Excerpt from The Marriage Laws of Soviet Russia: Complete Text of First Code of Laws of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic Dealing With Civil Status and Domestic Relations, Marriage, the Family and Guardianship So in this code of laws relating to civil status and domestic relations there may be discerned three strains which mark them as the characteristic expression of the proletarian power in its struggle to bridge the transition from the old order to the new. There are, first, those aggressively revolution ary provisions aimed at the destruction of the old order; secondly, there are the temporary expedi ents which, while recogmzmg the stubborn survival of old conditions within the new order, Operate to accelerate their disappearance; and, finally, there are here also truly socialistic forms, the construct ive foundations of the new organization. In the first category, among the aggressively revolutionary features of this code, are the sharp blows struck against old oppressions, against ancient class pri vileges and barbaric taboos. Such are the clauses aimed against the domination of human relations by the temporal power of a corrupt clergy, the provisions for the abolishment of inheritance, therecognition of the social obligation for the care of children, the re-establishment of the family on the basis of descent, and the removal of the cruel dis criminations against so-called illegitimate chil dren. These provisions, to be sure, are not all es. Sentially socialistic. Certain reforms in these di rections have been accomplished in the bourgeois states of the west. But in Russia it was left to the proletariat to accomplish many revolutionary changes which the bourgeoisie had failed to accom plish. The western reader, who is at least familiar with, if not altogether habituated to, such ideas as the separation of Church and State, equality of the sexes, and the recognition of the rights of illegiti mate children, must be constantly reminded of the heavy burden laid upon the Russian proletariat by the economic and social backwardness of the country at the moment of the revolution. The full significance of such an achievement as this code can only be realized in the light of these special difficulties involved in the proletarian struggle in Russia. The Russian workers had not only to de stroy capitalism; they had also to attack the rem nants of feudalism which the Russian bourgeoisie had been too inert and too timid to disturb. Their success in this 'double task is the measure of their creative strength and ability. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.