The 7th (extraordinary) Congress of the RSDLP(b) ( Russian Social Democratic Labor Party), also known as the Extraordinary 7th Congress of the RCP(b) (

Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first)Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

), was held between 6–8 March 1918. During this congress the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

changed the name of the party to include the word "

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

". It was the first congress of the Bolsheviks after their gaining of power in the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

. It was held in the

Taurida Palace Tauride Palace (russian: Таврический дворец, translit=Tavrichesky dvorets) is one of the largest and most historically important palaces in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Construction and early use Prince Grigory Potemkin of Tauride ...

Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

(St. Petersburg) in extraordinary session to consider the peace treaty with

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

to end

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, concluded by the

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (also known as the Treaty of Brest in Russia) was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire), that ended Russia's ...

earlier in March. The 47

plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of his or her sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the word ...

and 59 consultative delegates represented about 17,000 Party members. The actual Party head count was about 300,000, but many delegates could not arrive on such short notice, partially because of the German occupation of significant territory. The agenda was: *Report of the 6th Central Committee (delivered by

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

) *War and peace *Revision of the Party Programme, including the change of the name of the Party *Miscellanea *Elections of the 7th Central Committee

Brest Peace

The Brest Peace was an issue of fierce controversy within the Party. The Brest Peace was opposed by the faction of the Left Communists, who were led by Nickolay Bukharin and were influential in the major party organizations: in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, Petrograd, and the

Urals The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...

. There was little unity among the supporters of the Brest Peace. After Lenin's report, Bukharin presented a second report, demanding that the war with Germany continue. After heated discussions, Lenin's version of th
Resolution On War And Peace
was approved at the morning session of March 8 by a signed vote: 30 in favor, 12 against, 4 abstained. Lenin's proposal, was not made public at that time and was first published in the January 1, 1919 '' Kommunar'', a daily newspaper issued by the Central Committee for workers in Moscow. The Brest Peace was ratified by the Extraordinary

Fourth All-Russia Congress of Soviets The All-Russian Congress of Soviets evolved from 1917 to become the supreme governing body of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1918 until 1936, effectively. The 1918 Constitution of the Russian SFSR mandated that Congress sha ...

(March 14–16).

List of elected members to the Central Committee

The Contress elected the following members to the Central Committee (by number of received votes): Elected Members # Lenin (Ulyanov) Vladimir Ilyich # Trotsky Lev Davidovich # Sverdlov Yakov Mikhailovich # Zinoviev Grigorii Evseevich # Bukharin Nikolai Ivanovich # Stalin Iosif Vissarionovich # Sokolnikov Grigori Iakovlevich # Krestinsky Nikolai Nikolaevich # Smilga Ivar Tenisovich # Stasova Elena Dmitrievna # Lashevich Mikhail Mikhailovich # Shmidt Vasilii Vladimirovich # Dzerzhinsky Feliks Edmundovich # Vladimirsky Mikhail Fedorovich # Artem (Sergeev Fedor Andreevich) Candidates # Ioffe Adolf Abramovich # Kiselev Aleksei Semenovich # Berzin Ian Antonovich # Uritsky Moisei Solomonovich # Stuchka Petr Ivanovich # Petrovsky Grigory Ivanovich # Lomov (Oppokov) Georgy Ippolitovich # Shliapnikov Aleksandr Gavrilovich

External links

Speeches by Lenin
at the Extraordinary Seventh Congress of the R.C.P.(B.), ''Collected Works'', Progress Publishers, Moscow, Volume 27, 1972, pages 85–158

References

*"Seventh Congress of the Russian Communist Party. Verbatim Report. March 6–8, 1918" (1923) {{DEFAULTSORT:7th Congress Of The Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) Communist Party of the Soviet Union 07 1918 in Russia 1918 conferences March 1918 events