10th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)

The 10th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) was held during March 8–16, 1921 in Moscow, Russia. The congress dealt with the issues of the party opposition, the New Economic Policy, and the Kronstadt Rebellion, which started halfway through the Congress. The Congress was attended by 694 voting delegates and 296 non-voting delegates.[1]

Lenin, Trotsky and Voroshilov (behind Lenin) with Delegates of the 10th Congress of the Russian Communist Party

Agenda

The Agenda consisted of:

Report of the Central Committee;
Report of the Control Commission;
The trade unions' economic role;
The Socialist Republic in a capitalist encirclement foreign trade, concessions, etc.;
Food supply, surplus-food appropriation, tax in kind and fuel crisis,
Problems of Party organisation;
The Party's current tasks in the nationalities question;
Reorganisation of the army and the militia question;
The Chief Administration for Political Education and the Party's propaganda and agitation work;
Report of the R.C.P.'s representative in the Comintern, and its current tasks;
Report of the R.C.P.'s representatives in the International Trade Union Council;
Elections to the Central Committee, the Control Commission and the Auditing Commission

Major decisions

Major decisions made by delegates included:

A ban on internal factions in the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) (Resolution No. 12: "On Party Unity"). These factions included Workers' Opposition (who were accused of representing an anarcho-syndicalist deviation), and Democratic Centralists, who wanted more Soviet autonomy.[2]
The New Economic Policy was decided. Foreign trade, banks and heavy industry would stay in state hands, the rest was privatized.
After Trotsky's closed session report on the difficulties quelling the Kronstadt rebellion, over a quarter of the delegates (300) volunteered for the cause, led by the opposition parties eager to prove their loyalty.[3]

Party unity

The congress intricately examined party unity and dissent during the meetings. The congress adopted resolution "On Party Unity," which effectively and immediately dissolved all party factions. Lenin also introduced “On the Syndicalist and Anarchist Deviation in our Party”, which the congress also adopted.[4]^: 119–29

Trade unions

The result of the debate on the trade unions was a rejection by the congress of the views of Trotsky, who was supported by the 9th Secretariat, the Workers' Opposition and the Democratic Centralists. The resolution On the Role and Tasks of the Trade Unions,[5] which incorporated Lenin's definition of the role of the trade unions as educational organizations and schools of administration, economic management, and communism, was adopted by a majority vote.[6]

New Economic Policy

The New Economic Policy (NEP) was cautiously introduced by Lenin in his general speech to the tenth party congress.[7] Trotsky outlined the NEP to the congress in two speeches. Trotsky described war communism as "dictated not by economic, but by military needs, considerations and conditions," while also arguing that the notion that communism could be achieved through such means was absurd and reserved for "dreamers." The change to the NEP from war communism was designed "to alleviate [the peasant's] condition, to give more to the small farmer, and assure him of greater security in private farming."[8] However, many of the economic changes came too late, as widespread famine and starvation took place throughout 1921.[7]

Resolutions

On Party Unity

The dissolution of all factions was ordered by the congress. The congress also gave the Central Committee the power to apply discipline against factional activity, including party expulsion.[4]^: 119

On the Syndicalist and Anarchist Deviation in Our Party

The congress ordered a purge of the party to restore it to a "condition of soundness."[4] The congress also resolved to "recognize the necessity for a determined and systematic struggle against" syndicalist and anarchist deviations and that these ideas were incompatible with those of the Russian Communist Party.[4]^{: 119–129}

On the Control Commissions

Control Commissions were established to create and strengthen party unity by combatting careerism and bureaucratization.[4]^{: 119–129}

On the Role and Tasks of Trade Unions

The congress established that the role of trade unions was to further the support for proletarian dictatorship, and to act as a school of communism.[4]^{: 119–129}

On the Replacement of the Requisitions with a Tax in Kind

State requisitions and procurements of raw material, such as grain, were replaced with a monetary tax. The poorest peasants and farms would be exempt from the tax and those that exhibited increase in productivity under these new rules will be subject to advantages in the form of tax reduction.[4]^{: 119–129}

References

Lenin, Vladimir. "Tenth Congress of the R.C.P.(B.)". Lenin's Collected Works, 1st English Edition, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1965, Volume 32, pages 165-271. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
On Party Unity 16 March 1921; Soviet History Archive (marxists.org) 2002
Avrich, Paul (1970). Kronstadt, 1921. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. pp. 194–195. ISBN 0-691-08721-0. OCLC 67322.
McNeal, Robert (1974). Resolutions and decisions of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-2157-3. OCLC 1189903.
On the Role and Tasks of Trade Unions [Abridged]; 16 March 1921; Soviet History Archive (marxists.org) 2002.
Tenth Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik) The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970–1979).
Carr, Edward Hallett (1952). The Bolshevik Revolution. New York: Macmillan. p. 288. OCLC 655891503.
"Part IV: Tenth Congress of the R.C.P.(B.)". www.marxists.org. Retrieved 2021-04-16.

External links

Media related to 10th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) at Wikimedia Commons

Speeches by V. I. Lenin at the Tenth Congress of the R.C.P.(B.), Collected Works, 1st English Edition, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1965, Volume 32, pages 165-271