A People's Commissariat was a structure in the Soviet state from 1917–1946 which functioned as the central executive body in charge of managing a particular field of state activity or a separate sector of the national economy; analogue of the ministry. As a rule, the People's Commissariat was headed by the People’s Commissar, which is part of the government – the Council of People's Commissars of the appropriate level. Commissariats were created as central organs of state administration when Soviet power was established in the republics in the territory of the former Russian Empire. The number of People's Commissariats changed in accordance with the requirements of the current moment; basically it was an increase due to the separation of existing and the formation of new ones.
First People's Commissariats
The first People's Commissariats were created by the "Decree on the establishment of the Council of People's Commissars", adopted by the 2nd Congress of Soviets on November 9, 1917. The decree was established: The All-Russian Congress of Soviets and its executive body, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, had the right to control the activities of the People's Commissars and to remove them. By the same decree the first composition of the Council of People’s Commissars was formed, including the list of People's Commissariats:
People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs;
People's Commissariat of Agriculture;
People's Commissariat of Labor;
People's Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs;
Later, by a decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of December 15, 1917, the Supreme Council of National Economy under the Council of People's Commissars, which had the status of People's Commissariat, was established to organize and manage the national economy. When Soviet power was established in other Soviet republics, similar commissariats were established on the territory of the former Russian Empire.
Salary
The Council of People's Commissars adopted on December 1, 1917, at the suggestion of Lenin, the decree "On the amount of remuneration of the people's commissars and senior officials". According to the decree, the remuneration of the people's commissars was 500 rubles plus 100 rubles for each disabled family member, which was approximately equal to the average wage of the worker.
Article 11 of the Constitution of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic of 1918 provided for the opportunity for "regions differing in special life and national composition" to create autonomous regions with the formation of their regional Congresses of Soviets and their executive bodies, that is, the Councils of People's Commissars. Thus, in the Kirghiz Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic, formed in 1926 as part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, in 1929 the Constitution was adopted, which reads:
Since the formation of the Soviet Union, the Union republics delegated part of their sovereign powers to the newly formed state, only a part of governance issues remained in their jurisdiction. The Treaty on the Creation of the Soviet Union defines the list of People's Commissariats, whose leaders were members of the Council of People's Commissars of the Republics:
The Council of People's Commissars of the Republic with a deliberative vote also included representatives representing those People's Commissariats, whose leadership began to fall within the competence of the Soviet Union:
People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs;
People's Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs;
People's Commissariat of Foreign Trade;
People's Commissariat of Communications;
People's Commissariat of Posts and Telegraphs.
People's Commissariats of the Soviet Union
The creation of the Soviet Union was legally formalized by the Treaty on the Creation of the Soviet Union, which provided for the formation of the government of the union state. It was called the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union; it included the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union, his deputies, the leaders of the People's Commissariats of the Soviet Union. The Treaty provides the following list of People's Commissariats of the Soviet Union:
People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs;
People's Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs;
People's Commissariat of Foreign Trade;
People's Commissariat of Communications;
People's Commissariat of Posts and Telegraphs;
People's Commissariat of Workers' and Peasants' Inspection;
Supreme Council of National Economy;
People's Commissariat of Labor;
People's Commissariat of Food;
People's Commissariat of Finance.
As the national economy developed and strengthened, the number of People's Commissariats at all levels increased. So, in 1932, the Supreme Council of the National Economy of the Soviet Union was transformed into three people's commissariat:
