12th Congress

Twelfth Congress of the RCP (b). April 17-25, 1923.

The XII Congress of the RCP (b) was held on April 17-25, 1923 in Moscow.

The Congress was attended by 458 delegates with a casting vote and 417 delegates with an advisory vote, representing 386 thousand party members. The Congress was attended by representatives of the Comintern, Profintern, the Communist International of Youth, fraternal communist parties of foreign countries.

The congress discussed the following issues: 1) Report of the Central Committee; a) political (G. Ye. Zinoviev), b) organizational (I. V. Stalin); 2) Report of the Audit Commission (V.P. Nogin); 3) Report of the Central Control Commission (MF Shkiryatov); 4) Report of the Russian representative in the Executive Committee of the Comintern (NI Bukharin); 5) On Industry (L. D. Trotsky); 6) National moments in party and state building (I. V. Stalin); 7) Tax policy in the countryside (LB Kamenev, MI Kalinin, G. Ya. Sokolnikov); 8) On regionalization (A. I. Rykov); 9) Election of the central bodies of the party.

The XII Congress of the RCP (b) was the first after the Great October Socialist Revolution, at which V. I. Lenin could not attend due to a serious illness. But both the preparations for the congress and the congress itself passed under the banner of the implementation of Lenin's proposals contained in his last articles. The verbatim report of the XII Congress of the RCP (b) was first published in 1923. A special editorial commission, approved by the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee, worked on the preparation for publication. By decision of the Politburo of the Central Committee, the texts of the main reports in the first edition of the verbatim report of the XII Congress were published in an expanded edition.

Verbatim report of the XII Congress of the RCP (b), as well as preparatory materials and documents (minutes of meetings of the Politburo, Orgburo, Secretariat, Plenums of the Central Committee, verbatim records of congresses of the Communist Parties of the Union republics, conferences of local party organizations, reports of the Central Committee and its departments, abstracts of reports for the congress, etc. .) are the main sources for studying the activities of the CPSU in the period between the XI and XII Party Congresses.

The XII Congress of the RCP (B) was held in the difficult international and internal situation of the Soviet Union.

By this time, the foreign policy position of the Soviet state had strengthened. Although the imperialist countries widely used threats and provocations against the Soviet Republic, the post-war economic difficulties, aggravated by the economic crisis that broke out in 1920, pushed them on the path of establishing economic and diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union has already been recognized de jure and de facto by several states. Between the young Soviet republic and the imperialist world, as V.I. Lenin noted, a certain balance was established, albeit extremely fragile. The Soviet state pursued a Leninist foreign policy designed for peace among peoples, for peaceful coexistence with capitalist countries, frustrating the provocative actions of the imperialists. Emphasizing the invariable striving for peace, VI Lenin said in 1921: "... we value the preservation of peace and the full opportunity to devote all our efforts to the restoration of the economy ...”.

Having suffered a military defeat in 1918-1920, the imperialists hatched plans for the economic strangulation of the Soviet Republic. They refused loans to the Soviet state, demanded payment of all the pre-war debts of the tsarist government, full return to the former foreign owners of the nationalized industry. They believed that the Soviet state would not be able to overcome the economic devastation and famine in the country and would agree to enslaving agreements with the capitalist states. Lenin pointed out that the methods of the imperialists' struggle "against us took on a less military form, but in some respects more difficult and more dangerous for us." And yet the imperialist plans to enslave Soviet Russia have failed completely.

However, the danger of a direct military attack by the imperialist states on the Land of the Soviets was not removed. “We must remember,” wrote V. I. Lenin, “that we are always by a thread from any invasion”. Therefore, strengthening the defensive capability of the Soviet Republic remained the most important task of the Party and the Soviet state.

The economic and political situation of the country was strengthened on the basis of the new economic policy. In 1922, the main industries gave a significant rise in production, with especially high rates of development of small-scale industry, textiles, production of agricultural machinery, etc. Compared with 1921, iron smelting increased by 54%, steel - by 45%, coal mining - by 19%, oil — by 23%, electricity production — by 49% • Over the year, the gross industrial output increased by one and a half times, the first significant investments were made in its development. The introduction of cost accounting at industrial enterprises in the second half of 1921 had a beneficial effect on the development of the country's national economy. The work of the railway has improved. transport, the turnover of which increased by 30%. The Soviet ruble and the financial system were gradually strengthening, which was of great importance for the national economy. Trade has improved. The party was implementing Lenin's plan for the electrification of the country. In 1922, the Krasny Oktyabr regional power plant near Petrograd and the first stage of the Kashirskaya power plant in the Moscow province were put into operation. The construction of these power plants under difficult conditions was a great victory for the working class on the economic front. The Volkhovskaya, Shaturskaya, Balaganskaya, Kizedovskaya and other local power plants were under construction. Wages have increased and the material situation of all categories of workers has improved, and labor productivity has increased.

The second year of the New Economic Policy was marked by some successes in agricultural production, achieved on the basis of the labor upsurge of the peasantry.

A good harvest was obtained in 1922. The influx of food to cities and industrial centers has increased. The enormous hardships caused by drought and famine are over.

Summing up the results of the five-year development of the socialist revolution in Russia, characterizing the general rise of the national economy in the country and, in particular, the first successes in the development of the peasant economy, V.I. Lenin in his report at the IV Congress of the Comintern in November 1922 said: “... the peasantry for one a year not only coped with hunger, but also passed the tax in kind in such a volume that we have already received hundreds of millions of poods, and, moreover, almost without using any coercive measures. Peasant uprisings, which earlier, before 1921, were, so to speak, a common phenomenon in Russia, have almost completely disappeared. The peasantry are satisfied with their present position”. A striking manifestation of the activation of the bourgeoisie on the ideological front was the “change of war”, which arose among some of the White emigres. "Smenovekhovtsy" called on bourgeois specialists to cooperate with the Soviet government, hoping for the evolution of Soviet Russia in the capitalist direction. Supported by the NEP and the bourgeois intelligentsia, the Smenovekhovites carried out anti-Soviet activities in Soviet institutions, trusts, cooperatives, and others. Hostile activities against the Land of Soviets were intensified by Mensheviks, Socialist-Revolutionaries, and other counter-revolutionary groups.

Despite significant successes, the national economy of the Soviet Republic experienced great difficulties. The industry lacked working capital, raw materials, fuel, and unemployment grew. Heavy industry was in a very difficult position. At the end of 1922, a discrepancy between the prices of industrial and agricultural goods arose, which caused discontent among the peasants. Due to great difficulties with the sale of manufactured goods, there were interruptions in the issuance of wages. Discontent arose among some of the workers, and strikes broke out in some enterprises. An echo of these difficulties was the discussion during the preparations for the congress and at the congress itself.

The transition to a new economic policy, along with the consolidation of the position of socialism, caused the growth of a new bourgeoisie (merchants, tenants, buyers, entrepreneurs, kulaks, etc.), which fiercely resisted socialist construction. The unfolding acute economic struggle between socialism and private capital on the principle of "who - whom" was one of the main forms of the class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the working class. This struggle, Lenin pointed out, will be even more desperate and more brutal than the struggle against Kolchak and Denikin.

A striking manifestation of the activation of the bourgeoisie on the ideological front was the “change of war”, which arose among some of the White emigres. "Smenovekhovtsy" called on bourgeois specialists to cooperate with the Soviet government, hoping for the evolution of Soviet Russia in the capitalist direction. Supported by the NEP and the bourgeois intelligentsia, the Smenovekhovites carried out anti-Soviet activities in Soviet institutions, trusts, cooperatives, and others. Hostile activities against the Land of Soviets were intensified by Mensheviks, Socialist-Revolutionaries, and other counter-revolutionary groups.

Shortly before the congress, V. I. Lenin dictated his last articles and letters: "Letter to the Congress", "On the Assignment of Legislative Functions to the State Planning Committee", "On the Question of Nationalities or on" Autonomization "," Pages from a Diary "," On Cooperation "," About our revolution (Concerning N. Sukhanov's notes) "," How can we reorganize the Rabkrin (Proposals to the XII Party Congress) "," Better less, but better. " These articles and letters of V.I. Lenin made a major contribution to the development of a plan for building socialism in the USSR, the basis of which was the idea of industrializing the country. Emphasizing that heavy industry is the main material and technical base of socialism, Lenin proposed doing everything to develop our large-scale machine industry, to develop electrification.

The party carefully and thoughtfully prepared for the congress. The entire composition of the Central Committee, the Central Control Commission, and local party organizations took an active part in the preparatory work. Preparations for the congress took place under conditions of further development of internal party democracy and great activity of party organizations. At meetings of the Politburo, the February and March Plenums of the Central Committee, issues of the country's economic development, Soviet and party building were resolved, the theses of reports at the congress, the agenda, etc. were discussed and approved. March, and instructed V. I. Lenin to speak on the first issue with the report "The Political Report of the Central Committee”. But due to Lenin's illness, the opening of the congress was postponed until mid-April.

To achieve the unity and solidity of the party, to develop the most correct policy, the Central Committee strove to involve a wide range of leading party officials and representatives of local party organizations in active participation in the preparation and holding of the congress.

By the decision of the February Plenum of the Central Committee, devoted entirely to the preparation of the congress, members and candidates of the Central Committee made reports on the activities of the Central Committee at republican and provincial conferences. The conferences unanimously approved the political line and activities of the Central Committee, which ensured the success of the party in restoring the national economy, guiding the foreign policy of the USSR, in strengthening the unity and cohesion of the party's ranks. The 10th Moscow Provincial Party Conference, held on March 31 - April 3, 1923, in a resolution adopted on the basis of the report of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), fully approved the activities of the Central Committee of the party. The conference expressed its firm conviction that the forthcoming XII Party Congress will further strengthen the Party unity and solidarity of all Communists.

The Seventh All-Ukrainian Party Conference, held on April 4-10, 1923 in Kharkov, fully approved the Central Committee's political line, which ensured the unity of the party ranks, and expressed full confidence that the XII Congress of the RCP (b) would consolidate this unity, approve the alliance of the working class and the peasantry, ensure the dictatorship of the proletariat. The conference condemned all attempts to oppose the interests of the working class and the Soviet state, which in fact lead to the undermining of the dictatorship of the proletariat. She noted that the XII Congress of the RCP (b) should especially emphasize the need to ensure that the party has actual leadership of the entire state apparatus of the Soviet Republic.

The February plenum considered the theses on national and organizational issues, decided not to publish them until the preliminary acquaintance with them (with the permission of doctors) by V.I. Lenin, and if Vladimir Ilyich demands a revision of the theses, then to convene an emergency plenum. The plenum considered it expedient to create at the congress a section on the national question with the involvement of all delegates from the national republics and regions and with the invitation of up to 20 communists, not delegates to the congress.

In order not to give Leon Trotsky a reason to bring disagreements to the congress and in an effort to create a normal working environment, the Politburo decided to entrust him with drawing up theses and reading a report on industry at the XII Party Congress. The discussion of these theses took a lot of time and labor from the Central Committee. Theses on industry were subjected to detailed criticism at five meetings of the Politburo in February-April, at two plenary sessions of the Central Committee on February 23-24 and March 30-31, 1923. The struggle with Trotsky was especially acute on the main issues of principle: the relationship between the proletariat and the peasantry, as well as between the party and the state apparatus. In his theses, Trotsky put forward the slogan "dictatorship of industry", which meant the development of industry through the exploitation of the peasantry. Trotsky's anti-Leninist line on this most important issue of socialist construction led to the breakdown of the alliance of workers and peasants, to the downfall of Soviet power.

In March 1923, the Politburo of the Central Committee by 6 votes to 1 - Trotsky adopted two important amendments: 1) on the role of agriculture, 2) on the relationship between the party and economic bodies, obliging Trotsky to include them in the theses on industry. The first amendment stated that agriculture was of paramount importance for the entire economy of Soviet Russia. Only with the development of industry and the restoration of heavy industry, which is a solid basis for the dictatorship of the proletariat, as well as the completion of the electrification of the country, is it possible and inevitable to change the share of agriculture in the country's economy and shift the center of gravity from peasant farming to industry. The Party must systematically and persistently, without sparing any effort, hasten this process by restoring industry and heavy industry as quickly as possible. “Not only ignoring, but also insufficiently attentive attitude to this circumstance would be fraught with innumerable dangers both in the economic sphere and in the purely political sphere, for it would inevitably undermine or weaken that alliance of the proletariat and the peasantry, the trust of the peasantry in the proletariat, which for this historical transition period, they are one of the most basic pillars of the dictatorship of the proletariat, and the protection and strengthening of which is the main condition for the stability of Soviet power, and, consequently, the main task of the party ”.

The second amendment stated that the direction of the work of economic bodies was the responsibility of the party. The party's policy on this issue was attacked by Trotsky and his supporters, who demanded a greater "independence" of the economic apparatus from the party. This amendment stated: “Without for a moment forgetting its constant revolutionary educational tasks, the Party must realize that in the current construction, economic period of the revolution, the management of the work of economic agencies in the main points of Soviet construction is and should be the main content of the Party's work. The Party will only fulfill its historical mission if the economic experience of the entire Party grows along with the growth and complication of the economic tasks facing the Soviet government. Trotsky categorically objected to the introduction of a number of important amendments into his theses "On Industry".

Eight members and candidates for members of the Politburo appealed to the March Plenum of the Central Committee with a request to assess the above amendments in substance. The plenum of the Central Committee approved the amendments and instructed Trotsky to include them in the theses. But Trotsky did not comply with the resolution of the Plenum on the introduction of amendments on the peasant question. It took a new decision of the Politburo for these amendments to be introduced into the theses on industry.

In preparing the party for the congress, the publication of materials for the congress in periodicals played an important role. In the "Pre-Congress Discussion Leaflet" of the Pravda newspaper, the most important issues of socialist construction, the activities of the Central Committee of the RCP (B), theses of reports, were widely discussed, and proposals were made. Before the congress, the journal Izvestia of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) published reports of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) and its departments, materials for the reports.

The extensive and carefully thought-out preparatory work for the congress yielded positive results. An atmosphere of high responsibility reigned at the congress, the delegates spoke boldly, openly, expressing their views, their doubts, carefully weighing and checking every position, every point of the decisions made.

The XII Congress of the RCP (B) was held on April 17-25, 1923 in Moscow. The Congress was attended by 458 delegates with a casting vote and 417 delegates with an advisory vote, representing 386 thousand party members. The Congress was attended by representatives of the Comintern, Profintern, the Communist International of Youth, fraternal communist parties of foreign countries.

Guided by the instructions of V.I. Lenin, the Central Committee of the Party developed for the congress a resolution "On the organizational question", theses on the reorganization of the Rabkrin and the Central Control Commission and on the relationship between them (resolution "On the tasks of the RKI and the Central Control Commission"), as well as resolutions "On Industry”, "On the work of the RCP in the countryside", "On the national question" and others.

Responding to greetings on behalf of the congress, MV Frunze said: “Comrade Lenin was not with us at the congress, but his spirit, as the speakers who spoke repeatedly, was constantly among us, and, led by him, we followed the path that was to us specified ... ". The congress received greetings to Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, in which it was said: “From the depths of the heart of the party, the proletariat, all the working people, the congress sends greetings and words of warm love to Ilyich, who even in these days of serious illness and long absence no less than always, he rallies the Congress and the entire Party with his personality.

More than ever, the Party is conscious of its responsibility to the proletariat and history. More than ever, she wants to be and will be worthy of her banner and her leader. She firmly believes that the day is not far off when the helmsman will return to the helm”.

The workers' delegations warmly greeted the congress and the leader of the party, V. I. Lenin, wishing him a speedy recovery.

In the greeting of the workers and women workers of Krasnaya Presnya, it was said that during the period of underground activity and legal existence, “at all turns, at all sectors of the battle in the days of revolution and reaction, the working class checked its party, checking it out, appreciating it and mentally merging with it. The workers and women workers of Krasnaya Presnya declare to the XII Congress their blood ties with the RCP”.

The congress was greeted by representatives of the Communist International and the fraternal communist parties. In their speeches, they pointed out that the Leninist party is the guiding star of the world communist revolution. The leaders of the delegations of the fraternal parties, emphasizing the vanguard role of the RCP (b) in the world labor movement, expressed their determination to strengthen the unity of the workers' and communist movements with all their might.

The XII Congress summed up the results of two years of the New Economic Policy and defined the tasks for the further restoration of the national economy. He noted that the new economic policy creates the necessary conditions for the accelerated development of the economy of the Soviet Union. Proceeding from Lenin's plan for building socialism, the congress comprehensively worked out concrete ways to improve all branches of the national economy.

The congress approved the political and organizational line of the Central Committee, which ensured the party serious successes in all sectors of socialist construction, and approved the activities of the delegation of the Russian Communist Party in the Executive Committee of the Comintern. The congress assured the Comintern that its Russian section considers it its primary duty to do all it can to help the fraternal communist parties in their struggle for communism.

The fact that V. I. Lenin was unable to take direct part in the work of the congress, that the documents and materials of the congress were not reviewed by V. I. Lenin dictates the need for a particularly careful approach to the verbatim record of the 12th Party Congress. In addition, it should be noted that the reports of G. Zinoviev, N. Bukharin, theses of which were not discussed or approved, in the speeches of some delegates at the congress contained a number of erroneous provisions of a principled nature, especially on the role of the party in the system of the dictatorship of the proletariat. Distorting Lenin's teaching about the party, Zinoviev interpreted its leading role as the dictatorship of the party.

Noting the signs of the beginning of the economic revival of the country, the congress indicated that the working class and the party would direct the most energetic efforts to the development of socialist industry and, above all, heavy industry, which is the solid foundation of socialism. The congress especially emphasized the need to strengthen ties between industry and agriculture, and to strengthen the alliance between the working class and the peasantry.

"... The most important political task of the party," says the resolution on the Central Committee's report, "determines the entire outcome of the revolution: with the greatest attention and thoroughness to protect and develop the alliance of the working class with the peasantry." The Twelfth Congress emphasized that the main responsibility for the work of economic and state bodies rests with the party, which must determine and verify their work in all essential matters. "Even closer to the economy, even more attention, leadership and strength to the economic agencies — such is the party's slogan for the coming period."

The transition to peaceful economic construction on the basis of NEP demanded a strengthening of the centralized planned management of the national economy. The XII Congress pointed out that "the main planned economic work for a number of years remains the plan for the electrification of Russia approved by the Soviet government, which should remain the cornerstone of all economic efforts in the republic."

In a resolution on the Central Committee's report, the congress emphasized that the NEP situation was creating the basis for anti-Party deviations, which the Party must give a decisive ideological rebuff. Especially dangerous and destructive for the cause of building socialism are those deviations which oppose the Soviet state to the working class and the party to the Soviet state. Such views lead to the elimination of the leading role of the party in the system of the dictatorship of the proletariat. "Therefore, the XII Congress especially emphasizes the need to continue to strictly adhere to tactics leading to strengthening the confidence of the peasantry in the proletariat and, on the other hand, providing the party with actual leadership of the entire Soviet, and in particular the economic, apparatus of the Soviet Republic."

The congress adopted a decision on the monopoly of foreign trade. From the end of 1921 and throughout 1922 this question was repeatedly discussed by the Central Committee of the party. At that time, there was no unanimity among the majority of the members of the Central Committee in their views on the monopoly of foreign trade. Lenin resolutely defended the inviolability of the state monopoly of foreign trade. He considered it as one of the main economic heights of the Soviet state and stressed that only on the basis of a monopoly of foreign trade, regulation of the import and export of goods can not only protect the then weak Soviet economy from the invasion of foreign capital, but also ensure the restoration and further development of the Soviet industry, to make a profit and an influx of gold fund necessary for the industrialization of the country.

- The resolution of the congress on the report of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) said: “The congress categorically confirms the inviolability of the monopoly of foreign trade and the inadmissibility of any circumvention or hesitation in its implementation and instructs the new Central Committee to take systematic measures to strengthen and develop the monopoly of foreign trade ".

The XII Party Congress discussed the issue of "On Industry" and adopted a special resolution, which highlighted the task of eliminating the backlog and further development of heavy industry, which is the only solid basis for the dictatorship of the proletariat and socialist construction. The congress especially emphasized the need to develop industry in full accordance with the interests of the working peasants, and to strengthen the bond between town and country. The party rebuffed Trotsky, who proposed developing industry by exploiting and ruining the peasants. The congress also rejected Trotsky's proposal to curtail heavy industry on the pretext that it was unprofitable and unprofitable. On the eve of the congress, Trotsky and his associates proposed to close the largest factories - Putilovsky (now Kirovsky), Sormovsky, Bryansk and other plants, to hand over the most important industries in concessions to foreign capital. The congress did not agree with the erroneous proposals of some delegates (Krasin, Radek, and others) about large concessions to the capitalist countries in order to obtain credits for the restoration of industry.

The congress paid much attention to improving the planning of the national economy. In his letter “On the Assignment of Legislative Functions to the State Planning Committee,” VI Lenin pointed out the need to increase the role and scientific level of planning, and its constant improvement. VI Lenin emphasized that the State Planning Committee is called upon to become a scientific planning and economic center, working out the main issues of planning the national economy. The State Planning Commission should be "a collection of knowledgeable people, experts, representatives of science and technology" and have "the greatest data for a correct judgment about matters." It is necessary "to take a step," wrote V. I. Lenin, "towards increasing the competence of the State Planning Commission", to increase its authority, to strengthen it with highly qualified personnel, to direct all its activities towards "implementing our plan of economic and social construction"

The congress noted that the plan for a socialist economy “cannot be established a priori, by theoretical or bureaucratic means. A real socialist economic plan, encompassing all industries in their relation to each other and the relationship of the entire industry as a whole with agriculture, is possible only as a result of long preparatory economic experience on the basis of nationalization, continuous efforts to practically coordinate the work of different sectors of the economy and correct accounting of results. " . The congress considered it necessary to give the State Planning Committee a more definite position, a firmer organization, clearer and more indisputable rights, and obligations. The congress emphasized the importance of providing the regions with the necessary independence in solving economic problems arising from their natural and production conditions. When resolving basic economic issues, the interests and rights of the national republics must be fully taken into account. "All-Union planning work should consist primarily in the correct accounting and direction of the work of individual regions and in the organic integration of regional plans and economic tasks of the all-Union order into a single plan of the USSR”.

State and cooperative trade played an important role in the development of industry. The congress called on Soviet workers to direct all efforts to reduce the cost of trading costs as much as possible by reducing the sales apparatus and streamlining the sales process. Trade organizations, carefully studying the needs of the population, "should encourage light industry enterprises to more systematically and carefully adapt their production to the needs of workers and peasants."

Noting the significant shortcomings in the work of industry (lack of working capital, the work of enterprises with interruptions, insufficient workload, high production costs, etc.), the congress emphasized the need to concentrate production on the technically best equipped and geographically best located enterprises. The root of production success or failure, the decision said, is in the main industrial unit - a factory, a factory. The correct formulation of business at each individual enterprise determines the overall success of the country as a whole. The congress pointed out that every leader must remember the principle of combining personal and public interests, be able to combine the interests of the individual worker and the entire working class, of the entire Soviet society. The director of a Soviet enterprise must pay the utmost attention to the material and spiritual needs of the workers, to their feelings and moods. But at the same time, he must not lose sight of the fact that his highest duty in relation to the working class as a whole is to raise labor productivity, reduce production costs, introduce cost accounting, and increase the amount of material wealth at the disposal of the workers' state. “Attentiveness, perseverance, and prudence are the essential qualities of a Soviet business executive. Its highest certification is the company's active balance”. ^ ^ On the issue of "Tax policy in the countryside", the XII Congress adopted a special decision in which it noted the beneficial effect of the transition from food appropriation to a tax in kind on the restoration of agriculture and strengthening the alliance of the working class and the peasantry. In order to alleviate the situation of the peasantry, further develop agricultural production and improve the relationship between the working class and the peasantry, the congress decided to combine all types of direct state taxes (tax in kind, labor tax, etc.), as well as all local direct taxes into a single agricultural tax, the size of which was to be determined according to the class principle with the greatest benefit for the rural poor. The main contributions were proposed to be assigned to wealthy farms.

The unified agricultural tax eliminated the plurality of taxation, which caused just complaints from the peasantry. The resolution noted the need for a partial transition from a tax in kind to a monetary taxation, which made it possible for the peasantry to dispose of their resources with much greater freedom than before. When determining the tax, in addition to the social composition of the peasantry, the congress proposed to take into account the conditions of individual regions of the country, establish several deadlines for paying taxes, and expand the rights of peasants to freely dispose of the products of their labor. In order to raise the prices of agricultural products, the congress recognized it necessary to strive for the sale of peasant grain abroad.

The decisions of the congress "On tax policy in the countryside" were greeted by the peasantry with great satisfaction and played a significant role in strengthening the alliance of workers and peasants.

Concrete ways of raising the peasant economy, political and economic strengthening of socialist principles in the countryside were outlined by the congress in the resolution "On the work of the RCP in the countryside." The congress noted that the cooperation of the peasantry is the most important task of the Soviet state for a whole historical period and therefore the work of the party and the Soviet state was put forward in the first place to strengthen all types of cooperation, organize credit to ensure the interests of the small peasantry, and create the simplest forms of economic cooperation between the peasants. The tasks were put forward to strengthen agricultural and industrial cooperation, involve the broad peasant masses in cooperative construction, raise the cultural and technical level of peasant farming, etc. Agricultural partnerships, artels and communes should receive priority support from state bodies and, with the assistance of the Party and the state, turn into truly cultural and economic progressive economies.

Guided by the instructions of V.I. Lenin, the congress considered the most important task of the party to strengthen the alliance of the working class and the peasantry, to preserve the leading role of the working class in relation to the peasantry, and the trust of the peasants in the workers.

The most important condition for strengthening the alliance of workers and peasants was the improvement of the Soviet apparatus. The congress invited the party organizations to launch a determined struggle to eradicate elements of bureaucracy, red tape, arbitrariness, excesses, etc., and to strengthen the Soviet apparatus with honest cadres loyal to the Soviet power; to concentrate the efforts of the village party organizations on the political leadership of the activities of the Soviets, the organization of the poorest peasantry against the emerging rural bourgeoisie on the basis of the cultural, political and economic work of Soviet power in the countryside. The congress developed a number of measures aimed at strengthening the patronage of the city over the countryside, which was one of the forms of strengthening the influence of the working class on the peasantry.

The Twelfth Party Congress paid great attention to the national question, which in the conditions of the new economic policy acquired particular importance. The congress once again consolidated in its decision the Leninist national policy: the establishment of truly fraternal relations between the working class of the former ruling nation and the peasantry of previously oppressed nationalities, the elimination of the economic, political, and cultural backwardness of nations, their actual inequality, the intensification of the struggle against Great Russian chauvinism, which was the main one at that time. danger, and against local nationalism. In a resolution adopted on this issue, the congress concretized Lenin's ideas of creating a voluntary union state, set out in a letter by V.I. This project provided for the entry of the republics into the RSFSR on the basis of autonomy rights, and not their unification as equal Soviet republics

V.I. Lenin was announced at a meeting of the seigneur-convention, and then at the delegations of the congress.

At the congress, a sharp struggle unfolded over the most important questions of the Party's national policy. Georgian national deviators tried to pursue a policy of great-power chauvinism towards the national minorities inhabiting Georgia, opposed the creation of the Transcaucasian Federation and against Georgia's entry into the USSR through the TSFSR, etc.

The leader of the Georgian national deviationists B. Mdivani, who spoke at the national section of the congress with his project of organizing the USSR, was sharply criticized. He proposed to liquidate federations, and to unite all republics, both union and autonomous, into one union. B. Mdivani's project read: "The USSR is organized from the existing independent autonomous republics and regions on an equal basis according to the principle of proportional representation”. He proposed to elect the Central Executive Committee of the USSR not at the All-Union Congress, but at the republican congresses of Soviets and sharply objected to the creation of the House of Nationalities. Mdivani stubbornly and consistently advocated the liquidation of the Transcaucasian Federation, "which, in his opinion, was artificially created ... I declare that the Transcaucasian Republic is now useless."

Speakers at the congress and at the meeting of the section M. Frunze,

S. Ordzhonikidze, A. Mikoyan, M. Orakhelashvili, Sh. Eliava, A. Yenukidze and other delegates strongly objected to B. Mdivani's erroneous proposals.

K. Rakovsky, N. Bukharin, and others. N. Bukharin, trying to defend the national deviators, denied the danger of local nationalism. He said that “there is nothing to talk about local chauvinism at this congress. This is the second phase of our struggle. " Rakovsky and Bukharin proposed to exclude the clause on the harm of local nationalism from the theses on the national question. The congress rejected all these erroneous and harmful proposals.

The resolution on the national question, adopted by the congress, provided for practical measures in state and party building, ensuring the implementation of Lenin's national policy. The most important immediate task of the party was to eliminate economic and cultural inequality between the peoples of the Soviet Union. The resolution of the congress played a huge role in strengthening the USSR, in the development of friendship between peoples. It formed the basis of all the activities of the Party and the Soviet state. The Leninist national policy of the CPSU ensured the steady and planned growth of the national economy and culture of all fraternal republics, the strengthening and expansion of ties between them, fraternal assistance to each other. The congress emphasized the international importance of the formation of the USSR as a new form of cooperation between peoples in a single union state.

Fulfilling the instructions of V.I. Lenin on the radical improvement of party and state control, the XII Party Congress decided to unite the party body - the Central Control Commission (CCC) and the state body - the Workers 'and Peasants' Inspection (RKI) in the Central Control Commission - RKI and clearly defined its tasks: to protect the unity of the party, to strengthen and improve the state apparatus in every possible way, to strengthen party and state discipline, to organize a decisive struggle against bureaucracy, mismanagement, and abuse. Such a flexible combination of Soviet control with the party organ "is a source of extraordinary strength in our policy ... the only guarantee of successful work." In the resolution "On the Tasks of the RCI and the Central Control Commission," the congress defined the methods and directions of the work of party and state control, the tasks of the local bodies of the RCI and the Central Control Commission, pointing out the need to reform the management and management bodies on the basis of the scientific organization of labor. The combination of party and state control, the creation of a single control body - the Central Control Commission - RCI, pointed out by V.I. Lenin, will ensure the authority and effectiveness of control, strengthen the connection of the party and the state apparatus with the masses, become a powerful lever in improving the administrative and managerial apparatus, in pursuing politics party, in the successful solution of the tasks of socialist construction. Under the leadership of V.I. Lenin, a harmonious system of party-state control was created, headed by the Central Control Commission - RKI. Broad masses of the working people took part in organizing the control.

The XII Congress was held under the sign of the struggle for the unity and cohesion of the party's ranks, for the improvement and perfection of its work, from the primary organizations to the leading bodies of the party. The organizational report of the Central Committee showed the ideological growth and organizational strengthening of the party. The proportion of industrial workers in the party has grown, but the party has not yet achieved a sufficient preponderance of industrial workers among the only half a million members and candidates of the RCP (b).

In a resolution on the organizational question, the congress outlined specific measures for a systematic increase in the proportion of industrial workers in the Party. The congress recognized that the most important immediate task is to strengthen the party organizational and party educational work among party members and especially among young people. It was considered necessary for the party to strengthen its leadership of economic bodies and public organizations (trade unions, Soviets, Komsomol, cooperatives, etc.). The congress unanimously rejected the attempts of some delegates (V. Kosior, Yu. Lutovinov, and others) to annul the decisions of the Tenth Party Congress banning factions and groupings.

The XII Congress of the RCP (B) also considered a range of issues related to ideological work and the communist education of the working people. These issues were considered and resolved in organic connection with the problems of economic and political development of the country and were reflected in the resolutions of the Congress: "On the issues of propaganda, press and agitation", "On the organization of anti-religious agitation and propaganda", "On the work of the RCP among workers and peasant women "," On the work of the RLKSM ".

The XII Congress of the RCP (b) adopted the resolution "On the organizational question" developed by the Central Committee.

In accordance with the proposals of V.I. Lenin, set out in his last articles, the Central Committee has developed theses on the reorganization and improvement of the work of the central institutions of the party. The February Plenum of the Central Committee (1923) approved the theses that provided for a significant expansion of the composition of the Central Committee and the Central Control Commission, the selection, placement and education of personnel and other organizational measures.

Lenin's plan to strengthen the Central Committee met with stubborn resistance from Trotsky, who, in a letter to members of the Politburo dated February 13, 1923, declared that the expansion of the Central Committee would allegedly deprive it of "the necessary formalization and stability" and "threaten to cause extreme damage to the accuracy and correctness of the Central Committee's work." In addition, Trotsky proposed to create, in opposition to the Central Committee, a Party Council of members and candidates for members of the Central Committee, members of the Central Control Commission and two dozen specially elected members of the Council. The Central Committee rejected Trotsky's objections to expanding the composition of the Central Committee, his proposal to create in the party, in essence, a "two-center", which contradicted the Leninist norms of party life.

The XII Congress elected a new composition of the Central Committee and the Central Control Commission.

Guided by the instructions of VI Lenin, the XII Party Congress significantly expanded the composition of the Central Committee and Central Control Commission. At the 11th Congress in 1922, 27 members and 19 candidates were elected to the Central Committee; the Central Control Commission has 5 members and 2 candidates, and the XII Congress elected 40 members and 17 candidates to the Central Committee, and 50 members and 10 candidates to the Central Control Commission.

The KP Congress of the RCP (b) is of great importance in the history of the party and the country. Held under the ideological leadership of V. I. Lenin, the congress unanimously adopted decisions that outline a specific program for the implementation of Lenin's ideas of socialist construction. The congress outlined concrete ways for the restoration and further development of the national economy of the Soviet Union.

The verbatim report of the XII Congress of the RCP (b) was first published in 1923. A special editorial commission, approved by the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee, worked on the preparation for publication. By decision of the Politburo of the Central Committee, the texts of the main reports in the first edition of the verbatim report of the XII Congress were published in an expanded edition.

This publication is based on the text of the first edition of the verbatim report, verified with the original copy of the editorial commission and the verbatim record of the congress meetings stored in the Central Party Archives of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism under the Central Committee of the CPSU, as well as the bulletins of the congress.

In this edition, in footnotes, parts of the text are published that were not included in the preparation for printing of the Congress bulletins and the first edition of the verbatim report.

Typos are corrected in the text without reservations. Quotations from the works of V.I. Lenin are verified with the Complete Works. Quotes from other sources have been verified against the originals.

The lists of delegates to the congress with decisive and advisory votes have been verified with the materials of the credentials committee of the XII congress, as well as with documents stored in local party archives. All updates to the list are included without reservation.

In comparison with the previous one, this edition of the verbatim report was supplemented with materials and documents, a preface, reference notes, as well as indexes of names, party organizations, and periodicals. The section "Materials of the Congress" contains the following documents: the composition of the Congress, materials of the organizational section. The "Appendices" include: a notice of calling the congress; the resolution of the Plenum of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) on the seigneur-convention of the XII Congress; report for the year of work of the Central Committee of the RCP (from the XI to the XII Congress of the RCP); materials for discussion of abstracts on industry; materials of the presidium of the congress.

For the first time, the following documents are published: amendments of the Politburo to theses on industry; a letter from members of the Politburo and candidates for members of the Politburo; JV Stalin's telegram to L.D. Trotsky; Minutes No. 2 of the meeting of the Presidium of the XII Congress of the RCP; statements to the congress presidium.

The publication was prepared for publication by S. I. Elkin, A. I. Sereda, assistants to the preparers A. V. Kuznetsov, N. A. Serbova, T. S. Chanysheva, Z. P. Kostygova took part in the preparation of the apparatus. Editors N. V. Ruban, Sh. I. Chivadze.

Institute of Marxism-Leninism under the Central Committee of the CPSU