This paper outlines the operation of a crucial institution of the early Soviet government, the ‘Reception Room’ of Mikhail Kalinin, the Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of Soviets, nominal head of state. Kalinin’s Priemnaia was a major officially-promoted central department for the receipt of petitions (individual, supplicatory requests or complaints) from Soviet citizens to their government both in-person and in letter form. Over the course of 27 years Kalinin’s Priemnaia received millions of written petitions and was inundated on a daily basis with visitors in person. This form of petitioning was viewed by the Soviet government as a ‘living link’ or tool of responsiveness to public voices and concerns and was embraced and utilized by Soviet citizens as one of the major avenues of engagement with the authorities. This paper considers how petitions were processed and responded to by the government and the impact of this practice on those submitting them and receiving them. It examines how the petitions shaped ‘what the state saw’ as well as the consequences of this practice for Soviet state-society relations broadly.
