The People's Commissariat of Nationalities of the RSFSR (, ''Narodny komissariat po delam natsional'nostey RSFSR''), abbreviated NKNats () or Narkomnats (), an organization functioning from 1917 to 1924 in the early Soviet period of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n and Soviet history, tasked with dealing with non-

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

nationalities. Its head,

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

, as the chairman of the People's Commissariat of Nationalities (1917–23), served as a member of the

Council of People's Commissars The Council of People's Commissars (CPC) (), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (), were the highest executive (government), executive authorities of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), the Soviet Union (USSR), and the Sovi ...

Origins

It was established even before the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

on 11 June 1917 by the Petrograd Soviet as part of three measures to create state forms that would guarantee federal and

autonomous In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be defi ...

solutions to national questions in the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

: * complete civil equality for all citizens * the right to use the

mother tongue A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongue'' refers ...

in official business, on par with

* the formation of a Soviet of nationality affairs – Narkomnats. This decision was made in response to the crisis triggered by the

Central Council of Ukraine The Central Rada of Ukraine, also called the Central Council (), was the All-Ukrainian council that united deputies of soldiers, workers, and peasants deputies as well as few members of political, public, cultural and professional organizations o ...

's demands for autonomy for national territories and a seat at any peace conference. These demands were rejected by

Alexander Kerensky Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky ( – 11 June 1970) was a Russian lawyer and revolutionary who led the Russian Provisional Government and the short-lived Russian Republic for three months from late July to early November 1917 ( N.S.). After th ...

. Narkomnats was set up as an organ of the Soviets to prepare for the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

, particularly in regards to how Ukrainian autonomy could be handled. It provided for the organisation of a congress of representatives from all of Ukraine, which in turn would set up a Ukrainian Constituent Assembly. At this time the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

s opposed any national autonomy; however, on 13 August,

published a tract that floated the idea of the

Party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

might set up an agency for nationality affairs. This came at a time when Kerensky and

Mensheviks The Mensheviks ('the Minority') were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903. Mensheviks held more moderate and reformist ...

Nikolay Chkheidze Nikoloz Chkheidze; ) ( – 13 June 1926), commonly known as Karlo Chkheidze, was a Georgia (country), Georgian politician and statesman. In the 1890s, he promoted the Social Democratic Party of Georgia, Social Democratic movement in Georgia, and ...

were arguing for a unified state. Kerensky told

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

n representatives that they could only hope for the status of

Zemstvo A zemstvo (, , , ''zemstva'') was an institution of local government set up in consequence of the emancipation reform of 1861 of Imperial Russia by Emperor Alexander II of Russia. Nikolay Milyutin elaborated the idea of the zemstvo, and the fi ...

. In 1918,

as the chairman presided over five or six of the first seven meetings of the Narkomnats Collegium, but failed to attend the next twenty one.

Specific commissariats related to Narkomnats

* Belnatskom was the

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

ian commissariat established 31 January 1918 * Evkom was the Jewish commissariatZvi Y. Gitelman, ''Jewish Nationality and Soviet Politics: The Jewish Sections of the CPSU, 1917-1930'' (1972). *

Muskom Muskom was the ''Central Commissariat of Muslim affairs in Inner Russia and Siberia'' set up by the Bolsheviks in January 1918 as part of Narkomnats. Mullanur Waxitov was appointed as chair, although he was not a member of the Communist Party of the ...

was the

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

commissariat, chaired by Mullanur Waxitov * Volga Commissariat for German Affairs, charter approved by Narkomnat on May 29, 1918

Origins

Specific commissariats related to Narkomnats

References

Further reading