Bolshevik Initial Decrees
Soviet legislation in 1917–24, before the Soviet Union
The Bolshevik Initial Decrees were a series of edicts announced after the Bolshevik victory in the October Revolution of 1917.
The decrees included:
- Decree on Peace - An edict outlining the Soviet withdrawal from World War One without payment of indemnities or annexations. This edict was to secure the support of Russian soldiers.
- Decree on Land - Edict outlining measures by which Soviet peasants were to divide farmland amongst themselves. It also mandated the dissolution of the estates of the former aristocracy. The decree was popular with the peasantry.
- Workers Decrees - Outlined reforms for labourers and instituted a minimum wage, a limit on working hours, established workers committees, etc.
- Decree on Courts.
- Decree Abolishing Classes and Civil Ranks.
- Decree of Establishment of the State Commission on the Enlightenment.