Legal regulation of cooperation in Russia in 1917
The article deals with the features of the normative legal regulation of cooperation in 1917. New provisions regulating the activities of cooperative associations, that were fundamentally different from the norms of the cooperative legislation of the tsarist government, are defined. The author highlights the ideological foundations of the cooperative policy of the Provisional government, which influenced the formation of the main provisions of the cooperative legislation in 1917. Key features of the cooperative legislation of 1917 stand out: the determination of the legal status of cooperative companies for the first time a legislator was fixed definition of the concept of "cooperative partnership"; an accomplished fact of registration of a legal entity, this provision was introduced by the legislator for the first time since before the 1917 registration of a legal entity was permissive. This provision greatly facilitated the creation of cooperative associations, which contributed to their rapid growth. Another feature was that minors were allowed to become a member of a cooperative partnership from the age of seventeen, but they were not allowed to be included in the control and management bodies. Cooperative societies were now considered not only as an institution that increased the material well-being of the population, but also as an institution for its spiritual development. Since 1917, there had been a rapid growth of Union associations of cooperative associations both in the provincial and all-Russia ones. This was also a consequence of the new cooperative legislation. It is concluded that the rules of law that completely re-built the cooperative network, defined the status of cooperative partnerships, gave a new impetus to the development of cooperation as a powerful social movement that can mobilize huge masses of the population.