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Talk:Gun control in the Soviet Union

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This article is largely false

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Latest comment: 4 months ago3 comments3 people in discussion
 
A personal sniper rifle M1891/1931 with a telescopic sight that belonged to a sniper A. G. Zhirnokleyev

There are MANY books on the Soviet Union or World War II, that demonstrate that USSR allowed it's population to be armed in World War II, even some crazy stuff, like an anecdote I once read about a woman who managed to get a tank and used it in battle. The USSR did NOT disarm it's population during WWII, in fact it did the opposite because of the Partisans that fought the Germans behind the lines.

173.218.98.78 (talk) 12:15, 5 May 2020 (UTC)Reply

you said it yourself, that was during the turmoil times of civil war and WW2, in the majority of Soviet gun control history, it was very strict on what average citizens could even own as a means of self defense Benfor445 (talk) 13:53, 10 September 2024 (UTC)Reply

It was not an "anecdote". And it was not a unique case. In 1941-1945, the purchase of military vehicles by the population of the USSR was widespread[1]. It should be noted that such vehicles usually had not only a serial number, but also an additional personal name. For example, a well-known Soviet female tank driver M. V. Oktyabrskaya bought a T-34 medium tank with her own money - and she gave this tank its own name: "Fighting Girlfriend" ("Боевая подруга"). Another well-known Soviet female tank driver E. A. Petlyuk received a T-60 light tank as a gift, the money for which were donated by children. This tank was named "A small girl" ("Малютка"). But there were also lesser-known cases. For example, peasants from Tambov Oblast bought a tank unit, which was named "Tambov Kolkhoznik" ("Тамбовский колхозник"). Citizens of Moscow bought another tank unit "Дзержинец" (five KV-1 heavy tanks)[2]. The Orthodox Church has purchased two units (fighter squadron "Александр Невский" in 1942-1943 and "Дмитрий Донской" tank unit in 1944). There were also other cases of purchasing military aircraft (most often these were single-engine fighters). And the Soviet artist S. M. Balashov bought a T-34 medium tank with his own money for the 8th Guards Army. This tank was named "Sergey Balashov" ("Сергей Балашов"). The last particular case is interesting because after the end of the war in 1945, Balashov received all the documents for this T-34 tank as a gift from the military command (these papers recorded the serial number of the tank, the cost of this tank - 100 thousand roubles and many other details)[3]. But a tank or an armed military aircraft could not be the private property of a citizen, even if it was purchased with his own money or given as a gift. In the USSR, armed military aircrafts and armed armoured military vehicles could not be taken home after demobilization. Although, it was possible to take home a horse or a sentry dog. During demobilization in 1945, the Soviet military command decided to reduce the number of armed forces and disband many cavalry units. You have to look at the memoirs of war veterans for specific references, but there are some references where a former cavalryman in 1945 was allowed to take his horse with him, and dog handlers were allowed to take their sentry dogs with them. And if you need a proof that needs to be mentioned in English... well... at the end of the war, on May 5, 1945, the U.S. General Omar Bradley received one cavalry horse as a gift from Marshal I. S. Konev[4] . However, it should be noted that this was a very unusual case, because military property of the USSR was rarely transferred to citizens of foreign countries.

The question of firearms is much more complex. There was no definition of "civilian firearms" ("гражданское оружие") in Soviet law. Instead, there were several different categories - "military weapons" ("оружие военного образца"), "hunting weapons" ("охотничье оружие"), "weapons for sport" ("спортивное оружие") and "other weapons" ("иное оружие").

As an example of "other weapons" we can recall the personal weapons of snipers. The best Soviet snipers received personal sniper rifles with optical sights (on the buttstock of such rifles there was a rectangular plate with an inscription - to whom and when this weapon was given)[5][6]. After demobilization, they could hand over these rifles to a military authorities, donate it to a military museum or keep it for themselves.

There are known cases where a person could have more than one personal firearm. For example, sniper V. M. Komaritsky, who received a personal sniper rifle, was awarded a second personal firearm (a personal TT pistol) after killing 170 enemy soldiers and officers[7].

Another example. Although it should be noted that this is a very unique case. On June 22, 1941, when the Axis forces launched a military invasion of the USSR, the writer Arkady Gaidar asked to be sent to the front. At that time, he was 37 years old, he had old injuries and problems with endurance and health. He was also a very popular and well-known writer. At first, the writers' union refused his request because there were other (younger) volunteers who wanted to go to the front, but then he turned to the newspaper "Komsomolskaya Pravda". As a result, on July 21, 1941, he went to the Southwestern Front as a war correspondent for the newspaper "Komsomolskaya Pravda" (together with another correspondent of this newspaper). After he arrived at the front, the military command gave him a submachine gun PPD-40 as personal weapon. There is a well-known photo of him at the front with a PPD-40[8]

And later, at least several infantrymen were awarded PPSh-41 submachine guns. An article published in July 1943 states that the first submachine gun was awarded to yefreytor Larionov (ефрейтор Ларионов), and later to sergeant Boldyrev (сержант Болдырев), sergeant Izyumov (сержант Изюмов), and the brave warriors Vasilyev (Васильев) and Fyodorov (Фёдоров) were also awarded such firearms[9]

Another example of "other weapon" is a non-standard self-made 7.62mm submachine gun, which was awarded to the Soviet partisan K. K. Kravchenko (К. К. Кравченко) in June 1944. Kravchenko fought behind the front line, so it was impossible to get a medal to award a distinguished fighter. As a result, instead of a medal, he received from the commander a submachine gun with an inscription on the receiver. This SMG was made by gunsmith N. S. Sergeev (Н. С. Сергеев) in an underground workshop where firearms and other weapons were repaired. Sergeev was a partisan in the Soviet partisan detachment "Znamya" ("Знамя" = "Banner") in the Minsk region. After the war, this gun was donated to the military museum in Moscow[10].

Another example of "other weapons" that were numerous and widespread in the USSR were handguns (pistols and revolvers) which were given to doctors and other medical personnel by order of military commanders in 1941-1945. During the war, not only military medics but also many civilian doctors participated in the treatment of wounded soldiers (especially during the defense of Odessa in 1941, the defense of Sevastopol in 1941-1942, the long defense of Leningrad in 1941-1944, etc.). At that time (especially in 1941-1942) the military command did not have the opportunity to award medals and other awards to people in the rear, because there were not enough medals even to award soldiers who fought at the frontline. However, during the fighting at the front, pistols of various models were captured from enemy troops. As a result, medics were usually awarded non-standard trophy pistols that used non-standard cartridges (for example, small 7.65mm pistols and 6.35mm pocket pistols). Information about such weapons may be found in unexpected places - for example, in fiction. If you read the Soviet detective novel "The Age of Mercy" (which was later made into a very famous film The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed), then one of the episodes there was the murder in September 1945 of a doctor's wife with a "Bayard" pistol, which belonged to this doctor as his own personal weapon.

Another good example of "other weapon" are the combat knives and even daggers that were made for distinguished Soviet soldiers and Soviet partisans in 1941-1945. During the war, and especially in 1941-1942, it was not always possible to award all distinguished soldiers with medals and orders. As a result, military commanders awarded some soldiers with knives with an inscription stating the achievements for which the award was received (for example, "Awarded to Sergeant I. I. Ivanov for great bravery in battle"). Most often, such non-standard knives (including pre-war hunting knives, combat knives of various design which were made during the war, and even at least one copy of medieval double-edged kinjal) were received by scouts (members of army reconnaissance units), marines and infantrymen. After demobilization, they could hand over these knives to a military authorities, donate it to a military museum or keep it for themselves. After 1991, some of these knives were stolen from museums. However, at least several of these knives are kept in military museums even today.

Another good example of "other weapon" is the Sword of Stalingrad (which was made by command of King George VI of the United Kingdom, given to USSR in November 1943 and became a museum exhibit, but it was not an "ancient / antique weapon"). Later, another sword with a gilded hilt was given as a gift to General I. Kh. Baghramyan from the Armenian diaspora (this sword was donated to the museum and is now kept in the state history museum in Yerevan).

Another good example of "other weapon" is the weapons received by Soviet military commanders, military specialists and military advisors as state awards or gifts from foreign countries.

Another example of "other weapon" (although this is also a very rare and unusual case!) was a shashka, which was given as a gift and a symbol of respect to a well-known Soviet actor V. S. Lanovoy from a military school in Alma-Ata. This weapon (a standard cavalry sabre with an inscription "Любимому артисту Василию Лановому от выпускников Алма-Атинского ВОКУ им. И. С. Конева" on the scabbard) was given to him after he starred as a Red Army cavalry officer in the film "Officers" in 1971. This film became famous. However, the existence of this weapon became known only after the actor's death, when in January 2023 this shashka was donated to a military museum in Moscow. This was mentioned in a news broadcast on the Zvezda TV channel on January 28, 2023[12].

Another good example of "other weapon" are naval dirks (кортик). In the Russian Empire naval dirk became part of the uniform of naval officers and civilian officials in the Navy Ministry. After the October Revolution of 1917, naval dirks were the weapons of naval officers in the Soviet navy. Later, they were also allowed as an element of the dress uniform for army generals and army officers.[13][14]

Another good example of "other weapon" are firearms given to foresters. On October 26, 1917, the People's Commissariat of Agriculture was created, and its area of ​​responsibility included issues related to forests. In 1923, the first forest code was adopted, according to which the restoration of forests and reserves began. To protect forests, defend themselves from dangerous wild animals, and combat poachers, illegal logging, and other crimes, foresters were given the right to own, store, use and carry firearms. It is very important to take into account that all these guns (incl. surplus rifles and carbines from military warehouses of Ministry of Defense) were issued without a bayonet, since it was not a "military weapon". Soviet foresters were usually armed with hunting rifles and hunting shotguns (although it was possible for a forester to buy a non-standard rifle/shotgun and write a written statement to his superior to register this weapon in order to receive free ammunition for it). Also, employees of the Ministry of Agriculture received a small number of handguns (usually Nagant M1895 revolvers) - they were issued to employees who received large sums of cash money from bank offices in cities and transported it to the countryside to pay salaries to other employees.

Another good example of "other weapon" are industrial nail guns (this device for driving in steel nails was considered a "tool")[15] and flare guns (for example, SPSh-44 signal pistol)... However, if someone stole such a gun and used it to commit murder, maiming, robbery or any other crime, they were considered as an armed criminal who had committed armed crimes.

Another good example of "other weapon" were muzzle-loading cannons (a replica of the Napoleonic wars cannons), which fire a blank charge of black powder. There were several of these guns in film studios. But permission to use such cannons was received by Soviet military reenactors of the medieval warfare and the early modern warfare (they used a wheeled cannon during their festivals on the Borodino field)[16]. Yes, this cannon could be loaded with solid projectiles (rocks or metal fragments) and fired - but firing solid objects would be illegal and those found guilty would be punished.

Another example of "other weapons" are bows. In the USSR it was completely legal to buy, make and own a wide variety of bows and arrows. There were toy bows and toy arrows (which were classified as "toys", "consumer goods" and "souvenirs"). It was also possible to shoot with sport bows at targets in accordance with the rules of the Olympic Games. But there were also other types of bows (for example, traditional bows - which for many centuries, since the Middle Ages, were used by some residents in different regions of the USSR). These traditional bows differed in design from the standard 20th century sport bows, as well as from each other. An example is an article about a traditional holiday in Buryatia in 1972. During this festival, competitors shot from traditional medieval bows (which were made according to old customs, from a certain type of wood and with a bowstring made of camel hide). Some of the visitors were sport shooters and they shot from modern sport bows made in accordance with contemporary international standards. But some participants shot non-standard arrows from self-made non-standard bows. There is a mention that at least one participant of the festival used a very unusual bow equipped with a special sight. There is a mention of someone using non-standard arrows with sharp metal arrowheads, which had a shaft made not of wood, but of aluminum alloy[17].

And another example about the "other weapons" (and this time, it's a really crazy thing). Surplus 100mm anti-aircraft guns KS-19 were handed over to local authorities to combat avalanches... and hailstorm clouds. In the late 1950s, the first shells against hailstorm clouds were invented and made for these decommissioned 100mm anti-aircraft guns (they were converted from previously made standard army shells). In 1980, they began making new projectiles against hailstorm clouds "Эльбрус-4" with improved characteristics that could be fired at a range of up to 16 km[18].

Another example of "other weapons" is the firearms for the aircrews of civil aviation of the USSR (since 1971). On October 15, 1970, two armed terrorists hijacked an An-24B passenger plane to Turkey. They took as their hostage and then brutally murdered an unarmed 19-year-old stewardess, N. V. Kurchenko, to force the pilots to change the route and scare other passengers (they beat her for a long time and then shot her). After that, Aeroflot pilots received firearms for self-defense. It was a standard Makarov pistol, which was kept in a locked steel box in the cockpit. As far as I know, the existence of these guns became known after the incident on May 13, 1981 in the Washington, D.C.. On May 13, 1981, at the Dulles International Airport, armed FBI agents and US Customs Service officers stopped a Soviet Aeroflot passenger plane[19] by blocking the runway with their cars, then boarded this plane, forcibly pushed the crew out of the plane, and searched the plane and the baggage inside. Aeroflot lodged a written protest to US authorities. The USSR Embassy officially reported that the handgun taken from the crew members was there to ensure flight safety. The USSR Embassy lodged a protest to the US government in connection with the US's gross violation of international law[20].

  • By the way, it should be noted that at the same time and later, firearms were carried by members of aircrews (or special sky marshal) in civil aviation in other countries of the world (for example, "Undercover agents carrying concealed firearms sit among the passengers on every international El Al flight".[21]).

A constant argument in Western anti-Soviet propaganda during and after the Cold War was the "small number of gun shops in the USSR". But this statement is false and does not correspond to reality. Yes, of course, there were fewer gun shops in the USSR than in the USA (but it is unclear why it is necessary to compare the USSR with the USA, and not with other countries). However, it is necessary to take into account that the USSR was a large country in which the population was very unevenly distributed. It is very unfair to compare the number of gun shops in Moscow and Yakutia (and if you compare with other regions of the world, you will not find many gun shops in the center of the Sahara desert or in the uninhabited center of Great Australian desert). But Western authors very carefully "forget" to mention a very important point - in the USSR it was completely legal to order and buy hunting firearms, empty cases and shotshell hulls and equipment (optical sights, a tool kit for reloading shotgun shells and rifle cartridges, a device for casting lead bullets, etc.) through mail service. In the USSR, there was a unified system of the state postal service ("Почта СССР"), which operated everywhere throughout the country. In the USSR, special "mail order catalogues" were printed with lists of a wide variety of goods that can be ordered by mail and their prices. In the USSR, there was a parcel delivery service "Посылторг" that could be used to order and purchase hunting firearms. The shipment of weapons and ammunition was carried out after the full cost of these goods had been paid by money transfer[22]. However, it should be noted that weapons and ammunition could not be received with home delivery. The buyer had to come to the post office, show his passport (to identify himself and prove that he is of legal age), pay the money for the delivery and sign the form stating that he has received the delivered items. Ammunition, gunpowder and primers could not be ordered by "mail order catalogues" and received inside the post office, as they belonged to the category "dangerous (flammable or explosive) substances and objects". They could be ordered by personal letter and received at a gun store. Shadowcaster (talk) 04:48, 3 April 2025 (UTC)Reply

Rewriting this article with better sources

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Latest comment: 1 year ago2 comments2 people in discussion

I am going to rewrite this article with sources from official Russian law documentation of the time, in an attempt to bring about an honest portrayal of the period in line with the laws at the time. LarsU778 (talk) 06:18, 20 November 2021 (UTC)Reply

Any news on this? KetchupSalt (talk) 22:27, 14 November 2023 (UTC)Reply

Hunting rifles? And hunting in general

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Latest comment: 1 month ago4 comments2 people in discussion

It is mentioned in the text at the moment that only smoothbore shotguns were allowed "by ordinary citizens". But surely with the existence of the 9×53mmR cartridge there must have been provisions for hunting big game? You don't take down moose with smoothbore shotguns. Surely the USSR had a civilian hunting corps? Hunting in Russia mentions hunting clubs, but with no citations. I also get the feeling that the language "ordinary citizens" is POV.

As best I can tell gun laws in the USSR changed quite a bit over the years. A People's Tragedy apparently goes into this for the civil war period, though I haven't read it. This still leaves the periods before, during and after collectivization, the war years, the post-war period until the death of Stalin, the Krushchev era, the Brezhnev era and the Gorby era. For the latter I found this article in the LA Times talking about hunting in the USSR in the mid-80's. Here's a second LA Times article from the same era, which indicates firearm ownership was limited to hunting societies.

Bars (hunting rifle) mentions that specific gun being allowed in 1965, the source being a period hunting magazine. Los (hunting rifle) also mentions 1965 in another issue of the same magazine. KetchupSalt (talk) 17:38, 10 January 2024 (UTC)Reply

You are very much mistaken. In the USSR, owning rifles was NEVER prohibited. Specially designed hunting rifles (NK-8,2, TOZ-9 etc.) and hunting shotguns (double-barreled shotgun TOZ-36 and others) were produced in the USSR before the start of World War II. Only in 1941, after the attack on the USSR, the production of all civilian firearms was completely stopped (because on June 22, 1941, the Axis powers attacked the USSR). In December 1943, the government decided to resume production of hunting firearms, and in 1944 the Tula Arms Plant began making them.

However, only a very small number of civilian firearms were made since June 1941 until the end of 1945. The first post-war model of Soviet hunting shotgun was IZh-47 (a smoothbore double-barreled shotgun). The 5.6×39mm cartridge was invented in 1955 specifically as a cartridge for civilian hunting rifles. The first "Bars" hunting rifles was made in 1960 and sold since 1961 (and that's why they were named as КО-5,6–60 «Барс-1» = "карабин охотничий калибра 5,6 мм образца [19]60 года" = "hunting carbine - 5.6mm caliber - [19]60 model"). The first "Los" hunting rifles were made and sold since 1961. You need to read the text of the laws of the USSR. You also need to read books for hunters and sports shooters that were published in the USSR (There are some good books in this list).

Ownership of foreign-made firearms as civilian hunting weapons has never been prohibited. In the USSR, it was completely legal to citizens of USSR to buy civilian hunting firearms abroad (for example, "Merkel" shotguns from the GDR[23] or FEG shotguns from Hungary[24]).

In the USSR, it was entirely legal to buy and own a hunting firearm with several detachable barrels (even if these were barrels chambered for cartridges of different calibers and purposes)[25] - if the barrel length of this weapon is not less than 500 mm (for example, IZhK-4 shotgun was a single-shot 16 gauge smoothbore shotgun with second detachable 5.6mm rifled barrel. This gun could be turned into a single-shot .22 LR rifle... ALL TOZ-55 shotguns were equipped with three pairs of detachable barrels... and there were other firearms of similar design).

In the USSR, it was completely legal to own a combination gun or shotgun with "paradox" barrel as a hunting weapon. (According to the legislation of the USSR, guns with "paradox" barrel and "Lancaster guns" with very shallow rifling in the chokes of smoothbore shotgun barrels and other guns of similar design - for example, so-called "Explora" guns made by "Westley Richards"... were classified as "shotguns")[26].

In the USSR it was completely legal to buy and own a hunting weapon with a detachable magazine. - incl. smoothbore shotguns (such as MTs 20-01), rifles and carbines (Bars, TOZ-17, TOZ-78 and many others)

  • There were no direct instructions or prohibitions in the USSR legislation regarding the magazine capacity for civilian hunting weapons. Large-caliber hunting firearms for the most powerful 9-mm cartridges (9×53mmR, 9.3×64mm Brenneke, etc.) usually had small-capacity magazines (3-4-5 cartridges, because otherwise these rifles became too heavy and inconvenient). The most common magazines for most common models of hunting firearms in USSR were 5-cartridge magazines. However, many hunting rifles had 10-round magazines (SVT-38/40, SKS, TOZ-99, etc.). If desired, it was possible to purchase and install a large-capacity magazine on a hunting weapon - but it should be taken into account that large-capacity magazines were more expensive than standard magazines (for example, standard 5-round magazines and large 10-round magazines were sold for the TOZ-78 carbine and TOZ-99 rifle).

In the USSR, it was completely legal to buy and own a multiple-barrel firearms as a civilian hunting firearms - if the barrel length of this weapon is not less than 500 mm... and several models of such weapons were produced in the USSR (MTs 30, TOZ-28, MTs 140, etc.)

  • And if all these three-barrel hunting shotguns don't seem multi-shot enough... A small number of four-barrel hunting shotguns MTs 40 (четырёхствольное ружьё МЦ40) were made by TsKIB SOO in the 1960s.

In the USSR, it was completely legal to buy and own a civilian hunting firearm chambered for handgun ammunition - if the barrel length of this weapon is not less than 500 mm... and a small number of such weapons were produced and sold to citizens of the USSR (for example, TOZ-28 was chambered for 7.62×38mmR round).

In the USSR, it was completely legal to buy and own military-issue rifles (incl. 7.62mm M1891/1930 rifles, 7.62mm M1938 carbines, 7.62mm M1944 carbines[27], SVT-38/40 rifles[28] and SKS carbines) that used standard military ammunition - as long as these weapons were without bayonet. A surplus 7.62mm M1944 carbines without bayonets were sold as KO-44 hunting carbines.

In the USSR, it was completely legal to own a self-loading hunting firearms - incl. self-loading smoothbore shotguns (such as Browning Auto-5[29], Sjögren shotgun[30], MTs 21-12, TOZ-87 etc.) and self-loading rifles[31] (Medved, SVT-38/40[28], etc.).

In the USSR, it was completely legal to own an optical sight and equip your shotgun or rifle with optical sight.[32] Civilian hunting firearms with optical sights (IZh-56, Bars, Los, Medved and many others) were made and sold to Soviet hunters.

In the USSR, it was completely legal to reload any ammunition for hunting firearms and made non-standard ammunition[33][34] (incl. rifle cartridges - here is an article about conversion 7.62×54mmR cartridge into non-standard self-made wildcat cartridge)[35].

Steel shot for smoothbore hunting shotguns was not prohibited (on the contrary, G. Durrell's book "Catch Me A Colobus" with information about waterfowl birds lead poisoning was translated into Russian language and published in 1974... and later, in December 1989 it was proposed to use steel shot in 12 gauge ammunition to prevent lead poisoning among birds).

In the USSR, it was completely legal to manufacture and use steel-core bullets for hunting firearms. For example, in July 1980, a patent was received in Leningrad for the design of an improved hunting bullet for a smoothbore hunting shotgun. It was a bullet with a complex steel core inside a lead "jacket". After testing and inspection, these inventors received a patent for their invention. In May 1982, information and drawings were published[36], but as far as I know, this bullet was not produced (it was too complex to make them at home). And only later, in the 1990s, bullets with details made of steel or other high-density material (tungsten carbide, etc.) were declared illegal and completely banned for use in any civilian weapon.

In the USSR, one adult citizen could legally own and use several firearms (shotguns and/or rifles) at the same time.

In the USSR, underwater hunting was completely legal. It was possible to use a spear, a harpoon, a knife, spearguns, underwater swimming gear and some other special equipment to hunt fish. Various spearguns and ammunition for them were made and sold in the USSR[37].

  • A small number of enthusiasts began underwater hunting in the summer of 1956 with self-made homemade equipment. They hunted fish with spears, harpoons, tridents and similar equipment. In April 1957, an official clarification was issued to the public that underwater hunting with spear, harpoon, speargun, crossbow and with or without underwater swimming gear is a completely legal activity - and in the USSR they had already begun to make equipment for underwater hunters in small quantities. It should be noted that, in accordance with the legislation of the USSR, underwater hunting for fish and crabs (without firearms, poisoned ammunition, gunpowder and other explosives) was not considered as "hunting", it was "fishing"[38][39] In summer 1960, Western writer J. Aldridge came to the USSR on a visit, with whom there were meetings and interviews about underwater swimming, diving and underwater hunting (he was known as the author of the book "Undersea Hunting for Inexperienced Englishmen")[40]. In the spring of 1966, the Kiev Arsenal began serial production of a standard harpoon gun for underwater hunters. It was a single shot air rifle RPO-1 (РПО-1)[41]. The first thousand of these guns were sent to sporting equipment shops and sold in April 1966[42].
  • It is necessary to take into account that hunting, killing and maiming rare biological species (listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species and the Red Book of the USSR) was prohibited in the USSR. Such actions were considered as a crime (poaching), and led to the exclusion of the offender from the hunting society, confiscation of hunting firearms, and other unpleasant consequences. And here there is a very important, but hardly noticeable detail. Dolphins are not "fish", they are aquatic mammals. After World War II, dolphins living in the Black Sea (Tursiops truncatus ponticus) were considered a rare species in the USSR and since 1966 illegal hunting or killing of these dolphins was prohibited.

In the USSR, it was entirely legal to register a hunting rifle or smoothbore hunting shotgun that was inherited, received as a gift, or found somewhere. The found weapon could be handed over to the authorities for a reward or registered as one's own. If a person wanted to keep the firearm he found, he had to bring it to the militsia and write a written statement. Experts took this weapon to check the serial number and conduct a technical and ballistic examination. The investigation was necessary because it was possible that the weapons found were lost, stolen, or used in crimes. In the USSR, ALL FIREARMS (incl. all civilian sporting and hunting firearms) had to have a serial number and be registered. If the weapon found had no serial number (or the serial number was destroyed), the weapon had to be destroyed. But it was possible to write a written statement so that the experts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs would put a new serial number on the weapon found and make it legal to own it. It could be that the weapon was incomplete (some parts were missing), or broken, or very worn out. In the USSR, possession of a defective weapon (for example, with a crack in the barrel), shooting from which is dangerous for the shooter and other people, was prohibited. But it was possible to write a written statement asking to send this firearm to the state arms factory which made these firearms (Tula Arms Factory, Izhevsk Mechanical Plant, etc.)... of to local gunsmith workshop for repair (or to replace broken parts). In this case, you had to pay for the costs of repair and shipping the weapon yourself. It was also possible to write a written request to have this firearm registered as a kit of parts, so that the working parts could be sent to a gun shop to be sold one by one to other hunters and gun owners. If it was an very old or non-standard foreign weapon, then it was possible to write a written statement so that this weapon would be donated to a museum or sold to a film studio[43].

In the USSR it was completely legal to buy, make and own a wide variety of "prop weapons" and "decorative weapons" ("реквизит" and "бутафория"), which were classified as "toys", "consumer goods" and "souvenirs". "Prop weapons" were used in film studios, theaters, etc., and included prop guns, dummy rounds (without gunpowder and primer) and a variety of melee weapons. Non-functional bladed weapons (swords, spears, knives, etc.) were made with dull metal blades or from other materials (rubber, plastic, cardboard)[44]. "Decorative weapons" were used as interior decoration (for example, a replica of a medieval sword with unsharpened steel blade attached to a knight's shield). I think this detail is quite important because in some countries the possession of such items is prohibited or restricted. For example, in Japan there are restrictions on carrying and using a bokken, which is a wooden training sword. And in 2024, Japanese police made illegal to own previously purchased decorative sword with dull steel blade[45]. It should be noted that wooden training swords and this “authentic recreation of Gryffindor’s sword” were completely legal to own in the USSR.

In the USSR there were cases of legal ownership of very exotic hunting firearms. For example, a small number of surplus 14.5 mm anti-tank rifles PTRD-41 were given away free of charge by the Ministry of Defense to professional hunters in Far North region (north of the Arctic Circle) and they were used in 1950s - 1960s for whale hunting[46].

Although it should be taken into account that poisoned weapons (for example, poison bullets for firearms or a bow with poisoned arrows) and any weapons with any poisonous gas, toxic gas, asphyxiating gas, vomiting gas, as well as tear gas were not permitted for use in the USSR (due to the 1925 Geneva Protocol). For example, CN and CS gas were considered as military chemical weapons[47] because they were used by NATO armed forces[48]. Shadowcaster (talk) 10:13, 2 May 2025 (UTC)Reply

These all sound like excellent sources. I have no objection to incorporating them into the article.
What do you make of the claim in the second paragraph, that only smoothbore guns were allowed in 1924? The source for this claim (Denis Orlov) appears to be a supporter of United Russia. In fact much of the text of this article appears to lifted from this one blog post, which in total appears to be a party piece and thus of dubious reliability.
I can't find any copy of the supposed decree "On the surrender of weapons" (О сдаче оружия) from the Council of People's Commissars, December 10, 1918. It's possible marxists.org does not have all of the CPC's decrees, but it's also possible this source (online812) is simply lying. The same goes for "On Hunting" from July 28, 1920.
The entire article could use with a rewrite I think. Do you know if legislation around hunting changes much, and if so any particular years to look out for? What about non-hunting, non-military uses of firearms in the USSR? KetchupSalt (talk) 05:13, 27 May 2025 (UTC)Reply

You are asking very difficult questions. These questions are difficult not because it is impossible to find information, but because it takes a lot of time and money. Everything has to be done manually (computers are almost useless if you're not a professional historian or linguist who specializes in the old Russian language of the 19th century). Finding information about the events of 1917-1922 is more difficult today than finding information about events after 1922, because the modern Russian language is different. After the October Revolution of 1917, the Soviet government decided to standardize the rules of the Russian language, because at that time, the Russian language was very complex and outdated (in the Russian Empire, some of the grammar rules in the official Russian language were very old, dating back to the 18th century or even the Middle Ages). In December 1917, the Soviet government issued a decree on new rules for the Russian language, which were to become mandatory for everyone starting on January 1, 1918. The most significant change was the removal of four obsolete letters from the medieval alphabet (Ѣ = ять, Ѳ = фита, І and Ѵ), which were rarely used. However, during the civil war, not only all opponents of the USSR, but also many other categories of the population, used only the old language. Even almost all Bolsheviks / Communists, almost all newspapers outside of Moscow, and almost all Soviet state organizations used only the old language... because almost all adults in 1918-1922 knew only the rules of the old language. All printing houses had old typefaces, and new equipment began to be supplied to publishing houses only in 1922-1924. During the civil war and even until 1923-1924, some newspapers and even official documents were printed on poor-quality paper and had grammatical errors. As a result, computers are almost useless for finding information about this time, because they don't understand digitized text.

Further, in 1941-1945, large territories of the USSR were occupied by Axis troops, and archives and libraries were destroyed or lost. Later, since 1989, anticommunists, nationalists and separatists began destroying Soviet archives, libraries, books, documents, monuments, and all other heritage in some parts of the USSR (such as Karabakh, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia). After the fall of the USSR in December 1991 and the proclamation of capitalism and privatization, there was a lot of selling and stealing from museums, archives, libraries, and other places (for example, from museums that were located in very old and large factories, such as VEF). You have to pay to access museums, libraries, and archives (even in many places that were free during the Soviet era before 1991), and the price increases over time (it was easier to pay in the 1990s than it is today).

Of course, you can go look for information in the modern mass media - but almost everything you find there must be double-checked... because there are a lot of stupid things, lies, and falsifications about USSR. As a very well-known example, the false "decree on the nationalization of women" (also known as "decree on mandatory registration of all women aged 17 to 32") was fabricated by anti-communists during the civil war in 1918 and spread worldwide through Western governments... it has been repeatedly recognized as a lie almost immediately (and the government of the USSR, Soviet and foreign lawyers, and Soviet and foreign historians have repeatedly explained the absence and falsity of this law - you can find many publications by the Institute of Marxism-Leninism from 1918-1989 on this issue)... but in the 1960s, it was deliberately used by the United States in South Vietnam and Indonesia to incite anti-communist sentiment among the local population.

And now - a VERY important point about the time of the first years after the October revolution, which is necessary to remember... in the anti-Soviet propaganda, it is usually told in great detail that the communists were evil devils who did terrible things... and everyone else was a good person and almost never did anything bad (and if bad things were done to communists and their families, these actions were not criminal because the evil Bolsheviks, their wives, and their children deserved it all). In fact, the situation in 1917-1920s was very complicated. In addition to the Soviet government and the Red Army, there were local authorities (local Soviets) and local Red Guard units (which issued various orders and laws) in the country. In the 1920s and 1930s, Soviet lawyers worked to standardize the legislation (and it was a VERY difficult work). However, during the civil war and sometimes even after the end of the war, anti-Soviet governments (several different White governments, nationalists, separatists, etc.), their armies, their armed groups, and their secret organizations operated in the same territory. At the same time, bandits, armed deserters, mercenaries, and other armed vagabonds were roaming the country (it is very interesting to compare the descriptions of similar events in the USSR and other countries in some anti-Soviet studies - in the American Wild West and British Empire, trains were robbed by bandits and criminals, while ALL cases of train attacks in the USSR were carried out by valiant anti-Soviet fighters). Further, at the same time, vast areas of the Russian Empire were occupied by the Central Powers and the Entente... And all these military commanders, civil authorities, self-proclaimed leaders, warlords, drug dealers, bandits, and anyone else demanded that their enemies and the population immediately hand over any weapons, ammunition and military equipment, threatening and killing people in the process.

For example, in 12th day of June 1918 the Deutsches Heer military commandant in the city of Kiev ordered the posting of posters with the text of his order: "I am aware that the population is hiding weapons. All weapons permits issued by any authorities are hereby revoked, and the population must immediately surrender all weapons, including all machineguns, rifles, hunting shotguns, revolvers, pistols, sabres, daggers, explosives, hand grenades and ammunition. They must be surrendered before 12:00 noon on June 22, 1918. Only the German authorities issue new permits for possession of weapons. Anyone who possesses a weapon after 12:00 noon on June 22, 1918 will be arrested and imprisoned for at least five months inside the prison, and the punishment for any other illegal actions involving weapons will be much more severe."[49] Please note the language in which this article is written. It was published in an official newspaper of the Soviet government in accordance with the rules of the old language (official Russian language of Russian Empire), which was officially abolished on January 1, 1918. Do you see old letters in the text of this article? That's why using a computer search is useless. Next, try to remember how often you come across references about the confiscation of weapons from the local population and the killing of the local population for possessing weapons by the Central Powers and the Entente military forces during the civil war.

The next problem, which is often overlooked, is understanding the terminology that was used at different times. The same word could have different meanings in different legal contexts. For example, in the very first advertisements that were published in newspapers of the Russian Empire before the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the semi-automatic hunting shotgun Browning Auto-5 was referred to as "a Browning automatic hunting shotgun" ("автоматическое ружьё Браунинга"). In the USSR this shotgun was sold as "self-loading Browning shotgun" ("самозарядное ружьё Браунинга").

It should be always noted that the Treaty on the Creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was signed on December 29, 1922, and the creation of a unified legal system (incl. criminal law) in the territory of the USSR continued in the 1920s and even in 1930s.

Ownership of any military rifle (= rifle with bayonet) in the USSR was prohibited. Although you must understand a very important point. In the 1920s, the work of the state was being established after the civil war and anarchy - therefore, laws did not come into effect immediately after their publication. Registration of hunting rifles in the USSR began in the 1926 - 1927. In the period from April 15, 1927 to May 15, 1927, ALL owners had to register, sell to a gun shop or hand over to law enforcement agencies their hunting rifles. After May 15, 1927, there was a penalty for owners of unregistered hunting rifles. However, smoothbore hunting shotguns and small-caliber "toy rifles" such as the "Monte Cristo" chambered for the Flobert cartridge did not need to be registered.[50] Shadowcaster (talk) 15:58, 9 July 2025 (UTC)Reply

Details about knives, swords, daggers and other "edged and bladed weapons"

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Latest comment: 1 month ago1 comment1 person in discussion

It is important to understand that despite the abolition of the Russian Empire's legislation, certain concepts continued to be used in USSR in the 1920s in the same way they were used in the Russian Empire before the start of the February revolution in 1917. For example, these were the most general concepts, such as "crime", "weapon", "military weapon", "sport weapon", "hunting weapon", "knife", "sword"... and a very big difference between a bayonet as a "military weapon" (the possession of which was illegal) and a very similar hunting knife as a "hunting weapon" (the possession of which was legal). In the USSR, knives were NEVER prohibited. However, this is such a common prejudice among foreigners that I suspect they misunderstand the difference between words "knife" ("нож"), "dagger" ("кинжал"), "sword" and "edged and bladed weapons" ("холодное оружие") in Russian language and in the legislation of the USSR (from 29th December 1922 to December 1991). It is very difficult to say what exactly was considered an "illegal dagger" and what was considered a "knife" by the local Soviets in the remote countryside (for example, somewhere in rural areas of Siberia or in the heart of the Caucasus Mountains) in 1918-1921.

Brass knuckles (кастет) and other things of similar design (for example, knuckledusters with blades and spikes) were banned in the Russian Empire and they remained banned in the USSR as an illegal prohibited weapon. As far as I know, American Mark I trench knife and other knives of similar design would also be illegal because they could be used as brass knuckles.

An interesting point that has been forgotten in our time. In 1938-1941, sport fencing became popular in the USSR. Please note that this was not fencing with cavalry sabers and shashkas, but fencing with a rapier. In April 1938, it was proposed to make fencing a mass sport. In the summer of 1938, 500 steel rapiers were ordered and made in Moscow, and in January 1939, another 1,000 high-quality steel rapiers were ordered[51]. This hobby has drawn criticism from Red Army military commanders. Military experts have noted that schoolchildren are interested in a useless medieval sport, while more useful training would be in hand-to-hand combat, fencing with a standard cavalry sabre, and bayonet fighting[52].

There is an interesting fact about the USSR that surprises many foreigners. Large folding knives (incl. lock-blade knives and VERY BIG folding knives) were widely used in the USSR, and they were sold without any problems in stores as "tourist knives"... and so-called balisong-type knives were also completely legal... before the last "perestroika" years in the late 1980s. They were called "нож-бабочка" (= "butterfly knife" in English) and they were considered as a legal type of folding pocketknife by Soviet law enforcement agencies. They were made in the USSR at various factories and were sold without any problems. Although these knives were more expensive than regular folding knives. I had one such knife, which was made in state factory and sold in small local retail store in 1980 as a "souvenir knife". Stalin did not declare that such knives are dangerous illegal weapons, nor did L. I. Brezhnev or Andropov, and it was only in the last years of Gorbachev's "perestroika" (in 1988-1989-1990??? - sorry, I don't remember exactly when it happened) that it was announced that the sales of alcohol, the availability of such knives among the population, and the distribution of foreign films on VHS video cassettes were the main reasons for the continued increase in dangerous street crime in 1988-1989-1990-1991. It was Yeltsin who banned these knives in the Russian Federation... but for some unknown reason, foreigners somehow believe that these knives were always banned, or were banned by the evil Communists during the Soviet era.

Also, in the 1920s-1941 and later, in 1945-1991, there was a long-lasting dispute between Interior Ministry experts about how long a non-standard self-made homemade "knife" could be before it turned into an "sword" or "saber" (In the USSR, it was completely legal to hunt with hunting knives, but sooner or later, one of the hunters would make a VERY BIG knife, bring it to the hunt, start boasting, or drink too much, and then the forester or another person would take this knife away... and after the end of this incident they would start writing complaints and statements to the prosecutor's office against each other). In the USSR, judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement officers deeply disliked cases involving homemade knives and homemade swords. This was because a lot of paperwork had to be done in these cases. There was a grim joke that these cases were like shaving a pig with an old rusty razor - a lot of loud squealing and no positive results to state and society ("визгу много - толку мало"). In addition, it should be noted that there were many theaters, theater studios, and theater clubs in the USSR... including local theater clubs for schoolchildren, young people, and other amateur enthusiasts. At least one Palace of Culture (or smaller House of Culture) was in almost every administrative centre... And sooner or later, one of these teenagers would come up with a "brilliant" idea: instead of using dull swords made of lightweight aluminum alloy, they would use a real steel sword with a sharp blade... and of course, then this shiny fresh-made sword would be used for some foolish purpose (hooliganism, vandalism, property damage, hand-to-hand fights, public statements about their intention to kill another person, and even duels), causing problems for many adults. Shadowcaster (talk) 06:46, 7 July 2025 (UTC)Reply

References

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  1. ^ И. Рощин. О воинах, громивших врага оружием, приобретенным на личные сбережения // «Военно-исторический журнал», № 6, 1972. стр.118-119
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  15. ^ А. Е. Дубович. Скобозабивной пистолет. Патент СССР № 1298066 от 13 сентября 1984 года
  16. ^ "Стало традицией: в первое воскресенье сентября на Бородинском поле проводится красочное театрализованное представление в ознаменование годовщины легендарного сражения 7 сентября (26 августа) 1812 года. На снимке: один из фрагментов театрализованного представления (фото А. Филатова)
    газета "Комсомольская правда" от 9 сентября 1986 года
  17. ^ Н. Яньков. Сур-Харбан // журнал «Вокруг света», № 12, 1972. стр.62-63
  18. ^ Мирный артснаряд // журнал "Наука и жизнь", № 2, 1980. стр.91
  19. ^ The Nation; The Day They Raided Aeroflot
  20. ^ Грубая провокация // газета "Известия", № 112 (19788) от 13 мая 1981 стр.4
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  23. ^ инженер Н. Терехов. Ружья "Меркель" // журнал «Охота и охотничье хозяйство», No. 6, 1978. стр.28-29
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  26. ^ «Парадоксы» заводские и «парадоксы» самодельные // журнал «Охота и охотничье хозяйство», № 2, 1981. стр.5
  27. ^ Снабжение промысловиков спецодеждой и оружием // журнал "Охота и охотничье хозяйство", № 10, октябрь 1969. стр.3
  28. ^ a b М. Блюм, А. Волнов. Охотнику о СВТ // журнал "Охота и охотничье хозяйство", № 11, 1989
  29. ^ В. Шостаковский. Ружья Браунинга // журнал «Охота и охотничье хозяйство», № 10, 1984. стр.33
  30. ^ Э. Штейнгольд. Самозарядное ружьё системы Шьёгрен // журнал «Охота и охотничье хозяйство», № 1, 1974. стр.32-33
  31. ^ Малокалиберный самозарядный карабин для охоты на птицу и мелкого пушного зверя создан на Тульском оружейном заводе // газета "Известия", № 149 от 25 июня 1957 стр.4
  32. ^ Л. Жиляев. Оптические прицелы // журнал «Охота и охотничье хозяйство», № 2, февраль 1961. стр.37-40
  33. ^ Б. А. Крейцер, А. И. Толстопят. Охотничьи ружья и боеприпасы. М., "Физкультура и спорт", 1957.
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  37. ^ Мстислав Петрович Микрюков. С ружьем на глубину. Спортивная подводная стрельба. М., ДОСААФ, 1973.
  38. ^ С. Дашкевич. С ружьём под водой // газета «Советский спорт», № 41 (2777) от 4 апреля 1957 стр.7
  39. ^ В. Дармо. Подводные впечатления // газета «Советский спорт», № 40 (3008) от 16 февраля 1958 стр.8
  40. ^ "страстный аквалангист, автор "Подводной охоты для неопытных англичан" Олдридж, конечно же, не мыслит себе отдыха без подводной охоты"
    Джеймс Олдридж снова в Москве // газета "Известия", № 158 (13394) от 4 июня 1960 стр.4
  41. ^ Ружье для подводной охоты РПО-1 : краткое описание / СССР, В/О "Машприборинторг". — Москва : Внешторгиздат, 1967.
  42. ^ Н. Самойленко. "Арсенал" - подводным охотникам // газета "Известия", № 88 (15176) от 13 апреля 1966 стр.6
  43. ^ Е. Попок. Криминалист // журнал «Охота и охотничье хозяйство», № 11, 1975. стр.40-41
  44. ^ Бутафория // Большая Советская Энциклопедия / под ред. А. М. Прохорова. 3-е изд. том 4. М., «Советская энциклопедия», 1971.
  45. ^ Harry Potter theme park recalls Gryffindor sword replicas for violating Japan's weapons law
  46. ^ С огнестрелом на китов // журнал "Оружие", № 10, 2014. стр.12—23
  47. ^ Отравляющие вещества // Большая Советская Энциклопедия / под ред. А. М. Прохорова. 3-е изд. Том 19. М., «Советская энциклопедия», 1975.
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  49. ^ "Вчера по Кіеву было расклеено слѣдующее обявленіе от имени германской комендатуры: ... все еще спрятано и не сдано много оружія. Всякаго рода оружіе, как-то; винтовки, охотничьи ружья, револьверы, пистолеты, шашки, сабли и кортики, а также и пулеметы, патроны, ручныя гранаты и взрывчатыя вещества должны быть сданы до 12 часов дня 22-го іюня по пов. ст. Всѣ до сего времени выданныя разрѣшенія на право ношенія оружія недѣйствительны. За полученіем новых разрѣшеній кадлежит обращатьси в германскую комендатуру. Tѣ у кого послѣ двѣнадцати часов дня 22-го іюня еще будет найдено оружіе без особаго на то разрѣшенія, подлежат наказанію заключеніем в арестантскія отдѣленія, или же, в менѣе важных случаях, содержанію в тюрьмѣ на срок не менѣе 5-ти мѣсяцев и в том только случаѣ, если по другим существующим законам не предусматривается большая кара."
    СДАЧА ОРУЖІЯ // газета "Известия", № 120 от 13 июня 1918 стр.4
  50. ^ "Админ. отд. Моск. губисполкома назначил перерегистрацию охотничьего нарезного оружия, которая продлится с 15 апреля по 15 мая. Москвичи, имеющие такое оружие, обязаны явиться в админ. отдел (Петровка, 38, комн. 17) ... После 15 мая не имеющие отметки о перерегистрации будут привлекаться к ответственности. Ненарезное охотничье оружие (дробовые ружья и малокалиберные винтовочки типа Монте-Кристо, Франкотт и т. п. под патроны бокового огня) перерегистрации не подлежит."
    Вниманию охотников // газета "Известия" № 76 (3010) от 3 апреля 1927 стр.5
  51. ^ Здесь делают клинки // газета «Советский спорт», № 5 от 9 января 1939 стр.3
  52. ^ В совершенстве овладеть холодным оружием // газета «Советский спорт», № 170 от 15 декабря 1938 стр.3

Organizing this page

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I have never edited on Wikipedia before, so I apologize for my improper styling and citations. Also, I cannot read Russian, so if someone can help with translating the sources I have found, that would be great. This page has been a mess for some years now. In my opinion, "gun control in the Soviet Union" implies some consistent policy throughout the decades of its existence. As far as I can tell, this is not true.

  • Lenin calls for arming the proletariat in May/April 1917.
  • S. A. Smith says in his book Russia In Revolution that "On 27 October 1917, the Military-Revolutionary Committee in Moscow, having taken steps to seize stocks of weapons, warned that ‘any attempt at a pogrom, any attempt at robbery or riot, will be crushed with the most merciless measures.’” and cites Moskovskii Voenno-Revoliutsionnyi komitet, oktiabr’-noiabr’ 1917 goda (Moscow: Moskovskii rabochii, 1968). 48. as his source.
  • Smith also says, "“In Nizhnii Novgorod the provincial Soviet made a rather forlorn request to the military commissar to disarm the 25,000 workforce at the Sormovo locomotive plant and ensure that firearms were only held by permit.”
  • Katherine B. Eaton in her book Daily Life in the Soviet Union, "“Policemen were responsible for gun control. Private citizens and institutions could own hunting weapons if they had police permission and registered their guns at the local station house. The militia could confiscate weapons and ammunition from people who showed signs of dangerously irresponsible behavior. As with gun control laws in the United States and other countries, enforcement was not always successful. Toward the end of the Soviet era, many guns stolen from the military helped stock the armories of various ethnic guerrilla fighters and terrorists.” She cites Robert Conquests' The Soviet Police System and he cites Vedomosti Verkhovnogo Soveta RSFSR, 1965, No. 38.

If these sources are to be believed, then gun laws not only changed over time, but also from region to region. Further complicating things, while gun laws may have existed, their enforcement was irregular. Louise Shelley in Policing Soviet Society says,

Both private citizens and state institutions needed militia authorization to keep guns, which were registered at the local militia station only after the owners presented a hunting license and a medical certificate. Individuals who failed to register weapons, or who improperly maintained or fired them, were subject to fines and/or imprisonment. Militiamen were required to confiscate weapons and ammunition from individuals who systematically violated public order, disrupted their home environments, abused alcohol or suffered from mental illness. Despite centralized registration, gun control in the country was not nearly as effective as these regulations suggested; numerous crimes were committed annually with hunting weapons and, increasingly, with arms stolen from the militia and the army. In the late Soviet and early post-Soviet periods, the latter category of arms was frequently used in inter ethnic conflicts in the Caucasus, Moldavia and Central Asia.

Because of these complications, I propose we divide the page at least into time periods. Something like this:

  • Early (from the Revolution through the NEP)
  • Collectivization era (End of the NEP through World War II)
  • Cold War Era (end of WWII to Stalin's death)
  • Khrushchev era (from Stalin's death to the 1980s)
  • Perestroika era (til the collapse of the USSR)

I'm not married to these categories, but I do think this is going to be a confusing article if we assume that the laws remained constant throughout the 20th century.

I am going to keep looking into this topic and maybe work of the courage to edit the page myself, but if someone more experienced in wikipedia and USSR history agrees with me on this suggestion, I say we should go for it.


Notes

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Latest comment: 1 month ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Eaton, Katherine (2004). Daily Life in the Soviet Union. Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313316289.

Shelley, Louise (2005). Policing Soviet Society: The Evolution of State Control. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781134847457.

Smith, Stephen (2017). Russia in Revolution: An Empire in Crisis, 1890 to 1928. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198734826. Benjamin5Benjamin (talk) 14:43, 18 July 2025 (UTC)Reply

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