Delivered: December 29, 1920
First Published: Report on concessions; speech to the R.C.P.(B.) group on December 24 and draft resolutions of the Congress were first published in 1930; report on the work of the Council of People’s Commissars, and reply to the debate were published in 1921 in the book The Eighth All-Russia Congress of Soviets. Verbatim Report; Report on concessions and speech to the R.C.P.(B.) group are published according to the verbatim report; report on the work of the Council of People’s Commissars, and reply to the debate—according to the text in the book.
Source: Lenin’s Collected Works, 4th English Edition, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1965, Volume 31, pages 461-534
Translated: Julius Katzer
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Report On Concessions Delivered To The R C.P.(B.) Group At The Eighth Congress Of Soviets, December 21
Report On The Work Of The Council Of People’s Commissars, December 22
Reply To The Debate On The Report On The Work Of The Council Of People.’s Commissars, December 23
Speech Delivered At A Meeting Of The R.C P.(B.) Group Of The Eighth Congress Of Soviets, December 24
Draft Resolution Of The Eighth Congress Of Soviets On The Report On Electrification
Draft Resolution Of The R.C.P.(B.) Group Of The Eighth Congress Of Soviets
[1] The Congress was held in Moscow from December 22 to 29, 1920. There was a record attendance of 2,537 delegates, of whom 1,728 had full voting rights, and 809 had deliberative votes.
The Congress met at a time when the Soviet Republic had won victory over the foreign interventionists and internal counter-revolution, and the economic front, as Lenin said, had become “the main, the principal front”.
The Congress was guided by Lenin, who delivered a report on the work of the All-Russia Central Executive Committee and the Council of People’s Commissars, and a speech closing the debate on his report at plenary sessions of the Congress on December 22 and 23. He also took the floor six times at sittings of the Communist group of the Congress on December 21, 22, 24 and 27 to deal with the question of concessions and the bill on measures to strengthen and develop peasant farming.
After the debate on Lenin’s report, the Congress passed a resolution by an overwhelming majority, approving the activities of the Soviet Government. The delegates gave a concerted rebuff to representatives of the petty-bourgeois parties who made a number of anti-Soviet declarations at the Congress and tabled a draft resolution of their own.
The Congress adopted the plan for the electrification of Russia which was drawn up on Lenin’s initiative and in keeping with his directions. This was the first long-term economic plan of the Soviet state, which Lenin called “the Party’s second programme”. The resolution adopted on Krzhizhanovsky ’s report was drafted by Lenin (see p. 532 in this volume).
One of the most important questions on the agenda was the bill on measures to strengthen and develop peasant farming, passed by the Council of People’s Commissars on December 1-4, 1920. Lenin participated in the discussion of the main clauses of the law at a private meeting of non-Party peasant delegates onDecember 22 and in the Communist group of the Congress on December 24 and 27. The Congress unanimously approved the bill.
The transition to peaceful construction called for the improvement and reorganisation of the entire Soviet apparatus. The Congress passed a detailed resolution on the question, setting up proper relations between central and local administrative bodies. The Congress dealt extensively with questions relating to the reorganisation of the entire system of economic management to meet the new tasks. The delegates discussed and approved a new statute of the Council of Labour and Defence.
The Congress instituted the Order of the Red Banner of Labour to be awarded for labour heroism, initiative and organisation in solving economic tasks.