RESOLUTIONS OF THE DEFENSE COUNCIL COMMISSION
ON PATRONS* – DECEMBER 1918
ON THE TULA PATRON FACTORY
a)
The Defense Council resolves to deem it necessary to introduce, at the Tula Patron Factory, a system of bonuses for increased
* The Council of Workers’ and Peasants’ Defense was established on November 30,
1918. In its resolution on this matter, the All‑Russia Central Executive Committee stated: “By decree of the All‑Russia Central Executive Committee dated September 2nd,
… The Soviet Republic has been proclaimed a military camp.
This resolution must now be brought to life in all spheres of economic activity and state administration.
It is imperative to supply the army with provisions—and to achieve this, we must raise labor productivity.
We must ensure that the army and navy are adequately fed, as well as Moscow, Petrograd, and all other centers of recruitment and labor.
To this end, all food and railway authorities, both in the center and at the local level, must operate with maximum intensity and the highest degree of dedication.
Not only in the army and navy, but also in the food and transportation sectors—as well as in the realm of military industry—there must be

an increase in productivity compared to what has already been achieved.
The details are to be elaborated; the task is entrusted to the factory management.
b) The Defense Council approves the agreement reached between the management of the Tula Patron Factory and the local
labor exchange, under which the factory management is granted the authority, in exceptional circumstances and bypassing the labor exchange,
to replenish its ranks with the skilled workers it needs.
c) The Defense Council directs that all available premises at the Tula factories be utilized for the installation of machinery.
d) While retaining the factory’s existing board of directors (the triumvirate),
one representative from the Extraordinary Commission for Army Supply and one from the People’s Commissariat for Military Affairs are to be added to the board.
e) The Statistical Bureau under the Main Artillery Directorate is tasked with developing a plan for the graphic representation of productivity in the workshops and shops of the patron factories, and the resulting data are to be submitted to the Central Statistical Office for approval.
f) The population is to be informed, as widely as possible, that workers employed at patron and arms factories are exempt from conscription into the army.
ON THE PODOLSKY FACTORY
a)
In carrying out work at the Podolsky Factory, the same methods of labor intensification are to be adopted as those implemented
at the Tula Patron and Arms Factories.
The Extraordinary Commission for Army Supply is instructed to adopt the full military regime—that is, a regime of strict labor discipline,
befitting the situation of a country which imperialist bandits have sought to reduce to the status of a military camp.
To put these measures into effect, the closest possible coordination is required among the military authorities, the Extraordinary Commission for Production,
the transport agencies, and the food supply departments—all working together in pursuit of common practical objectives.
To this end, the All‑Russia Central Executive Committee of the Soviets resolves to establish the Council of Workers’ and Peasants’ Defense, under the chairmanship of Comrade Lenin, as Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars.”
As a representative of the
All‑Russia Central Executive Committee
on the
Defense Council, Comrade Stalin was appointed.
The Defense Council was vested with “full authority in the mobilization of the country’s forces and resources in the interests of defense. For all…”