15th Congress

Fifteenth Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (b). December 2 -19, 1927

December 1928. Verbatim report.

The Fifteenth Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) was held in Moscow from December 2 to December 19, 1927. The congress was attended by 1,669 delegates, 898 of them with a casting vote, 771 with an advisory vote.

Representatives of 21 foreign communist parties attended the congress as guests.

The congress approved the political and organizational line of the Central Committee and defined the further tasks of the party in implementing Lenin's plan for building a socialist society in the USSR. The congress approved the Directives for drawing up the first five-year plan for the development of the national economy of the USSR, indicating that, taking into account the international situation of the country, it is necessary in a short historical period to ensure such a rise in its economy and defense capability that would allow the USSR to resist the possible military and economic intervention of imperialist states. In the interests of industrialization, it was proposed to develop machine building and other branches of heavy industry at the fastest pace.

The resolution "On work in the countryside" noted that the development of agriculture was characterized by the struggle between socialist and capitalist tendencies, that the proletarian state was doing everything possible to grow and strengthen the socialist tendency by pursuing a strictly consistent class policy in the countryside, strengthening the planning and regulating role of state bodies, development of cooperative construction, strengthening the alliance of the working class with the working peasantry. The congress stated that, despite the successes achieved, agriculture continued to lag behind industry. The village also lagged behind in socio-political development. If the city was dominated by socialist production relations, industrial production was based on state property, in the countryside, small-scale peasant farming based on private property prevailed. As a result, the average annual rates of agricultural production. production was 4-5 times lower than the growth rate of industrial production, which did not meet the ever-growing needs of the country. In order to create a unified socialist economy, it became necessary to restructure production relations in the countryside, and to mechanize agriculture. In addition, small-scale peasant farming was the basis for the growth of capitalist elements. The congress proclaimed a course towards the all-round development of the collectivization of agriculture in the USSR as the primary task of the party. In order to improve party organizational work and strengthen party influence on the poor and middle peasants, it is necessary to strengthen the groups of the poor under the Soviets and cooperatives; to increase the enrollment of farm laborers and poor peasants in the party; to strengthen cooperative and Soviet bodies in the countryside with party cadres. Within the apparatus of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, provincial committees, regional committees and okrug committees, it was decided to create departments for work in the countryside.

Approving the activities of the Central Control Commission to protect the unity of the party and strengthen discipline in it, the congress proposed that the Central Control Commission - RKI continue to focus on improving and reducing the state apparatus, on the fight against bureaucracy, attracting broad masses of workers and peasants to this work.

Having considered the activities of the delegation of the CPSU (b) in the Executive Committee of the Comintern, the congress noted that the CPSU (b), together with other Communist Parties, ensured a further increase in the role of the Comintern as the fighting headquarters of the international proletariat, achieved the ideological and organizational strengthening of its sections and strengthening their influence on the world revolutionary movement ...

At the suggestion of the Central Control Commission of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), the congress considered the question of the so-called "Trotskyite-Zinoviev anti-party bloc." The congress declared "... belonging to the Trotskyist opposition and the propaganda of its views incompatible with being in the ranks of the Bolshevik Party." The leading opposition group, consisting of 121 people. addressed the congress with a statement on the termination of the factional struggle and submission to its decisions, indicating at the same time that they did not abandon their political views.

To consider materials about the opposition, the congress created a commission of 65 delegates chaired by G.K. Ordzhonikidze. After hearing the report of the commission, the congress adopted a resolution "On the opposition," in which it indicated that in the ideological field, the differences between the party and the opposition are of a programmatic nature. In matters of tactics, the opposition crossed the line of internal party discipline and took the path of an open struggle against Soviet power. In the organizational field, she took steps to create her own party and governing bodies, to establish her own internal party discipline. The congress approved the expulsion of L.D. Trotsky and G.E. Zinoviev by the decree of the Central Committee and the Central Control Commission of November 14, 1927 and expelled from the party another 75 active members of the anti-party bloc; the group of "democratic centralism" T.V.

The Congress elected the Central Committee of 71 members and 50 candidates, the Central Auditing Commission - 9 people. and the Central Control Commission - 195 people.

The 15th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks went down in history as a congress that directed the party to collectivize agriculture and prepare for the offensive of socialism along the entire front of economic development.

Draft resolution to the report of the Central Control Commission - RCI.

The Fifteenth Congress fully and completely endorsed the work of the Central Control Commission - RKI both in the field of protecting the unity and discipline of the Party and in combating the bureaucratic perversion of the state apparatus.

The congress noted with satisfaction that under the most difficult conditions of the splitting activity of the Trotskyist-Menshevik opposition unheard of in the party, the Central Control Commission had successfully fulfilled Ilyich's behest to preserve the unity of the Bolshevik Party. The Congress fully approves the measures taken by the Central Control Commission against the violators of unity, the organizers of the factional struggle against the Party and the destroyers of its discipline.

Strengthening the ranks of the party and increasing its ability to carry out the basic tasks of socialist construction, the Central Control Commission successfully fought against the decayed elements of the party and the abuse of power by individual communists.

The Congress approves of the work of the Central Control Commission in the field of combating violations of internal Party democracy, with elements of bureaucracy in the Party, and invites the Central Control Commission to further strengthen this work.

The Congress notes with satisfaction that the Central Control Commission-RCI during the period under review drew the attention of the entire party and waged an energetic struggle against bureaucracy, for improving and cheapening the state apparatus, attracting the attention of the broad masses of workers and peasants to this matter.

In accordance with this, the first successes have been achieved in the field of combating bureaucratic distortions and in terms of improving the state apparatus: implementing a saving regime, somewhat simplifying, and reducing the apparatus, reducing reporting, unproductive expenses, etc.

II.

Considering that the successes achieved and the experience of the RKI prove that the party and the proletariat have tremendous opportunities for further development of the struggle against the bureaucratic distortions of our apparatus, the Congress invites the Central Control Commission-RKI to be guided in its work to improve the apparatus by the following instructions:

1) Building its work on the basis of involving the broad working people in improving the Soviet apparatus and combating bureaucracy, the Rabkrin must be the organizer of workers and working peasants who check the work of the Soviet apparatus.

Working through and jointly with existing organizations, such as trade union, production commissions, control commissions, factories, local committees, production and economic conferences, council sections, etc., the Workers' Committee must involve workers in all stages of its work, ending with a discussion of their conclusions. work at general factory meetings, open meetings of cells, club meetings, etc. For work in which the Rabkrin resolves issues most directly related to the interests of the working people, the congress instructs the Rabkrin to attract, by analogy with party and judicial assessors, workers allocated (elected) by enterprises, peasants elected by rural gatherings, etc.

Verification of the fulfillment of the directives of the party and government by the Rabkrin by the Soviet bodies shall be carried out by the forces of workers elected by the factory assemblies and only headed and instructed by the workers of the Rabkrin. At the same time, the Rabkrin should proceed from Lenin's instructions:

"If we want to fight bureaucracy, then we must involve the lower classes ..."

(Lenin, vol. XVIII, part 2, p. 189.)

"What other ways can we stop bureaucracy, if not by attracting workers and peasants ..." (Ibid., P. 188.)

2) To intensify the work on verifying the implementation of Soviet and party democracy, steadily removing all obstacles to its implementation, and punishing those guilty of violating it, exercising valid elections, the right to recall deputies, nominating workers to work in management (the degree of implementation by grassroots social organizations of workers and peasants rights and duties assigned to them by Soviet laws, etc.). At the same time, pay special attention to the promotion of workers into the Soviet apparatus, unswervingly pursuing a bureaucratic attitude towards this involvement and achieving new successes in the real work of the Soviet apparatus.

3) Unswervingly study and identify the perversions generated by the attack on certain links of the state apparatus of the Forces hostile to the proletariat, especially in those parts of the apparatus and in those branches of management in which these perversions can manifest themselves with special force (credit, labor protection, cooperation, etc..).

4) Unswervingly continue to work on reducing the cost and simplification of the state, trade, cooperative and industrial apparatus, for a mode of economy; in particular, to bring to the end on all, without exception, levels of management and economy 20 percent. reduction of administrative costs.

5) To put the work on checking the progress of rationalization both in the field of the state apparatus and in industry and the commercial apparatus. Pay special attention to checking the results of rationalization work in the field of industry from the point of view of achieving a real reduction in the cost of production, improving the situation of workers, the correct use of labor of workers and specialists, the assimilation of the best examples of European and American technology and the widespread use of the achievements and examples of good work that we already have. ...

6) To check the correctness of the use of scientific and technical forces in our country, since the successful implementation of rationalization is possible only with

... wide involvement and correct use of scientific and technical forces, both ours and foreign.

7) To further develop deeper work on checking capital repairs and new construction in order to make it cheaper, decisively eliminate unnecessary overhead costs and assimilate the achievements of advanced capitalist technology.

8) Continue to work to create accounting and reporting that is concise, cheap, clear, and exactly appropriate for planning and management tasks. In particular, to expand the experience of mechanization of office and accounting business.

9) To further intensify the struggle against our organizational shortcomings, with red tape, with mismanagement, and licentiousness, and strive to further strengthen the responsibility of performers, establish a precise delineation of functions, and eliminate parallelism.

10) Unswervingly persecute and ensure merciless prosecution through the organs of the court of all employees of the state apparatus (both communists and non-party people), guilty of a dismissive, lordly, arrogant attitude towards an ordinary visitor, poorly dressed, illiterate; the manifestation of inattention to the ordinary worker or peasant on the part of any employee of the state, commercial, cooperative and industrial apparatus should be considered as a sabotage of the Soviet regime, which fundamentally denies any privileges of wealth, birth, good clothing, on which the oppression of the masses is based in bourgeois countries.

11) Strengthen, in accordance with Lenin's repeated instructions, verification of the implementation of Soviet laws and party directives. Since the experience of the implementation of our laws in recent years shows an outrageous delay and red tape in the implementation of laws, - to ensure, with the help of the workers and peasants, a massive verification of the degree of implementation of all the most important measures of the government and at the same time the strictest punishment of persons and bodies guilty of delaying and non-compliance with the Party's directive and government laws.

12) To intensify resistance to those workers of the state apparatus who would try to oppose the work of the party to eliminate bureaucratic distortions with their routine, inertness, bureaucratic complacency, behind which the pressure of classes hostile to the proletariat is often hidden.

III.

The Congress instructs all Party organs to take measures to improve work in the press in the field of combating bureaucratic outrages. The press should wage this struggle as Lenin taught it, "regardless of faces", in no way limiting itself to mere trifles, as is often the case when organizing workers and peasants around the proletarian dictatorship in the struggle for the socialist remaking of our state apparatus.

IV.

The congress instructs all party bodies to ensure the expansion of the work of the court in the field of combating bureaucracy, unswervingly bringing to the people's court workers as well as those of the state and economic apparatus, guilty of criminal mismanagement, unacceptable excesses, in the bureaucratic attitude towards the fight against bureaucratic perversions, not while allowing no relief of sentences or refusal to conduct a judicial investigation due to worker-peasant origin, past merits, connections, etc. In order to eliminate any privileges of employees of the state apparatus, abolish the disciplinary court and hand over the perpetrators of crimes to the employees of the state apparatus to the general civil court.

Considering the trade unions one of the main organizers of the mass struggle against bureaucracy, the congress draws the attention of the factions of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions and all trade unions to the need to significantly strengthen the participation of the trade unions in all matters of combating the bureaucratic perversions of the Soviet apparatus. The trade unions must organize the cause of mass support for the struggle of the Workers 'and Peasants' Inspection to improve the state apparatus. This work of the trade unions should be based on the initiative and activity of the entire system of professional organizations, starting with their factory lower cells. In particular, trade unions should undertake the identification of each specific case of bureaucracy, the prosecution of each revealed case of bureaucracy by all measures provided for by the laws of the proletarian state, from public condemnation to bringing to justice directly or through the RFL.

The Congress draws special attention to the need to develop the work of the union of Soviet and commercial employees, whose main duty is the social education of the workers of the state apparatus, the promotion of the formation of workers honestly devoted to the cause of socialist construction. The measure of the success of this work is the main measure for checking the success of the work of the union of Soviet trade employees.

Creation of a cheap and well-functioning apparatus is not enough for us. Improvement of the management technique alone does not solve the tasks we face of the socialist remaking of the entire apparatus and of preparing the conditions for the complete withering away of the state. Improving management techniques is not only a means of making the apparatus cheaper and simpler, but also a way of attracting new strata of workers to management and providing them with the best service.

The Congress particularly emphasizes this relationship between the task of improving the technique of government and the task of developing proletarian democracy, since the struggle to improve the technique of government, to assimilate by our apparatus of the best achievements of the culture of advanced states, should not only not lead to its self-closure, to its separation from the masses, but must create conditions conducive to and facilitating the expansion and involvement of the masses in government.

VI.

The Congress considers that the development of proletarian democracy, the involvement of new hundreds of thousands of workers and peasants in the administration of the state is the main condition for the success of our struggle against bureaucracy and the improvement of our state apparatus. Accordingly, the main method of combating bureaucracy in our country is the further implementation of the measures indicated by the party program.

“Waging the most resolute struggle against bureaucracy, the RCP advocates the following measures to completely overcome this evil:

1. Mandatory involvement of each member of the council, in the performance of certain work on government.

2. Sequential change of these jobs so that they gradually cover all branches of management.

3. Gradual involvement of the entire working population, without exception, in the work of government.

Full and comprehensive implementation of these measures, representing a further step along the path that the Paris Commune has embarked on, and the simplification of management functions while raising the cultural level of the working people, lead to the destruction of state power. " (VIII Congress of the RCP, in resolution, pp. 174-175.)