1918

1918

1918 is one of the key one in the history of Russia. It is precisely this year that the formation of the Red Army and the White Movement and the deployment of the Civil War, the conclusion of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and the initiation of intervention, the founding of the Soviet statehood and the adoption of the first Constitution of the RSFSR, the implementation of the economic policy of "military communism" and the adoption of the decree on the Red Terror took place. The Presidential Library presents a special collection dedicated to the main events of this period: from convocation and dispersal of the Constituent Assembly to the seizure of power by A.V. Kolchak in Omsk, the annulment of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk after the beginning of the revolution in Germany and the signing of the Compiègne Armistice, which ended the fighting during the World War I. The material is presented in thematic sections arranged in chronological order. The principle of "from general to particular", allowing step-by-step and in detail to consider problems is in the heart of their construction. 

The species composition of the collection is diverse. The collection includes both laws and regulations of the Civil War period, as well as records of state institutions and public organizations. Great importance in covering the events of 1918 belongs to memoirs, diaries and letters of witnesses of events, works of contemporaries, research documents (Soviet and modern periods) and other publications (directories, anniversary issues, published lectures). Visual materials, complementing the picture of events are represented by postcards, photographs, maps, plans, leaflets, posters and newsreels. All materials are grouped in the appropriate sub-sections on the thematic and / or specific features: research and memories, archival materials (including transcripts of meetings, lists, telegrams), visual materials, which facilitates the problems.

While forming the collection, materials from state archives (the State Archives of the Russian Federation, the Russian State Historical Archive, the Central State Historical Archive of St. Petersburg, the Russian State Archive of Cinema and Photo Documents), central and regional libraries (the Russian State Library, the National Library of Belarus, the Natural Sciences Library, the Russian Academy of Sciences, the State Public Historical Library, the Center the Scientific Library of the Russian Academy of Arts, the Arkhangelsk Regional Scientific Library, the Don State Public Library, the Novosibirsk State Regional Scientific Library, the Omsk Regional Scientific Library, the Ryazan Regional Universal Scientific Library) were used. The collection also included documents provided by higher educational institutions, research centers and museums (the Russian State Humanitarian University, the S. M. Kirov Military Medical Academy, the Russian Geographical Society, the Peterhof State Museum, the Children's Museum of Postcard).

  • January

    • All-Russian Constituent Assembly

      The collection dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the convocation of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly included popular publications written in 1917 with the purpose of acquainting the country's population with the goals, tasks and features of the work of the assembly; materials of the assembly in the form of lists and certificates of delegates, verbatim record of the sole assembly, legislative projects that were discussed by the deputies; welcome telegrams of the public in connection with the opening of the assembly; documents that tell about the consequences and results of the assembly; as well as visual materials, depicting the assembly of January 5 (18) and its participants.

  • February

    • Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA)

      The collection includes decrees, military regulations, studies on the history of the creation of the Red Army and its participation in hostilities, the works of creators, documents on educational and cultural and educational activities, and jubilee materials.

    • The first Kuban ("Ice") campaign of the Volunteer Army

      The collection dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the First Kuban campaign of the Volunteer Army included memories of participants in the legendary campaign and contemporaries of the Civil War; scientific research; essays on the leaders of the Volunteer Army (generals L. G. Kornilov and M. V. Alekseev); materials of the Union of Participants of the First Kuban campaign; as well as maps and plans of the Don Military Region, photographs and video lecture.
  • March

    • Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

      The collection is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the conclusion of the Treaty of Peace between the RSFSR and the powers of the Quadruple Alliance of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, by which Russia's participation in the First World War ended. Transcripts of meetings of peace negotiations, essays by contemporaries and members of the Soviet delegation with a general analysis of the foreign policy of the RSFSR during the period under review, as well as photographs of negotiators, are presented.

  • April

    • Иностранная военная интервенция в Россию

      В коллекцию, посвящённую интервенции в Россию в годы Гражданской войны, вошли материалы, которые раскрывают историю взаимоотношений белых правительств и интервентов: письма и статьи из личных фондов председателя Временного правительства Северной области в 1918-1919 гг. Н. В. Чайковского и Главнокомандующего Вооружёнными силами Юга России в 1919-1920 гг. А. И. Деникина; научные исследования, а также изобразительные материалы.
  • May

    • Establishment of food dictatorship

      The section devoted to the establishment in May 1918 of a food dictatorship, features collections of Soviet decrees on the organization of supply and distribution of food; scientific editions of the late 10's and early 20's, which reflect the main directions and results of the food policy of the Bolsheviks, as well as general issues of organizing the central distribution of food products; archive materials that reveal the activities of the People's Commissariat of Food; photographs of the leaders of the Soviet state and the People's Commissars of Food, who conducted the policy of food dictatorship.
  • June

    • Национализация промышленности

      В коллекции, приуроченной к юбилею начала проведения большевиками национализации промышленности, представлены декреты и проекты декретов по управлению промышленностью; теоретические работы председателей ВСНХ А. И. Рыкова и Ф. Э. Дзержинского о положении советской промышленности, её достижениях и планах развития; материалы промышленных переписей и постановления о них; переписка с ВСНХ о снабжении предприятий; протоколы заседаний Совета военной промышленности и изобразительные материалы.
  • July

    • The Constitution (basic law) of the RSFSR of 1918

      The collection which marks the centenary of the first Soviet Constitution features its 1918 and 1940 editions; the list of participants of the Commission set up to draft the Constitution; methodical materials and shorthand records of the Commission’s meetings; drafts of the Constitution; theoretical works of the Soviet government officials, scientific studies and educational publications which spotlight the main features of the Constitution, the history of its drafting and adoption; as well as picture postcards showing the members of the Commission.

    • The execution of the Royal family

      The collection, which highlights the centenary of the execution of the royal family in Yekaterinburg, features the first studies of circumstances of execution in the Ipatiev House published in the 1920s, in particular a book of the British journalist Robert Wilton, who jointly with investigator N. Sokolov took part in the investigation of the death of the tsar and his family, commissioned by A. Kolchak, a brochure of the participant of the White movement V. Agapeev, in which he dispelled the myths about the survival of Nicholas II’s family, an essay of the Soviet statesman P. Bykov, which was a Bolsheviks response to N. Sokolov’s investigation, along with telegrams of a chairman of the Ural Regional Soviet about the detention of the royal family, and visual materials.
  • August – September

    • Individual and Mass Terror during the Civil War

      The collection devoted to the history of the White and Red Terror includes publications dating from the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s and archival materials, which cast light on the history of anti-Bolshevik revolts during the Civil War, the establishment and activities of the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission; collections of decrees and resolutions of the Soviet government, which regulated the Red Terror; as well as cards, which show the victims of the White Terror and F. E. Dzerzhinsky - the Chairman of the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission.
  • October

    • The emergence of the Komsomol movement

      The collection, dedicated to the emergence of the Komsomol (the All-Union Leninist Communist Youth League) movement in Russia includes Soviet time publications dating from the 1920s, 1940s, which cast light on the participation of the youth in the Revolution and the Civil War, famous Komsomol members and the youth policy of the Bolsheviks.