The Ministry of Communications of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) (russian: Министерство связи СССР) was the central state administration body on

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

from 1923 to 1991. During its existence it had three names: People's Commissariat for Posts and Telegraphs (1923–32), People's Commissariat for Communications (1932–46) and Ministry of Communications (1946–1991). It had authority over the postal,

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

and

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

communications as well as public radio, technical means of radio and

television broadcasting A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay television providers. Until the mid- ...

, and the distribution of

periodicals A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a journal are also exampl ...

in the country.

History

Posts and Telegraphs (1923–32)

In 1922, the Soviet Union was formed. Its

founding document A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...

stated that, among different areas, "jurisdiction of the

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, as represented by its supreme bodies shall be": The same document defined that "the Executive Body of the Central Executive Committee of the Union is the

Council of People's Commissars The Councils of People's Commissars (SNK; russian: Совет народных комиссаров (СНК), ''Sovet narodnykh kommissarov''), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (Совнарком), were the highest executive authorities of ...

of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (CPC Union), elected by the Central Executive Committee of the Union for the term of the latter," and it would comprise the

People's Commissar Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English transliteration of the Russian (''komissar''), which means 'commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the political commissars of Soviet and Ea ...

for Posts and

Telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

s. In the Council of People's Commissars of the Union republics, the People's Commissariat for Posts and Telegraphs had "an advisory capacity." Accordingly, after the formation of the Soviet Union, the People's Commissariat for Posts and Telegraphs of the USSR was created in 1923 instead of the similar agency of the RSFSR. Regulations on the new Commissariat were approved by the USSR Central Executive Committee session on 12 November 1923. In 1924, the People's Commissariat for Posts and Telegraphs set up a mobile postal service, providing it to rural localities. In 1925, an area inhabited by 68% of the USSR population (27% of the population centres) was covered by home delivery of

mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal sys ...

. Regular

radio broadcasting Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

started in 1924, with radio broadcast stations being established in 1925 in

Leningrad 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 ...

, Kiev,

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

, and other cities. By 1929, the telegraph networks destroyed in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

of 1918–1920 were restored to the pre-

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 ...

level. Further improvement of telegraph communication was aimed at a conversion to letter-printing telegraphs. The first facsimile communications line was opened in 1929. In the same year, an

automatic switching system In data communications, an automatic switching system is a switching system in which all the operations required to execute the three phases of Information transfer transactions are automatically executed in response to signals from a user end-inst ...

for 6,000 numbers was opened in Rostov-on-Don. In 1930, two regional automatic switching systems were launched in Moscow. On 17 January 1932, the Commissariat was re-organised and renamed the ''People's Commissariat for Communications''.

1932–1946

The Commissariat was organised on 17 January 1932 by renaming from the

People's Commissariat for Posts and Telegraphs of the USSR People's Commissariat for Posts and Telegraphs of the USSR was the central organ of the Soviet Union government that was in charge of the organisation and administration of the different forms of communication including posts. It existed between ...

. Over the years of the pre-World War II five-year plans (1929–1940), there was a rapid development of the Soviet communication system and industry. High-frequency equipment was introduced for long-distance communication. Use of such equipment allowed to transmit three, four, or 12 telephone calls over a pair of wires or 16 telegrams over a single telephone channel. In 1939, construction of a high-frequency three-channel line between Moscow and Khabarovsk (8,600 km) provided dependable communication between the USSR central regions and the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

. By late 1940, the Moscow

Central Telegraph PJSC Central Telegraph (russian: Центральный телеграф) is a Russian telecommunications company which provides different services such as fixed line telephony and internet access, IPTV, rental of communication channels, electric ...

Office had 22 facsimile lines. In 1941, a 12-channel line between Moscow and

was put into operation that meant the concurrent transmission of 12 telephone calls over a single pair of wires. In the 1930s, the rural (intraraion) telephone communication was first set up. In 1940, it reached 70% of the areas under rural soviets, 76.3% of the

sovkhoz A sovkhoz ( rus, совхо́з, p=sɐfˈxos, a=ru-sovkhoz.ogg, abbreviated from ''советское хозяйство'', "sovetskoye khozyaystvo (sovkhoz)"; ) was a form of state-owned farm in the Soviet Union. It is usually contrasted wit ...

es, and 9.2% of the

kolkhoz A kolkhoz ( rus, колхо́з, a=ru-kolkhoz.ogg, p=kɐlˈxos) was a form of collective farm in the Soviet Union. Kolkhozes existed along with state farms or sovkhoz., a contraction of советское хозяйство, soviet ownership or ...

es. The

radio broadcasting network There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many (simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass media, mass-media entertainment, and the two-way radio (Duplex (telecomm ...

experienced significant expansion. In the early 1930s, the Comintern Radio Station, with a power of 500 kW, was constructed along with a number of other stations with a power of 100 kW each. The receiving network was augmented, while a system for wired broadcasting via rebroadcasting centres was arranged. Regular

television programming Broadcast programming is the practice of organizing or ordering (scheduling) of broadcast media shows, typically radio and television, in a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or season-long schedule. Modern broadcasters use broadcast automation ...

was initiated in 1939. During the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Sou ...

of 1941–1945, steady communication was organised between the General Headquarters of the Supreme Command and the fronts. Soviet postal service administered by the People's Commissariat for Communications of the USSR delivered billions of

letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

via the postal network and the military postal units of the army in the field. Up to 70 million parcels per month were delivered to the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

front from the rear under extremely difficult and often very dangerous conditions. Because of the war time, almost half the telephone offices became inoperative but were restored soon after the war. By 1948, telephone system capacity and number of installed telephone sets exceeded the prewar level. In the postwar times, mail service had undergone quantitative and qualitative changes. In 1946, the People's Commissariat for Communications of the USSR was transformed into the ''Ministry of Communications''.

As a ministry (1946–1991)

It was originally set up as an all-Union ministry, and in December 1954 transformed into a Union-Republican one. The Ministry of Communications of the USSR was responsible for the maintenance and further development of all types of communications in general use, and technical means of radio and television broadcasting. It was also in charge of the periodicals distribution as well as the provision of technological progress in the industry, the quality of communication services, and the most complete and continuous needs of the country media and communication services. Additionally, the Ministry was responsible for issuing

postage stamps A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...

and

postal stationery A piece of postal stationery is a stationery item, such as a stamped envelope, letter sheet, postal card, lettercard, aerogram or wrapper, with an imprinted stamp or inscription indicating that a specific rate of postage or related serv ...

(

envelope An envelope is a common packaging item, usually made of thin, flat material. It is designed to contain a flat object, such as a letter or card. Traditional envelopes are made from sheets of paper cut to one of three shapes: a rhombus, a sh ...

postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wood ...

s, etc.), which were used in the

postal system The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal syst ...

of the Soviet Union. The Ministry was terminated on 26 December 1991 due to the abolition of the Soviet Union. All Ministry assets, premises and other facilities in the territory of the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

were delegated to the Ministry of Communications of the Russian Federation. telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

History

Posts and Telegraphs (1923–32)

1932–1946

As a ministry (1946–1991)

Philatelic policy

1923–1932

1932–1946

Departments

People's Commissars and Ministers

Publications

See also

References

Citations

Sources

External links