Twelfth Congress calls for indigenization and national-language administration

Germany and Soviet Russia signed the Treaty of Rapallo, renouncing claims and restoring diplomatic relations. The agreement challenged the isolation of both states after the First World War. It also...

Lenin objected to Stalin’s proposal to absorb Ukraine, Belarus and the Transcaucasian republics into the Russian federation, arguing for a union of formally equal republics. His intervention...

The First Congress of Soviets adopted the Declaration and Treaty establishing the USSR from the RSFSR, Ukrainian SSR, Byelorussian SSR and Transcaucasian SFSR. The founding texts promised voluntary...

In a final note on the national question, Lenin warned that formal equality among republics would be hollow if Russian officials used the state to impose the language and interests of the dominant...

The Twelfth Congress debated the economy, party organization and the national question. Delegates heard warnings about Great Russian chauvinism and discussed how the party should build national cadres...

The Buryat-Mongol ASSR was established within the Russian republic. The territorial arrangement recognized a Buryat national unit and opened space for language and cultural institutions. Soviet...

The Central Executive Committee approved a draft all-Union constitution, which was later ratified by the Second Congress of Soviets in January 1924. The draft codified the union’s institutions and the...

During 1923, industrial prices rose sharply relative to agricultural prices, producing a widening gap known as the “scissors crisis.” Peasants found manufactured goods expensive while state planners...

Vladimir Lenin died after years of strokes and declining health. His death opened a succession struggle among party leaders and removed the person who had argued for a union of formally equal...

Lenin was buried in Moscow after a large public funeral attended by workers, party members and state officials. The ritual helped establish his political legacy as a source of legitimacy for the...