People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the USSR (USSR NKID or Narkomindel) - the state body of the USSR, responsible for conducting foreign policy Soviet state in 1923-1946.

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In the early 1930s, the second stage of recognition of the Soviet state began, when diplomatic relations were established with Spain, the USA, Bulgaria, Hungary, Albania, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, Luxembourg, Colombia.

People's Commissariat leadership

Insignia

After the release of the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR "On the introduction of uniforms for diplomatic workers of the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs, Embassies and Missions of the USSR abroad" On May 28, 1943, a departmental Order on the NKID No. 213 of October 7, 1943 was issued, which provided for the wearing of a new uniform from November 1, 1943. Previously, there was a special diplomatic uniform for solemn occasions(as in many countries of the world it still exists today). The adopted Soviet uniform was supposed to be worn all the time (as well as military). Also released"Instructions for the rules of wearing uniforms" , then came out in Order No. 236 of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs on July 6, 1948, a list of those who had the right to wear dress uniform has been expanded.

People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the RSFSR. L.D. Trotsky, G.V. Chicherin.

After October revolution In 1917, in accordance with the Decree of the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets of October 26 (November 8) "On the Establishment of the Council of People's Commissars", the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs was formed, headed by Leonid Trotsky.

On October 18, 1918, decrees of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR on the organization of consulates abroad (“On the abolition of the ranks of diplomatic representatives” and “On consuls”) were adopted.

The diplomatic isolation of the Soviet state in the early years of Soviet power, during the Civil War and the Military Intervention, led to the fact that the official and unofficial representations of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the RSFSR abroad were liquidated, and the first Soviet diplomats Ioffe A. A., Litvinov M. M., Vorovsky V. V., Berzin Ya. A. and others were expelled from the respective countries and returned to Moscow.

According to Richard Pipes, Trotsky's only undoubted personal contribution to the fighting of the Civil War was the defense of Petrograd in 1919. Despite the fact that the Red 7th Army had an almost fivefold advantage in manpower over Yudenich's Northwestern Army, Petrograd was seized with panic, including in front of the White Guard tanks, and Lenin seriously considered the prospect of surrendering the city. Trotsky, with his speeches, was able to raise the fallen morale of the troops. After that, the Red Army was finally able to take advantage of their numerical advantage and defeat the White Guard.

Trotsky repeatedly personally appears on the front line, in August 1918 his train was almost captured by the White Guards, and later that month he almost died on the destroyer of the Volga River Flotilla. Several times Trotsky, risking his life, makes speeches even to deserters. At the same time, the stormy activity of the Pre-revolutionary Military Council, which constantly traveled around the fronts, began to increasingly irritate a number of its subordinates, leading to many high-profile personal quarrels. The most significant of these was Trotsky's personal conflict with Stalin and Voroshilov during the defense of Tsaritsyn in 1918.

Trotsky is faced with the task of overcoming the resistance of the striking employees of the former Ministry of Foreign Affairs, carrying out the publication of the secret treaties of the tsarist government planned by the Bolsheviks, as well as making peace and achieving international recognition of the new government.

If Trotsky coped with the first task, then the conclusion of a just peace and the international recognition of the Soviet government turned out to be an impossible task both for him and, for a long time, for subsequent people's commissars. The Soviet Republic was not recognized by any state in the world, with the exception of Germany, the peace negotiations in Brest-Litovsk ended with the German offensive in the spring of 1918, and the signing of peace on extremely unfavorable terms for Russia. On February 22, 1918, Trotsky resigned in protest against the conclusion of the Brest peace, in March 1918, the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, Lenin V. I., appointed him to the post of People's Commissar of War (later - People's Commissar for Military Affairs and the Pre-Revolutionary Military Council).

During November, the NKID was reorganized. By the end of January 1918 total number Commissariat employees reached 200 people. Among them were V.V. Vorovsky, L.M. Karakhan, M.M. Litvinov, Ya.Z. Surits and others who later became prominent diplomats. In May 1918, an outstanding statesman and diplomat G.V. Chicherin. Signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 3, 1918), from April 9, after Trotsky's transfer to the military people's commissariat, he became and. about. People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, since May 30 People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs. As People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the RSFSR and the USSR (1918-1930), Chicherin made a significant diplomatic contribution to the withdrawal of Soviet Russia from international isolation. In 1921, he signed agreements with Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan, according to which all Russian property in these countries was given away. In 1922 he headed the Soviet delegation at the Genoa Conference, during the conference he signed the Treaty of Rapallo with German Foreign Minister Walter Rathenau (the name comes from the town of Rapallo near Genoa, where the signing took place).

In December 1919, the 7th All-Russian Congress of Soviets proposed that the Entente powers immediately begin peace negotiations and instructed the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs to "systematically continue the policy of peace."

In April 1922, Soviet Russia was invited for the first time to an international conference in Genoa, during which the Treaty of Rapallo (1922) was signed with Germany on April 16, establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries. De facto treaty relations were established with other Western countries - Austria, Great Britain, Norway. In November 1922, the Consulate General of the RSFSR opened in Istanbul (Turkey).

55. People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the USSR and Soviet diplomacy in the 1920s. G.V. Chicherin.

On December 30, 1922, the First Congress of Soviets of the USSR adopted the Treaty on the Formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The second session of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR approved on July 6, 1923 the Constitution of the USSR, according to Articles 49 and 51 of which the NKID of the USSR was formed.

On November 12, 1923, the 4th session of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR approved a new regulation on the NKID of the USSR. The People's Commissariats of the Union Republics and their representative offices abroad were liquidated. At the same time, the Offices of Commissioners of the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs of the USSR were created in the Union republics.

In 1923-1925, the head of the Office of the Commissioner of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the USSR under the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR was Viktor Leontievich Kopp, and in 1925-1927 - Semyon Ivanovich Aralov

the signing in 1925 in Paris of the Soviet-Turkish non-aggression and neutrality treaty and the signing of the same treaty in 1927 with Iran, and much more.

Preparing for the economic conference in Genoa, Chicherin included the best economists in the delegation, who drew up Russia's reciprocal claims against the West, and also developed projects for economic cooperation, etc. In this direction, the tactics of the Russian delegation were successful.

All days, from April 10 to April 16, 1922, in Genoa were filled with meetings, negotiations, meetings. It immediately became clear that Soviet Russia would not pay its debts so easily, but would agree to this only if these debts were compensated by loans that would be used to restore the national economy. Chicherin demanded the recognition of Soviet counterclaims, the establishment of peace on the borders of Soviet Russia, and the legal recognition of the Soviet government. And finally, Chicherin put forward a proposal for general disarmament and peaceful coexistence.

Then, in 1922, the main event in the framework of the Genoa Conference was the signing of the Rapallo Treaty between Russia and Germany. It was the first treaty for post-revolutionary Russia with one of the leading European powers - Germany, which meant for both a breakthrough in isolation, a transition to large-scale mutual trade, economic and political cooperation. The two states agreed to recognize each other de jure and establish diplomatic relations, renounce mutual claims, mutually grant the most favored nation treatment.

Chicherin had a phenomenal memory and ability for foreign languages. He freely read and wrote in the main European languages, knew Latin, Hebrew, Hindi, and Arabic. Secretary Chicherin Short said that in Poland and the Baltic countries "he made speeches in the language of the state in which he was."

In the first half of 1921, the structure of the NKID was formed as a whole, which existed with some changes until the outbreak of World War II. Chicherin suggested creating departments for the main countries, strengthening the economic and legal department and the press and information department, including old specialists.

Georgy Vasilyevich headed the Soviet delegation at the conference in Lausanne, where his principled position contributed to further development movements of the peoples of the East for national independence.

However, internal diplomacy often took more time and nerves than external diplomacy. The former Soviet diplomat G. Z. Besedovsky, who remained in Paris in 1929, admitted that "Chicherin was undoubtedly an outstanding figure, with a large political scope, a broad outlook and understanding of Europe." “The first years of the NEP,” noted Besedovsky, “especially aroused Chicherin's enthusiasm for work. During these years, even Litvinov's constant intrigues did not kill his will to work.

MM. Litvinov was able to correctly assess the balance of power and supported Stalin. “Having begun a fierce struggle with Chicherin in 1923,” wrote Besedovsky, “Litvinov waged this struggle without hesitation in means. He openly bullied Chicherin before the officials of the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs, canceled his orders, crossed out his orders on official reports and put his own. The essence of the disagreement between the "Westerners", who were supported by many leaders of the Comintern, and the "Easterners" was that the former were guided by the quick victory of the "world revolution", primarily in the advanced countries of Europe and the USA, and counted on pushing the revolution in underdeveloped countries, primarily in the neighboring countries of the USSR.

Another group of people “held,” according to G. I. Safarov, an employee of the apparatus of the Comintern, “the view that neither in Turkey, nor in Persia, nor in the Near and Middle East in general, the communist and workers’ movement has the right to exist, that, acting contrary to this, the Comintern "engages in adventures." They opposed the "Sovietization of Turkey" and other countries. It is no coincidence that Chicherin back in June 1921 in an instruction to the plenipotentiary in Afghanistan F.F. Raskolnikov warned him against "artificial attempts to plant communism in a country where the conditions for this do not exist."

In January 1930 he returned to Moscow. On July 21, the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR granted Chicherin's request and relieved him of his duties as People's Commissar

MFA. Ministers of Foreign Affairs. Secret diplomacy of the Kremlin Mlechin Leonid Mikhailovich

People's Commissar and His Deputies

People's Commissar and His Deputies

Not only the people's commissar himself, but also the Collegium of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs, which consisted of five people, was approved by the Politburo, the heads of departments - by the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee. The board of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs consisted of the people's commissar himself, his first deputy Nikolai Krestinsky (a former secretary of the Central Committee, who retired from party affairs due to his closeness to Trotsky), second deputy Lev Karakhan, a handsome and friendly man who married a famous ballerina, and Boris Stomonyakov, a longtime friend Litvinov.

Chicherin considered Karakhan "a very subtle, brilliant, talented politician", and disliked Stomonyakov: "a dry formalist, without flexibility, without political instinct, pugnacious, unpleasant, spoiling relations." Litvinov, on the contrary, distinguished Stomonyakov, but he could not stand Karakhan. They wanted to send Stomonyakov to Berlin, but he refused and eventually became deputy people's commissar. The position of the fifth member of the board of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs remained unfilled.

Litvinov, having become People's Commissar, continued to oversee the 3rd department - the Anglo-Saxon and Romance countries close to him. The 2nd Western Department - Central Europe and Scandinavia - was led by Krestinsky. The People's Commissar was dry and brusque, perhaps imitating Stalin's style. But one could argue with Litvinov. Discussions in the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs ceased only with the arrival of Molotov.

Krestinsky remained accessible and simple. Nikolai Nikolayevich worked in the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs until the spring of 1937, when he was suddenly transferred to the People's Commissariat of Justice and arrested almost immediately. He was made one of the main defendants in the trial of the "anti-Soviet Right-Trotsky bloc" in March 1938.

In May 1933, Grigory Yakovlevich Sokolnikov was appointed deputy people's commissar for the Far Eastern countries (Japan, China, Mongolia), who played an important role in civil war, then became People's Commissar of Finance and a candidate member of the Politburo. He was also considered a person close to Trotsky, and in 1929 he was sent as plenipotentiary to England. In the autumn of 1932, Sokolnikov asked to go home. He was appointed to the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs. For some time he dealt with relations with Mongolia, and then became deputy people's commissar, but not for long. Relations with Litvinov did not work out for him, in 1934 the number of deputies in the People's Commissariat was reduced, and Sokolnikov was transferred as the first deputy to the People's Commissariat of the Forestry Industry. In 1936 he was arrested and sentenced to ten years in prison. He was killed in prison.

Lev Mikhailovich Karakhan remained Deputy People's Commissar for the Middle Eastern countries (Afghanistan, Persia, Turkey, the Arabian countries). Karakhan, close to the previous people's commissar - Chicherin, did not have a relationship with Litvinov. Maxim Maksimovich did not like his deputy, therefore, under him, Karakhan ceased to replace the head of the department during the people's commissar's business trips.

In May 1934, from the post of second deputy people's commissar, Lev Mikhailovich was sent as ambassador to Turkey. Karakhan was bored in Ankara and asked for more active work. On December 31, 1936, he wrote to People's Commissar of Defense Voroshilov, with whom he was on “you”, complaining that he was oppressed by his current position, that he had no prospects for the NKID and he would have gone to another job: “I keep returning my thoughts to the NKVD. There I could be useful. There goes big job on foreign affairs, and I could be a good assistant to Yezhov.

It is amazing that even the top officials then were so poorly oriented in what was happening. The NKVD was really interested in Karakhan. But with a different purpose. He was recalled to Moscow only to be arrested and shot...

In 1934, collegiums in all people's commissariats, including the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs, were liquidated. Under Chicherin, there were real disputes at meetings, the members of the collegium, the same Litvinov, allowed themselves to disagree with the people's commissar, write to the Central Committee, defending their position. But Stalin decided that collegiums were an administrative overkill. The Politburo decided: "In the interests of bringing to the end the principle of unity of command in the management of the people's commissariats, it is considered expedient to liquidate the collegiums of the people's commissariats, leaving no more than two deputies at the head of the people's commissariats."

Instead of four deputies, Litvinov was left with two - Krestinsky (first deputy) and Stomonyakov (second). This strengthened his power within the people's commissariat. Moreover, at the beginning of 1934, Litvinov was elected a member of the Central Committee.

Stomonyakov led the 1st Western Department (relations with Poland and the Baltic states). This was the main department, because relations with Poland remained decisive for the then Soviet leadership, and the people's commissar trusted Boris Stomonyakov more than others. When mass repressions began in the people's commissariat, Litvinov made efforts to save Stomonyakov, who, at the time of his arrest, tried to shoot himself and ended up in a prison hospital. Litvinov asked to see Stalin. Understanding the risks, he firmly said:

I vouch for Stomonyakov.

Stalin replied:

Comrade Litvinov, you can only vouch for yourself.

Stomonyakov was destroyed. Of the entire leadership of the People's Commissariat, only Maxim Maksimovich himself survived ...

The staff of the embassies was at first small - the plenipotentiary himself, the adviser, the first secretary, the military attaché, the consul general. Next came the technical staff - the secretaries of the consulate, the supply manager, the cryptographer, the guards from the OGPU (then the NKVD).

Moscow saw to it that Soviet diplomats lived modestly. In 1926, the minutes of the meeting of the Politburo recorded:

"one. Plenipotentiaries and trade representatives in Germany, Latvia and Estonia to be severely reprimanded for excesses and revelry committed on the day of the 9th anniversary of the revolution, compromising our Republic in the eyes of the workers.

2. To instruct the NC RCT to collect comprehensive material on this case and submit draft measures on strict regulation of the costs of all embassies and trade missions, based on the need to cut them in half.

Muza Vasilievna Kanivez, the wife of Fyodor Raskolnikov, who was the plenipotentiary in Afghanistan, Estonia, Denmark, Bulgaria, left memories of embassy life. When she and her husband came to Moscow on vacation and sincerely said that they were tired of living far from their homeland, one of the colleagues answered in a whisper:

Do not rush, Muzochka, to return from abroad. This is a hell of a life.

Even then, the employees of the embassy tried in public to find fault with the host country and in general foreign life. They knew that among the listeners there would definitely be a secret state security officer who vigilantly monitors the morale of the embassy apparatus. If a Soviet diplomat liked bourgeois reality and he did not know how to hide it, he was quickly returned to his homeland. And already very many wanted to work abroad - at home it was hungry and scarce.

Some diplomats preferred not to return at all. In just one year, from the autumn of 1928 to the autumn of 1929, seventy-two employees of the foreign apparatus refused to return to Soviet Union. The selection for work abroad became even more stringent - they did not let those who had relatives abroad, “non-proletarian origin” or deviations from the party line.

In 1929, the problem was discussed at a meeting of the Politburo. "On the unrest revealed in the Soviet missions abroad" reported the old Bolshevik Boris Anisimovich Roizenman, a member of the Presidium of the Central Control Commission and a member of the Collegium of the People's Commissariat of Workers' and Peasants' Control. He was engaged in foreign personnel and checking the work of foreign institutions.

Resolved:

“a) Instruct the People's Commissariat of the Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate to submit specific proposals to the Politburo on all issues arising from the report of comrade. Roizenman (the list of recalled persons, downsizing, etc.), as well as on the following issues that arose in connection with his report:

1) destruction of secret funds in all foreign embassies,

2) the maximum reduction of existing representations of various organizations,

3) preventing the formation of new representative offices without special permission and their registration in the NC RCT.

b) Establish a commission to study the causes of the corruption of our workers abroad and the refusal to return to the USSR.”

In the twenties, the diplomatic corps consisted of old Bolsheviks, educated people who had been abroad, who knew languages. In the thirties, they began to send "nominees" abroad, as they said then, that is, party members mobilized for diplomatic work, completely unprepared and not "spoiled" by knowledge foreign languages. Only diplomats were allowed to communicate with foreigners. The rest - that is, the technical and administrative apparatus of the embassy - had to stew in their own juice. This gave rise to worse conflicts in a small team than in a cramped communal apartment. They quarreled, wrote denunciations against each other to the plenipotentiary and directly to Moscow. All those who went abroad handed in party cards, but meetings of the party cell were held at the embassy, ​​and they could criticize the plenipotentiary, reporting their opinion to the Central Committee apparatus.

We tried not to let anyone go abroad without special need. In 1930, the Politburo decided:

"one. Temporarily, pending a special resolution of the Central Committee: to prohibit trips abroad of theaters, sports teams, delegates to exhibitions, writers, musicians, etc., as well as, as a rule, delegates to scientific congresses. Exceptions are allowed only in each individual case by special decree of the Central Committee.

2. Reduce plans of departments for business trips abroad, with the exception of business trips for study, especially severely cut business trips for operations that can be carried out by the apparatus of trade missions.

3. In order to reduce the duration of business trips, it is necessary to recognize the issuance of foreign passports for a limited period (3-6 months).

4. In order to increase the responsibility of departments, to prohibit the commission of the Central Committee on trips from considering business trips that are not approved by the people's commissar (in industry - personally approved by the chairmen of associations and the deputy chairman of the Supreme Council of National Economy authorized to do so). At the same time, the responsibility for the personal selection of those sent to be assigned to one of the members of the collegium, subject to the approval of the Central Committee.

5. The commissions of the Central Committee for travel, together with the foreign exchange department of the People's Commissariat of Finance, develop and within ten days submit for approval to the Central Committee a living wage for each country where business trips are given, as well as the cost (currency part) of travel. The amount of currency issuance for each trip is approved by the commission on departures. To categorically prohibit both departments and trade missions, under pain of criminal liability, to make any additional issuance of foreign currency to business travelers.

6. In case of early fulfillment of assignments or discrediting behavior of those sent, representatives of the Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate inform the plenipotentiary and the trade representative about this with a view to secondment to the Soviet Union.

7. Grant the right to plenipotentiaries, at the suggestion of representatives of the RCT, to second to Moscow persons who are on business trips abroad within 24 hours.

The plenipotentiaries themselves allowed themselves to object to the people's commissar and challenge his instructions. In general, they behaved quite independently. The People's Commissariat imposed discipline with the help of Politburo resolutions. For example, in 1926 they made the following decision:

“On absences of employees of embassy missions

b) In view of the statement of the NKID that in the Paris embassy at the same time (without the permission of the NKID) went on vacation, Comrades. Rakovsky and Davtyan, to propose to the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs that they immediately take measures to ensure that the plenipotentiary (or adviser) is summoned to his place of work in Paris.

c) Oblige the NKID to take measures to ensure that henceforth questions about absences (vacations, trips to Moscow, etc.) of the main employees of embassy missions are made with the permission of the NKID, and, if necessary, the Central Committee.

d) Distribute this decree to all plenipotentiaries ... "

Before the start of mass repressions, the diplomatic service, as, indeed, the whole life in the country, had not yet settled down. Much was decided by personal relationships and connections in the central office. In the twenties (very widely) and even in the early thirties, some plenipotentiaries - former major party workers - directly addressed members of the Politburo with whom they had personal relations, and even to Stalin himself. Litvinov's party status was higher than that of Chicherin, but he did not belong to the top, so recent party workers did not feel like his subordinates. Although Litvinov, like his successors, demanded that all appeals to the top go through the people's commissariat.

The plenipotentiary in Czechoslovakia Alexander Yakovlevich Arosev complained to Stalin: “The department does not want the plenipotentiary to have the opportunity to communicate directly with the Politburo or its members. The department wants its officials to hold all posts.” Arosev did not miss a chance to point out that Litvinov was close to the right, and that Deputy People's Commissar Krestinsky was a Trotskyist at all. Litvinov could not do anything, because Arosev had once studied with Molotov, and served exile with Voroshilov.

Stalin did not mind when the plenipotentiaries addressed him directly. He hosted Soviet representatives in the largest countries in the Kremlin. This made it possible to obtain additional information, including on the relationship within the People's Commissariat, although the Secretary General did not allow diplomats any initiative. The main thing in Stalin's diplomacy was conscious self-restraint: everyone should do what he was entrusted with, accurately and literally follow the instructions of the leadership.

The ambassador to Sweden, Alexandra Mikhailovna Kollontai, wrote in her diary in 1933 after meeting with Stalin: “In our work, there is no need to be proactive. You have to "do things".

On December 22, 1933, Litvinov complained to Stalin about appointments in the US embassy, ​​because of which he disagreed with Plenipotentiary Alexander Troyanovsky: with plenipotentiaries. You will probably agree that the people's commissar cannot have this authority when, in his conflict with the plenipotentiary on a case in which the plenipotentiary cannot understand anything, the Central Committee decides the issue entirely in his favor ... "

Having become People's Commissar, Litvinov updated the composition of the ambassadors, the former politicians were replaced by the first professional diplomats. The selection of diplomatic personnel was carried out by the organizational and distribution department of the Central Committee, in which there was a foreign sector. They were transferred to diplomatic work from the party, they took people from production. They often lacked basic training. In 1934, the Politburo approved a draft resolution of the Council of People's Commissars on the transfer from the reserve fund to the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs of the funds needed to organize the Institute of Diplomatic and Consular Workers. By decision of the Politburo, his listeners were also granted a deferment from conscription into the army and were exempted from military training for the duration of their studies.

The diplomats were directly involved in the commission for the verification of comrades who returned to the USSR from work abroad. It existed within the apparatus of the party inquisition - the Central Control Commission.

On August 11, 1937, Georgy Maksimilianovich Malenkov, a rising party star, head of the department of leading party bodies of the Central Committee, reported to Stalin: “On your instructions, fifty workers have been selected for the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs. All these workers were checked by the Organizing Department of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, as well as through the NKVD. I received each of the selected comrades, after which Comrade got acquainted with them. Litvinov.

In 1938, a new rule was introduced: all those working abroad must come on vacation to their homeland so that the Chekists could take a closer look at them.

In the decision of the Politburo they wrote:

"one. Establish that employees of foreign establishments of the USSR are obliged to spend their holidays in the Soviet Union.

2. Propose to people's commissariats to pay for the travel of employees of foreign institutions of the USSR who come on vacation to the Soviet Union.