People's Commissariat for Posts and Telegraphs of the RSFSR

History

On the Bolsheviks came to power in Russia and set up the Council of People's Commissars. The Council took control of the former Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs. On , the People's Commissar for Posts and Telegraphs issued a decree dissolving the former administration, which also concluded:

After the October Revolution of 1917, the Soviet government undertook a number of measures for establishing the socialist organisation of communications. In 1917 and 1918, there was nationalisation of the means of communication that were given the jurisdiction of the People’s Commissariat for Posts and Telegraphs. On 16 April 1918, the Council of People’s Commissars issued a decree that was signed by V. I. Lenin. The document laid the foundations for setting up the postal and telegraph department. According to another decree, of 21 November 1918, post offices became responsible for the distribution of Soviet periodicals in addition to the delivery of letters.

In 1918 and 1919, the Commissariat's official publication was Pochtovo-Telegrafnyi Zhurnal (; Post and Telegraph Journal).

Following a Lenin's proposal, a resolution of the Council of People’s Commissars in January 1921 initiated the organisation of radiotelephone offices. In 1922, the Supreme Soviet of the National Economy set up the Electrotechnical Trust for Weak-current Plants. The trust supervised the operation of enterprises that were engaged in production of communication equipment. In the same year, the world’s first radio broadcast station was opened in Moscow; its power was 12 kilowatts.

In the early 1920s, use of airplanes began for transporting mail.

On 12 November 1923, the Commissariat was replaced with the People's Commissariat for Posts and Telegraphs of the USSR.

Philatelic policy

The early Soviet government organised production and distribution of postage stamps of the RSFSR. Official state policy toward philately and collector's organisations included both financial and propagandistic aims. To carry out this policy, the Commissariat organised the Russian Bureau of Philately.

Similar to other governments in the world, the Soviet authorities considered stamp collectors as a source of revenue for various relief funds. For example, in December 1921 four semi-postal stamps were produced by the State Printers. They had denominations of 2,250 rubles, of which 2,000 rubles contributed to famine aid. 1921 CPA 28.jpg 1922 CPA 29.jpg 1922 CPA 30.jpg 1922 CPA 31.jpg

On 19 August 1922, the Commissioner for Philately and Scripophily Feodor Chuchin held a one-day philatelic event, Philately for Children. The event raised 344,535 rubles. 1922 CPA 43.jpg 1922 CPA 44.jpg 1922 CPA 45.jpg 1922 CPA 46.jpg 1922 CPA 47.jpg 1922 CPA 48.jpg

State monopoly in selling and exporting stamps turned out profitable as demonstrated by sales figures. Overall, famine relief was financed with 2.97 million rubles obtained from stamp sales in 1922 between April 1 and December 1. Around 97% of the stamp sales were arranged abroad. As reported to the Central Executive Committee, 310,287 of the 320,432 stamps were sold through the official monopoly office in Mannheim, Germany.

In 1923, on the occasion of International Workers' Day, another philatelic event was organised that appealed to stamp collectors. Stamps overprinted with the inscription "Philately for Workers" were made by the government and sold for only one day in Moscow. Russia 1923 CPA 87 stamp (Philately's Contribution to Labor. Charity. Overprint is gold. Marking 5th anniversary of October Revolution).jpg|Gold overprint Russia 1923 CPA 88 stamp (Philately's Contribution to Labor. Charity. Overprint is bronze. Symbols of science and art).jpg|Bronze overprint Russia 1923 CPA 89 stamp (Philately's Contribution to Labor. Charity. Overprint is bronze. Industry. 'Workers of the world, unite!').jpg|Bronze overprint Russia 1923 CPA 90 stamp (Philately's Contribution to Labor. Charity. Overprint is silver. Industry. 'Workers of the world, unite!').jpg|Silver overprint Russia 1923 CPA 90 stamp with overprint upside down (Philately's Contribution to Labor. Charity. Overprint is silver. Industry. 'Workers of the world, unite!') small resolution.jpg|Silver overprint invert Russia 1923 CPA 86, 89 two proof stamp pair (Philately's Contribution to Labor. Charity. Overprint is red) small resolution.jpg|Red overprint

List of chiefs

The first Commissar was Nikolai Glebov-Avilov, who sat on Sovnarkom in 1917. After that, the post was taken up by four other officers:

References

References

1. link. (1988). Радио и связь [Radio i svyaz']. 320 p
2. Brinton, M.. (9 October 2012). "The Bolsheviks and Workers' Control 1917–1921: The State and Counter-Revolution". On Our Own Authority! 176 p.
3. (1977). Советская энциклопедия [Soviet Encyclopedia]
4. (1975). Советская энциклопедия [Soviet Encyclopedia]
5. See {{OCLC. 145382091.
6. link. (1988). Радио и связь [Radio i svyaz']. 320 p
7. Grant, J.. (July 1995). "The socialist construction of philately in the early Soviet era". Comparative Studies in Society and History.
8. Ivanova, V.. (2015-02-23). "Philately in Russia, Part 2. Philately in the RSFSR and the USSR". Russia-InfoCentre; Guarant-InfoCentre.