The People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the Russian SFSR (Russian: Народный Коммиссариат Иностранных Дел РСФСР: Narodnyi Komissariat Inostrannykh Del – abbreviated to Narkomindel or NKID) was the central executive state body of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic responsible for conducting the foreign policy and foreign relations of the Soviet state in 1917-1923 and in 1944–1946.
The People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs was formed by the Decree on the Establishment of the Council of People's Commissars, approved by the 2nd All-Russian Congress of Soviets on November 9, 1917. This was one of the first people's commissariats formed by the Soviet government of Russia.[1][2] Originally its principle purpose was to print and distribute copies of the secret treaties of the Entente powers which had fallen into the hands of the Bolsheviks. However their original hopes that a traditional diplomatic service would not be needed as workers revolutions spread across Europe and the world proved to be wishful thinking.[3]
When the new Bolshevik government moved the capital from Saint Petersburg to Moscow, Narkomindel was housed in the apartment building of the First Russian Insurance Company, located on the corner of Kuznetsky Most and Bolshaya Lubyanka Street.