1918 Decree of the Council of People's Commissars on monuments

A hundred years ago, on April 12, 1918, a decree of the Council of People's Commissars "On the removal of monuments erected in honor of the tsars and their servants" was issued. It read: "Monuments erected in honor of the kings and their servants and not of interest either from a historical or artistic point of view, are to be removed from the squares and streets and partly transferred to warehouses, partly used for a utilitarian nature."

At the same time, it was proposed to hold competitions "to develop designs for monuments that should commemorate the great days of the Russian Socialist Revolution."