The Sickle and the Hammer: A Socialist History of the Soviet Union 19.a - The Decree on Land
Nov 26, 2025
The discussion opens with the reading of the Decree on Land, marking the end of private ownership. It highlights the steps for confiscating land and protecting property during turbulent reforms. The peasant mandate is introduced as a temporary measure to navigate land management. Expropriation principles ensure that land is passed to those who work it, while state control over resources is emphasized. The sharing of land among cultivators and bans on hired labor create a vision for egalitarian distribution. The session wraps up with Lenin's signature on the decree, asserting its provisional nature.
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Complete Abolition Of Private Land Ownership
- The Decree abolishes private land ownership and transforms all land into national property for those who toil on it.
- It centralizes subterranean resources to the state while leaving local management of small forests and waters to communes.
Organize Local Committees And Registries
- District Soviets and local land committees must compile precise registries and guard confiscated property during redistribution.
- They should determine plot sizes and manage distribution democratically through rural communes and central organs.
Peasant Mandate As Provisional Law
- The decree adopts a peasant mandate making land matters provisional law until the Constituent Assembly decides.
- It frames the mandate as the will of a majority of conscious peasants to be implemented immediately with necessary gradualness.