, to stand up for its defense from external and internal enemies.
5. In order to conduct compulsory military training and compulsory military service, the Council of People's Commissars established Soviet authorities local military administration in the form of district, provincial, district and volost military commissariats. Approving this reform, the All-Russian Congress of Soviets obliges all local Soviets to strictly implement it locally.
The condition for the success of all measures in creating an army is consistent centralism in military administration, i.e. strict and unconditional subordination of the volost commissariats to the district ones, the district ones to the provincial ones, the provincial ones to the district ones, and the district ones to the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs.
6. The V Congress of Soviets demands from all local institutions strict accounting of military property, its conscientious distribution and expenditure according to the states and regulations established by the central bodies of Soviet power; arbitrary seizure of military property, its concealment, illegal appropriation, dishonest spending must henceforth be equated to the gravest crimes of the state.
7. The period of random formations, arbitrary detachments, handicraft construction must be left behind. All formations must be carried out in strict accordance with the approved states and in accordance with the deployment of the All-Russian General Headquarters. The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army must be built in such a way as to produce the greatest results with the least expenditure of effort and resources, and this is only possible with the systematic application of all types of military science, as it has emerged from the experience of the current war.
8. To create a centralized, well-trained and equipped army, it is necessary to use the experience and knowledge of many military specialists from among the officers former army. They must all be registered and obliged to take up those positions that the Soviet government indicates to them. Every military specialist who honestly and conscientiously works to develop and strengthen the military power of the Soviet Republic has the right to the respect of the Workers' and Peasants' Army and to the support of Soviet power. A military specialist who tries to treacherously use his responsible post for a counter-revolutionary conspiracy or betrayal in favor of foreign imperialists should be punished by death.
9. Military commissars are the guardians of the close and inviolable internal connection of the Red Army with the workers’ and peasants’ regime as a whole. Only impeccable revolutionaries, staunch fighters for the cause of the proletariat and the rural poor should be appointed to the posts of military commissars, who are entrusted with the fate of the army.
10. The most important task in creating an army is to educate a new command staff, completely imbued with the ideas of the workers' and peasants' revolution. The Congress charges the People's Commissar for Military Affairs with the responsibility of redoubling his efforts on this path by creating a wide network of instructor schools and attracting capable, energetic and courageous soldiers of the Red Army to their walls.
11. The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army must be built on the basis of iron revolutionary discipline. A citizen who received weapons from the Soviet government to protect the interests of the working masses is obliged to unquestioningly obey the demands and orders of the commanders appointed by the Soviet government. Hooligan elements who rob and rape the local population or carry out robberies, self-dealers, cowards and deserters who leave combat posts must be punished mercilessly. The All-Russian Congress makes it the duty of the Military Commissariat to bring first and foremost to account those commissars and commanders who condone outrages or turn a blind eye to violations of military duty.
12. As long as the bourgeoisie is not completely expropriated and subjected to universal conscription, as long as the bourgeoisie strives to restore its former dominance, arming the bourgeoisie would mean arming the enemy, who is ready at any moment to betray the Soviet Republic to foreign imperialists. The congress confirms the resolution of the Council of People's Commissars on the creation of a bourgeoisie from the conscript age group. rear militia to staff non-combatant units, service and work teams. Only those bourgeois elements who actually demonstrate their loyalty to the working classes can be awarded transfer to combat units.
13. The Congress obliges all Soviet institutions, all professional, factory organizations to assist in every possible way the Military Department in the field of compulsory military training for workers and peasants who do not exploit the labor of others. It is necessary to create rifle societies and shooting ranges everywhere, organize maneuvers and military-revolutionary festivities, and broad agitation aimed at increasing interest in military affairs among the working class and peasantry.
14. Welcoming the call of workers of two ages in Moscow and Petrograd, as well as the start of mobilization in the Volga and the Urals, and taking into account the desire of the world predators to again involve Russia in the imperialist slaughter, the congress considers it necessary to mobilize several ages of workers and working peasants throughout the country. The Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars are entrusted with the responsibility to issue a decree defining the number of age categories subject to immediate conscription, as well as the terms and conditions of admission.
15. Surrounded on all sides by enemies, face to face with the counter-revolution based on foreign mercenaries, the Soviet Republic is creating a strong army that will protect the workers' and peasants' power until the hour when the rebellious European and world working class deals a mortal blow to militarism and creates conditions for peaceful and fraternal cooperation of all peoples.
Chairman of the V All-Russian Congress of Soviets and the All-Russian Central Executive
Committee Ya. Sverdlov.
Secretary of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee V. Avanesov.
1.

In the morning October 25, 1917 The Military Revolutionary Committee, on behalf of the Petrograd Soviet, declared the Provisional Government overthrown.

At the congress, a one-party Bolshevik government was formed (the Left Socialist Revolutionaries entered the government exclusively in December 1917) - the Council of People's Commissars. The government was headed by V.I. Lenin, the remaining posts were distributed as follows: A.I. Rykov - People's Commissar of Internal Affairs; L.D. Trotsky - People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs; A.V. Lunacharsky - People's Commissar of Education; I.V. Stalin - People's Commissar for Nationalities; P.E. Dybenko, N.V. Krylenko and V.A. Antonov-Ovseenko - Commissars for Military and Naval Affairs.

In the first months of the October Revolution, the government adopted a large number of decrees, which consolidated changes in the political and economic situation of the Soviet state.

So, from October to December 1917 the following were adopted:

Decree on the introduction of an eight-hour working day;
Decree on the press;
Decree on the abolition of estates and civil ranks;
It is worth mentioning - the provision on workers' control;
Decree on the formation of the Supreme Council of National Economy (VSNKh);
Decree on the democratization of the army;
Decree on civil marriage, on children and the introduction of deeds;
Decree on the nationalization of banks;
The creation of the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (VChK) headed by F.E. Dzerzhinsky;
Decree on the creation of people's courts and revolutionary tribunals.

In January 1918, decrees appeared:

About the body of conscience, church and religious societies;
On the cancellation of government loans;
On the nationalization of the merchant fleet;
On the introduction of the Western European calendar, etc.