Britain recognizes the Soviet Union

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...

The Second Congress of Soviets adopted the first USSR Constitution, formalizing the union established in 1922. It assigned major powers, including foreign affairs, defense and planning, to union...

Italy formally recognized the USSR, one of several European governments that established relations with the new state in 1924. Diplomatic recognition improved Soviet access to trade and...

The party leadership approved a large recruitment drive after Lenin’s death, opening membership to hundreds of thousands of workers. The campaign broadened the social base of the Communist Party while...

The plenary of the Bukhara Communist Party endorsed national-territorial delimitation, part of a sequence of regional party decisions that preceded the reorganization of Soviet Central Asia. Local...

The first Party Congress after Lenin’s death opened amid a leadership struggle and debates over party growth, discipline and economic policy. The meeting marked a transition in party leadership and...

The Sino-Soviet agreement restored diplomatic relations and declared that tsarist-era treaties affecting Chinese sovereignty would be reviewed or annulled. It addressed the Chinese Eastern Railway and...