«Nomenclature embryo»: the birth of the Soviet nomenclature system in SSRB – BSSR (1920–1924)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33581/2520-6338-2020-3-34-43

Abstract

The article considers the process of origin in 1920–1924 of the nomenclature system in the Soviet Belarus as an immanent phenomenon of the Soviet model of modernization of society with its inherent monopolization of power of the monopolistically ruling Communist party. These issues are considered in more detail in relation to public authorities and management, where the nomenclature principle of substitution of elections by appointment is most clearly implemented. The party nomenclature, on the one hand, was a logical product of this model; on the other hand, it allowed it not only to persist for a long time, but also to solve both strategic and tactical development tasks with varying degrees of efficiency. The author comes to the conclusion that by the end of 1924, all the basic prerequisites for the organizational design of the classical Soviet nomenclature system were created. Firstly, during this period, the principle of monopoly of the Bolshevik party in determining the personnel composition of state authorities and management, including the occupation of elected positions, was consolidated. Secondly, a system of accounting and distribution bodies for all party cadres is being formed and this mechanism is actually being extended to all power structures. Third, a list of positions is being formed that, from the point of view of the highest party and Soviet leadership, enable it to manage and control all spheres of societyʼs life in its movement towards the socialist ideal.

Author Biography

Sergey A. Elizarov, Sukhoi State Technical University of Gomel, 48 Kastryčnika Avenue, Homieĺ 246746, Belarus

doctor of science (history), full professor; рrofessor at the department of social-humanitarian and legal disciplines, economics and humanities faculty

References

  1. Djilas M. Litso totalitarizma [The face of totalitarianism]. Shchetinin PA, Polak EA, Kirillova OA, translators. Moscow: Novosti; 1992. 543 p. Russian.
  2. Voslenskii MS. Nomenklatura. Gospodstvuyushchii klass Sovetskogo Soyuza [Nomenclature. The ruling class of the Soviet Union]. Moscow: Sovetskaya Rossiya; 1991. 623 p. Co-published by the MP «Oktyabr’». Russian.
  3. Dzhavlanov OT, Mikheev VA. Nomenklatura: evolyutsiya otbora. Istoriko-politologicheskii analiz [Nomenclature: evolution of selection. Historical and political analysis]. Moscow: Luch; 1993. 138 p. Russian.
  4. Korzhikhina TP, Figatner YuYu. [Soviet nomenclature: formation, mechanisms of action]. Voprosy istorii. 1993;7:25–38. Russian.
  5. Nefedov VN. Nomenklatura imperii: issledovanie krizisa [The nomenclature of the empire: a study of the crisis]. Nizhny Novgorod: Izdatel’stvo Volgo-Vyatskogo kadrovogo tsentra; 1994. 81 p. Russian.
  6. Gimpel’son EG. Formirovanie sovetskoi politicheskoi sistemy, 1917–1923 gg. [Formation of the Soviet political system, 1917–1923]. Moscow: Nauka; 1995. 229 p. Russian.
  7. Sviridenko YuP, Pashin VP. Kommunisticheskaya nomenklatura: istoki, sushchnost’, soderzhanie [Communist nomenclature: origins, essence, content]. Moscow: GASBU; 1995. 172 p. Russian.
  8. Mokhov VP. Elitizm i istoriya: problemy izucheniya sovetskikh regional’nykh elit [The elitism and history: the problem of study of Soviet regional elites]. Perm: Izdatel’stvo Permskogo gosudarstvennogo tekhnicheskogo universiteta; 2000. 204 p. Russian.
  9. Gimpel’son EG. Sovetskie upravlentsy, 20-e gody. Rukovodyashchie kadry gosudarstvennogo apparata SSSR [Soviet managers, 20s. Leading personnel of the state apparatus of the USSR]. Moscow: Institut rossiiskoi istorii RAN; 2001. 225 p. Russian.
  10. Pavlova IA. Mekhanizm vlasti i stroitel’stvo stalinskogo sotsializma [The mechanism of power and the construction of Stalinist socialism]. Novosibirsk: Publishing house of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences; 2001. 460 p. Russian.
  11. Pashin VP, Bogdanov SV, Zyuban OP. Partiinaya nomenklatura v SSSR (1917–1930-e gody): zarozhdenie, razvitie, bezrazdel’noe mogushchestvo [The party nomenclature in the Soviet Union (1917–1930s): birth, development, undivided power]. Belgorod: Belgorodskaya oblastnaya tipografiya; 2004. 243 p. Russian.
  12. Gaman-Golutvina OV. Politicheskie elity Rossii. Vekhi istoricheskoi evolyutsii [Political elites of Russia. Milestones of historical evolution]. Moscow: ROSSPEN; 2006. 446 p. Russian.
  13. Chistikov AN. Partiino-gosudarstvennaya byurokratiya Severo-zapada Sovetskoi Rossii 1920-kh godov [The party-state bureaucracy of the North-West of Soviet Russia in the 1920s]. Saint Petersburg: Evropeiskii Dom; 2007. 294 p. Russian.
  14. Vorobey AP. The main trends of forming the system of executives in the 1920s. Vestnik Severnogo (Arkticheskogo) federal’nogo universiteta. Seriya: Gumanitarnye i sotsial’nye nauki. 2012;2:5–11. Russian.
  15. Konovalov AB. Partiinaya nomenklatura Sibiri v sisteme regional’noi vlasti (1945–1991) [Party nomenclature of Siberia in the system of regional power (1945–1991)]. Kemerovo: Kuzbassvuzizdat; 2006. 635 p. Russian.
  16. Zelenov MV. [Formation of the apparatus of the Central Committee and the institute of the secretary of the Central Committee of the RSDLP(b) – RCP(b) in 1917–1922]. In: Uchenye zapiski. Tom 7 [Scientific notes. Volume 7]. Nizhny Novgorod: Izdatel’stvo Volgo-Vyatskoi akademii gosudarstvennoi sluzhby; 2007. p. 105–115. Russian.
  17. Karelin EG. Regional’nyi mekhanizm vlasti i upravleniya Zapadnoi oblasti Sovetskoi Rossii (1917–1937 gg.) [Regional mechanism of power and management of the Western region of Soviet Russia (1917–1937)]. Moscow: ROSSPEN; 2014. 422 p. Russian.
  18. Tufanov EV. Kadry regional’nykh upravlentsev v 1920–1930-e gody: stanovlenie i funktsionirovanie (na materialakh Severnogo Kavkaza) [Cadres of regional managers in the 1920s and 1930s: formation and functioning (based on the materials of the North Caucasus)]. Stavropol: TESERA; 2018. 206 p. Russian.
  19. Tucker RC. Political culture and leadership in Soviet Russia: from Lenin to Gorbachev. Brighton: Wheatsheaf Books; 1987. X, 214 p.
  20. Lane D, editor. Elites and political power in the USSA. Hampshire: Edward Elgar; 1988. 299 p.
  21. Brown A, editor. Political leadership in the Soviet Union. Basingstoke: Macmillan; 1989. XI, 245 p.
  22. Kascjuk MP. Bal’shavickaja sistjema wlady na Belarusi [The bolshevik system of state power in Belarus]. Minsk: Jekaperspektyva; 2000. 307 p. Belarusian.
  23. Prot’ko TS. Stanovlenie sovetskoi totalitarnoi sistemy v Belarusi (1917–1941 gg.) [Formation of the Soviet totalitarian system in Belarus (1917–1941)]. Minsk: Tesei; 2002. 688 p. Russian.
Published
2020-07-31
Keywords: Soviet Belarus, nomenclature, Сommunist party, party committees, government and management bodies, personnel policy, party accounting, distribution work
How to Cite
Elizarov S. A. «Nomenclature embryo»: the birth of the Soviet nomenclature system in SSRB – BSSR (1920–1924) // Journal of the Belarusian State University. History. 2020. 3. PP. 34-43.
Issue
No 3 (2020): Journal of the Belarusian State University. History
Section
Belarusian History

Copyright (c) 2020 Journal of the Belarusian State University. History

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

The authors who are published in this journal agree to the following:

  1. The authors retain copyright on the work and provide the journal with the right of first publication of the work on condition of license Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial. 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
  2. The authors retain the right to enter into certain contractual agreements relating to the non-exclusive distribution of the published version of the work (e.g. post it on the institutional repository, publication in the book), with the reference to its original publication in this journal.
  3. The authors have the right to post their work on the Internet (e.g. on the institutional store or personal website) prior to and during the review process, conducted by the journal, as this may lead to a productive discussion and a large number of references to this work. (See The Effect of Open Access.)