12th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)

Agenda

• The Central Committee political report (Grigory Zinoviev)
• The Central Committee organizational report (Joseph Stalin)
• Report of the Auditing Commission (Viktor Nogin)
• Report of the Central Control Commission (Matvei Shkiryatov)
• Report of the Russian representation in the Comintern Executive Committee (Nikolai Bukharin)
• About industry (Leon Trotsky)
• National (ethnic-based) issues in party and state development (Stalin)
• Tax policy in rural areas (Lev Kamenev, Mikhail Kalinin, Grigory Sokolnikov)
• About establishment of districts (raions) (Alexei Rykov)
• Elections of the Party's central offices

Brief overview

Much of this Congress was taken up with Joseph Stalin's struggle against the Georgian Bolshevists. Stalin dominated the Congress with Sergo Ordzhonikidze and Mamia Orakhelashvili, moving against the Old Bolsheviks Polikarp Mdivani and Filipp Makharadze. Stalin accused the latter of the following:

• "violation of party discipline", namely contact Lenin directly not through party channels;
• "disobeying decisions of the Central Committee of the RCP(b)";
• "demanding special economic concessions for Georgia";
• "local chauvinism" and "imperialism" as they were accused of oppressing smaller nations such as the Ossetians and Abkhazians, and,
• "the desire to obtain privileged positions for Georgians".

Ordzhonikidze went further:

• "collaboration with Mensheviks during 1918–1920";
• "retaining class enemies (landlords) in the Georgian Communist Party";
• "granting political amnesty to Mensheviks", and,
• "leftism" and "adventurism".

Aftermath

Mirsäyet Soltanğäliev attended this Congress, but he was subject to attack immediately afterwards in the Tartar newspaper Eshche and arrested during May 1923. He was roundly condemned by Stalin at the Fourth Conference of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party (b) with the Workers of the National Republics of the Regions, held 9–12 June 1923.

At this Congress, the RCP(b) redefined the problems of nationalism identifying local chauvinism as the main problem rather than Great Russian chauvinism. The Congress was the beginning of the so-called policy of Korenizatsiya. The main idea was to grow national cadres for every nationality so that the party line could be pursued everywhere by representatives of the local nationality and the national proletariat could be raised against its own exploiters.

Notes

References

• Muslim National Communism in the Soviet Union by Alexandre Bennigsen and S. Enders Wimbush, University of Chicago Press, 1979.
• Verbatim Report of Stalin's speeches From J. V. Stalin, Works, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow, 1953 Vol. 5, pp. 197–285. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
• The Twelfth Congress of the Russian Communist Party by Nikolai Bukharin, The Communist International, 1923, No. 25, pp. 10–17. Marxists Internet Archive.

References

1. [http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Twelfth+Congress+of+the+Russian+Communist+Party+Bolshevik Twelfth Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik)]; [[The Great Soviet Encyclopedia]], 3rd Edition (1970-1979)
2. "Footage from the 12th congress of the Russian Communist Party (bolsheviks)".
3. Timo Vihavainen: ''Nationalism and Internationalism. How did the Bolsheviks Cope with National Sentiments?'' in [[#ChulosPiirainen2000. Chulos & Piirainen 2000]], p. 80