The Soviet state, formed over most of the area of the former Russian Empire as a result of the Reds’ victory in the Civil War in Russia.

 

In December 1922, the congresses of the Soviets of the Ukrainian SSR, the Byelorussian SSR, and the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (which included Azerbaijan, Armenian, and Georgian SSRs) made decisions on the formation of a union state. On December 26, the 10th All-Russian Congress of Soviets issued a resolution and recognized the timeliness of the unification of the Soviet republics in the Union.

 

On December 30, 1922, the 1st Congress of Soviets of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was held in Moscow, attended by 2,215 delegates representing the Russian SFSR, the Byelorussian SSR, the Transcaucasian SFSR, and the Ukrainian SSR. The Congress was chaired by the Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Russian SFSR Mikhail Kalinin. The Congress adopted resolutions on the approval of the Declaration and the Treaty on the Establishment of the USSR.

 

The Declaration on the Establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics stipulated the basic principles of the Union, as “a voluntary association of equal peoples”: each republic had “the right to freely withdraw from the Union”. The establishment of the USSR was proclaimed “a decisive step on the path of unification of all workers into a World Socialist Soviet Republic”.

 

The Treaty on the establishment of the USSR specified the range of issues subject to the jurisdiction of the Union: representation in international relations, changing external borders, admitting new republics to the Union, approving an integrated budget and monetary system, establishing the foundations of the organization of the armed forces, general principles of land management and land use, etc. Moscow became the capital of the USSR. Also, the Treaty established the structure of supreme government bodies, their rights, and obligations. The supreme body of power was the All-Union Congress of Soviets, during the inter-congress period — the Central Executive Committee (TsIK) of the USSR. The TsIK elected the Presidium, which was the supreme authority in the USSR during the periods between the TsIK sessions (held thrice a year). The first session of the TsIK, elected by the 1st Congress of Soviets, elected 4 TsIK chairmen according to the number of Union republics: Mikhail Kalinin (Russian SFSR), Grigory Petrovsky (Ukrainian SSR), Nariman Narimanov (Transcaucasian SFSR), Aleksander Chervyakov (Byelorussian SSR). Also, the Supreme Court with the functions of supreme judicial control was established under the TsIK.

 

The supreme body of executive power (government) was the Council of People’s Commissars (SNK) of the USSR. The first Council of People’s Commissars and People's Commissariats of the USSR were formed at the second session of the Central Executive Committee on July 6, 1923. On July 17, the Council for Labour and Defense was formed as an emergency supreme body responsible for mobilizing the state’s economy and defense. At the same time, the similar body of the Russian SFSR was abolished. Vladimir Lenin became the first Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars and the Council for Labour and Defense of the USSR. The new State building was completed on January 31, 1924, as the Second All-Union Congress of Soviets approved the Basic Law (Constitution) of the USSR. The Soviet Union had been the leader of the world socialist system until its collapse at the end of 1991.