Fifteenth All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers, Peasants, and

a congress of soviets held in Moscow from Feb. 26 to Mar. 5, 1931. It was attended by 1,134 delegates with a casting vote and 538 delegates with a consultative vote. Of the delegates with a casting vote, 802 were members of the ACP(B), 33 were members of Komsomol, and 299 were nonparty delegates. In terms of social composition, 610 of the delegates with casting votes were workers, 317 were peasants, and the rest were office employees.

The agenda included a report by the government of the RSFSR (read by D. E. Sulimov), a report on changes in the Constitution of the RSFSR (A. S. Kiselev), a report on public education and the introduction of applied technical subjects in general-education schools (A. S. Bubnov), a report by the Central Union of Consumers’ Societies on the situation and tasks of the consumers’ cooperatives (I. A. Zelenskii), and a report by the congress’ Credentials Committee (M. F. Shkiriatov). The congress elected the members of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the RSFSR’s representatives to the Soviet of Nationalities of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR.

The congress summed up the achievements of the first two years of the five-year plan. The economic gains made in these years enabled the congress to consider accelerated rates of socialist construction. The government of the RSFSR was advised to follow closely the construction of a second coal and metallurgical base in the eastern part of the country and to take steps to stimulate the organization of kolkhozes and sovkhozes. The delegates gave special attention to the task of raising the economy and culture of the national autonomous republics and oblasts to the level of the advanced regions of the country. The congress modified some articles of the Constitution of the RSFSR in connection with the legislative changes in the composition of the people’s commissariats and with the abolition of administrative okrugs (1930) and the shift to the raion system.

In conjunction with a report by the People’s Commissariat of Education of the RSFSR, the congress adopted a resolution urging all soviet and economic organizations to regard as a major task the struggle for universal compulsory elementary education, the introduction of technical training in the schools, and the eradication of illiteracy. The congress elected the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, composed of 400 members. Five persons were elected to represent the RSFSR in the Soviet of Nationalities of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR.