1.
State Emblem of the Soviet Union
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The State Emblem of the Soviet Union was adopted in 1923 and was used until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Although it technically is a rather than a coat of arms, since it does not follow traditional heraldic rules, in Russian it is called герб. It was the first state created in the style known as socialist heraldry. The project of the first version of the emblem was accepted on 6 July 1923 by the 2nd session of the Central Executive Committee. In six languages - Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Georgian, Armenian, at the top of the Emblem is a five-pointed star. Ivan Dubasov was an important contributor when creating the emblem, according to the 1936 Soviet Constitution, the USSR consisted of eleven republics. Hence the major new versions difference from the one was eleven ribbons bearing USSR State Motto inscriptions in eleven languages. The number of republics in the USSR became 16 after September 1939, before the Great Patriotic War began in June 1941, by a Decision of Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on June 26,1946, all 16 constituent republics were represented on the emblem. The USSR State Motto was inscribed on 16 ribbons in 16 languages, inscriptions in Azerbaijani, Turkmen, Uzbek, Tajik, Kazakh, Kyrgyz languages were updated due to the transfer from Latin to Cyrillic script of the respective languages within the USSR. In 1956, the Karelo-Finnish SSR was transformed into the Karelo-Finnish ASSR, by a decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on September 12,1956, the ribbon bearing the USSR State Motto in Finnish was removed. A minor change in the Belarusian inscription was a decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on April 1,1958, each Soviet Republic and Autonomous Soviet Republic had its own coat of arms, largely inspired by the state emblem of the Union. State Quality Mark of the USSR Coat of arms of Russia
2.
Mikhail Gorbachev
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Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman. He was the eighth and final leader of the Soviet Union, having been General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991 and he was the countrys head of state from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991. Gorbachev was born in Stavropol Krai into a peasant Ukrainian–Russian family and he graduated from Moscow State University in 1955 with a degree in law. While he was at the university, he joined the Communist Party, in 1970, he was appointed the First Party Secretary of the Stavropol Regional Committee, First Secretary to the Supreme Soviet in 1974, and appointed a member of the Politburo in 1979. Within three years of the death of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, following the brief interregna of Andropov and Chernenko, before he reached the post, he had occasionally been mentioned in Western newspapers as a likely next leader and a man of the younger generation at the top level. Gorbachevs policies of glasnost and perestroika and his reorientation of Soviet strategic aims contributed to the end of the Cold War. He was awarded the Otto Hahn Peace Medal in 1989, the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 and this was Gorbachevs third attempt to establish a political party, having started the Social Democratic Party of Russia in 2001 and the Union of Social Democrats in 2007. Gorbachev was born on 2 March 1931 in Privolnoye, Stavropol Krai, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, into a mixed Russian-Ukrainian family of migrants from Voronezh, as a child, Gorbachev experienced the Soviet famine of 1932–1933. He recalled in a memoir that In that terrible year nearly half the population of my village, Privolnoye, starved to death. Both of his grandfathers were arrested on charges in the 1930s. His father was a combine harvester operator and World War II veteran and his mother, Maria Panteleyevna Gorbacheva, was a kolkhoz worker. He was brought up mainly by his Ukrainian maternal grandparents, in his teens, he operated combine harvesters on collective farms. He graduated from Moscow State University in 1955 with a degree in law, in 1967 he qualified as an agricultural economist via a correspondence masters degree at the Stavropol Institute of Agriculture. While at the university, he joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and soon very active within the party. Gorbachev met his wife, Raisa Titarenko, daughter of a Ukrainian railway engineer. They married in September 1953 and moved to Stavropol upon graduation and she gave birth to their only child, daughter Irina Mikhailovna Virganskaya, in 1957. Raisa Gorbacheva died of leukemia in 1999, Gorbachev has two granddaughters and one great granddaughter. Gorbachev attended the important twenty-second Party Congress in October 1961, where Nikita Khrushchev announced a plan to surpass the U. S. in per capita production within twenty years, Gorbachev rose in the Communist League hierarchy and worked his way up through territorial leagues of the party
3.
Official residence
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An official residence is the residence at which a nations head of state, head of government, governor or other senior figure officially resides. It may or may not be the location where the individual conducts work-related functions or lives. This has occurred in the 21st century in Detroit and New York City, in the case of Denver, no mayor has ever lived in the official residence, the city instead makes it available to certain non-profit groups for special functions. The President uses own private residence, - Its address is 1 Cheongwadae-ro, Jongro-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea. It is located next to Gyeongbokgung, the palace during the Joseon Dynasty. Cheong Nam Dae - Cheong Nam Dae used to be one of the two residences for the President of Republic of Korea. It was returned to public in 2003, - It is located in Cheongwon-gun, North Chungcheong Province. Cheong Hae Dae - Cheong Hae Dae used to be one of the two residences for the President of Republic of Korea. Although the president no longer uses this facility this compound is still under the administration of the Republic of Korea Navy, - It is located on one of the islands of Geoje-shi, South Gyeongsang Province. Chongri Gonggwan - This is the residence for the Prime Minister of Republic of Korea. The Prime Minister, however, does not work here, - Its address is 111-2 Samcheongdong-gil, Jongro-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea. It is located close to Cheong Wa Dae, gukhoeuijang Gonggwan - This is the official residence for the Speaker of the National Assembly of Republic of Korea. The Speaker, also, does not work here, - It is located in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, where many foreign missions to Korea are located. Daebeobwonjang Gonggwan - This is the residence for the Chief Justice of Republic of Korea. The Chief Justice, also, does not work here, - It is also located in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Most ministers of state and heads of administrative regions also have official residences, although they are not listed here. S
4.
Grand Kremlin Palace
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Designed by a team of architects under the management of Konstantin Thon, it was intended to emphasise the greatness of Russian autocracy. Konstantin Thon was also the architect of the Kremlin Armoury and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the Grand Kremlin Palace was formerly the tsars Moscow residence. Thons palace is 125 metres long,47 metres high, and has an area of about 25,000 square metres. It includes the earlier Terem Palace, nine churches from the 14th, 16th, and 17th centuries, the Holy Vestibule, the buildings of the Palace form a rectangle with an inner courtyard. The building appears to be three stories, but is actually two, the upper floor has two sets of windows. The west building of the Palace held state reception halls and the familys private chambers. Its five reception halls are named for orders of the Russian Empire, the Orders of St. George, Vladimir, Alexander, Andrew, georgievsky Hall is used today for state and diplomatic receptions and official ceremonies. International treaties are signed at the Vladimirsky Hall, such as the instance on June 1,1988, U. S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev signed the INF Treaty ratification. It also leads to the Palace of Facets, the Tsarinas Golden Chamber, Terem Palace, the Winter Palace, currently it is the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation though it is rarely used for this purpose. Russian site on the Kremlin palaces Official Kremlin Museums Site Большой Кремлевский дворец
5.
Moscow
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Moscow is the capital and most populous city of Russia, with 13.2 million residents within the city limits and 17.8 million within the urban area. Moscow has the status of a Russian federal city, Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, and scientific center of Russia and Eastern Europe, as well as the largest city entirely on the European continent. Moscow is the northernmost and coldest megacity and metropolis on Earth and it is home to the Ostankino Tower, the tallest free standing structure in Europe, the Federation Tower, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, and the Moscow International Business Center. Moscow is situated on the Moskva River in the Central Federal District of European Russia, the city is well known for its architecture, particularly its historic buildings such as Saint Basils Cathedral with its brightly colored domes. Moscow is the seat of power of the Government of Russia, being the site of the Moscow Kremlin, the Moscow Kremlin and Red Square are also one of several World Heritage Sites in the city. Both chambers of the Russian parliament also sit in the city and it is recognized as one of the citys landmarks due to the rich architecture of its 200 stations. In old Russian the word also meant a church administrative district. The demonym for a Moscow resident is москвич for male or москвичка for female, the name of the city is thought to be derived from the name of the Moskva River. There have been proposed several theories of the origin of the name of the river and its cognates include Russian, музга, muzga pool, puddle, Lithuanian, mazgoti and Latvian, mazgāt to wash, Sanskrit, majjati to drown, Latin, mergō to dip, immerse. There exist as well similar place names in Poland like Mozgawa, the original Old Russian form of the name is reconstructed as *Москы, *Mosky, hence it was one of a few Slavic ū-stem nouns. From the latter forms came the modern Russian name Москва, Moskva, in a similar manner the Latin name Moscovia has been formed, later it became a colloquial name for Russia used in Western Europe in the 16th–17th centuries. From it as well came English Muscovy, various other theories, having little or no scientific ground, are now largely rejected by contemporary linguists. The surface similarity of the name Russia with Rosh, an obscure biblical tribe or country, the oldest evidence of humans on the territory of Moscow dates from the Neolithic. Within the modern bounds of the city other late evidence was discovered, on the territory of the Kremlin, Sparrow Hills, Setun River and Kuntsevskiy forest park, etc. The earliest East Slavic tribes recorded as having expanded to the upper Volga in the 9th to 10th centuries are the Vyatichi and Krivichi, the Moskva River was incorporated as part of Rostov-Suzdal into the Kievan Rus in the 11th century. By AD1100, a settlement had appeared on the mouth of the Neglinnaya River. The first known reference to Moscow dates from 1147 as a place of Yuri Dolgoruky. At the time it was a town on the western border of Vladimir-Suzdal Principality
6.
Vladimir Lenin
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Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known by the alias Lenin, was a Russian communist revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as head of government of the Russian Republic from 1917 to 1918, of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1918 to 1924, under his administration, Russia and then the wider Soviet Union became a one-party socialist state governed by the Russian Communist Party. Ideologically a Marxist, he developed political theories known as Leninism, born to a wealthy middle-class family in Simbirsk, Lenin embraced revolutionary socialist politics following his brothers execution in 1887. Expelled from Kazan Imperial University for participating in protests against the Russian Empires Tsarist regime and he moved to Saint Petersburg in 1893 and became a senior figure in the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. In 1897, he was arrested for sedition and exiled to Shushenskoye for three years, where he married Nadezhda Krupskaya, after his exile, he moved to Western Europe, where he became a prominent party theorist through his publications. In 1903, he took a key role in a RSDLP ideological split, Lenins government was led by the Bolsheviks—now renamed the Communist Party—with some powers initially also held by elected soviets. It redistributed land among the peasantry and nationalised banks and large-scale industry, opponents were suppressed in the Red Terror, a violent campaign orchestrated by the state security services, tens of thousands were killed and others interned in concentration camps. Anti-Bolshevik armies, established by both right and left-wing groups, were defeated in the Russian Civil War from 1917 to 1922, responding to wartime devastation, famine, and popular uprisings, in 1921 Lenin promoted economic growth through a mixed economic system. Seeking to promote world revolution, Lenins government created the Communist International, waged the Polish–Soviet War, in increasingly poor health, Lenin expressed opposition to the growing power of his successor, Joseph Stalin, before dying at his Gorki mansion. He became a figurehead behind Marxism-Leninism and thus a prominent influence over the international communist movement. Lenins father, Ilya Nikolayevich Ulyanov, was from a family of serfs, his origins remain unclear, with suggestions being made that he was Russian, Chuvash, Mordvin. Despite this lower-class background he had risen to middle-class status, studying physics and mathematics at Kazan Imperial University before teaching at the Penza Institute for the Nobility, Ilya married Maria Alexandrovna Blank in mid-1863. Well educated and from a prosperous background, she was the daughter of a German–Swedish woman. Soon after their wedding, Ilya obtained a job in Nizhny Novgorod, five years after that, he was promoted to Director of Public Schools for the province, overseeing the foundation of over 450 schools as a part of the governments plans for modernisation. His dedication to education earned him the Order of St. Vladimir, the couple had two children, Anna and Alexander, before Lenin—who would gain the childhood nickname of Volodya—was born in Simbirsk on 10 April 1870, and baptised several days later. They were followed by three children, Olga, Dmitry, and Maria. Two later siblings died in infancy, Ilya was a devout member of the Russian Orthodox Church and baptised his children into it, although Maria – a Lutheran – was largely indifferent to Christianity, a view that influenced her children. Every summer they holidayed at a manor in Kokushkino
7.
1977 Soviet Constitution
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The official name of the Constitution was Constitution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The preamble stated that the aims of the dictatorship of the proletariat having been fulfilled, compared with previous constitutions, the Brezhnev Constitution extended the bounds of constitutional regulation of society. The first chapter defined the role of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and established principles for the management of the state. The difference is that, according to the new Constitution, the government no longer represented the workers, later chapters established principles for economic management and cultural relations. The 1977 Constitution was long and detailed and it included twenty-eight more articles than the 1936 Soviet Constitution. The Constitution explicitly defined the division of responsibilities between the central and republic governments, for example, the Constitution placed the regulation of boundaries and administrative divisions within the jurisdiction of the republics. However, provisions established the rules under which the republics could make such changes, the laws of the USSR shall have the same force in all Union Republics. In the event of a discrepancy between a Union Republic law and an All-Union law, the law of the USSR shall prevail, the territory of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is a single entity and comprises the territories of the Union Republics. The sovereignty of the USSR extends throughout its territory, since 1977, October 7 was celebrated as Soviet Constitution day in the USSR. It was never observed in the Ukrainian SSR, the previous date for Soviet Constitution day had been December 5 from 1936 after the day the 1936 Soviet Constitution had been adopted. Adoption of the Constitution was an act of the Supreme Soviet. Amendments to the Constitution were likewise adopted by legislative act of that body, in addition, the leading boards of official organizations and even the Academy of Sciences could initiate amendments and other legislation. Soviet constitutions were frequently amended and had changed more often than the constitutions of most Western countries. The enabling legislation provided the specific and changing operating rules for government bodies. In October 1988, draft amendments and additions to the 1977 Constitution were published in the Soviet media for public discussion, following the public review process, the Supreme Soviet adopted the amendments and additions in December 1988. The amendments and additions substantially and fundamentally changed the electoral and political systems, the electoral process was constitutionally opened up to multiple candidacies, although not multi-party candidacies. A legislative body—the Supreme Soviet—was to convene for regular spring and fall sessions, unlike the old Supreme Soviet, however, the new Supreme Soviet was indirectly elected by the population, being elected from among the members of the Congress of Peoples Deputies. The Soviet Constitution included a series of civil and political rights, among these were the rights to freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly and the right to religious belief and worship
8.
Soviet Union
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The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was nominally a union of national republics, but its government. The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917 and this established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and started the Russian Civil War between the revolutionary Reds and the counter-revolutionary Whites. In 1922, the communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, following Lenins death in 1924, a collective leadership and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin suppressed all opposition to his rule, committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization which laid the foundation for its victory in World War II and postwar dominance of Eastern Europe. Shortly before World War II, Stalin signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact agreeing to non-aggression with Nazi Germany, in June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theater of war in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at battles such as Stalingrad. Soviet forces eventually captured Berlin in 1945, the territory overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the Eastern Bloc. The Cold War emerged by 1947 as the Soviet bloc confronted the Western states that united in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. Following Stalins death in 1953, a period of political and economic liberalization, known as de-Stalinization and Khrushchevs Thaw, the country developed rapidly, as millions of peasants were moved into industrialized cities. The USSR took a lead in the Space Race with Sputnik 1, the first ever satellite, and Vostok 1. In the 1970s, there was a brief détente of relations with the United States, the war drained economic resources and was matched by an escalation of American military aid to Mujahideen fighters. In the mid-1980s, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the economy through his policies of glasnost. The goal was to preserve the Communist Party while reversing the economic stagnation, the Cold War ended during his tenure, and in 1989 Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe overthrew their respective communist regimes. This led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the USSR as well, in August 1991, a coup détat was attempted by Communist Party hardliners. It failed, with Russian President Boris Yeltsin playing a role in facing down the coup. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the twelve constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as independent post-Soviet states
9.
Premier of the Soviet Union
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The office of Premier of the Soviet Union was synonymous with head of government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Twelve individuals became premier over the span of the office. Two of the twelve died in office of natural causes. The first premier was Lenin, who was inaugurated in 1922 after the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR, ivan Silayev spent the shortest time in office at 126 days in 1991. At over fourteen years, Kosygin spent the longest time in office, the Council of Peoples Commissars was established on 8 November 1917 by the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Government. The Council of Peoples Commissars published decrees and decisions that were binding throughout the Soviet Union, in 1946, the Council of Peoples Commissars was transformed into the Council of Ministers at both all-Union and Union Republic level. However Kosygins position was weakened when he proposed a reform in 1965. Under the 1977 Soviet Constitution, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers was the head of government of the USSR. The premier was responsible and accountable to the Supreme Soviet, the premier managed the national economy, formulated the five-year plans and ensured socio-cultural development. List of heads of state of the Soviet Union List of leaders of the Soviet Union Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union
10.
Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union
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The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, was the de jure government comprising the highest executive and administrative body of the Soviet Union from 1946 until 1991. In 1946 the Council of Peoples Commissars was transformed into the Council of Ministers, the council issued declarations and instructions based on and in accordance with applicable laws, which had obligatory jurisdictional power over the territories of all republics within the Union. In 1991 the Council of Ministers was dissolved, and replaced by the newly established Cabinet of Ministers, there were seven chairmen of the Council of Ministers, in effect Premier of the Soviet Union. The Presidium of the Council of Ministers was the collective decision-making body of government, the Council of Peoples Commissars, the Soviet Government, was transformed into the Council of Ministers in March 1946 in all level of governance. At the same time The Peoples Commissariats were transformed into Ministries, malenkov lost the power struggle, and in 1955 he was demoted from his office as Chairman of the Council of Ministers. He was succeeded in his post by Nikolai Bulganin, who in turn was removed and replaced by Khrushchev because of his support for the Anti-Party Group, which had tried to oust Khrushchev in 1957. Kosygin, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, was in charge of administration while Brezhnev. Kosygin resigned in 1980, to be succeeded by his First Deputy Chairman Nikolai Tikhonov, after five-years service, under the rules laid down by Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko Tikhonov was compelled to retire by Mikhail Gorbachev on 27 September 1985. Tikhonov was succeeded by Nikolai Ryzhkov, Ryzhkov was a half-hearted reformer, and was skeptical towards the de-nationalisation and the monetary reform of 1989, however, he did support the creation of a regulated market economy. In 1991 Ryzhkov was succeeded as Premier by Valentin Pavlov, the Council of Ministers was dissolved and replaced with the newly established Cabinet of Ministers. The Council of Ministers was the head of the executive branch. The Chairman of the Council of Ministers could also recommend people who he found suitable for membership of the Council of Ministers to the Supreme Soviet, the Council of Ministers laid down its functions on each first-convocation of a newly elected Supreme Soviet. Creation of necessary organisations within the Council of Ministers in the fields of economics, socio-cultural development, the Council of Ministers could also issue decrees and resolutions and later on verify their execution. All organisations were obliged to follow the decrees and resolutions issued by the All-Union Council of Ministers, the All-Union Council also had the power to suspend all mandates and decrees issued by itself or organisations subordinate to it. The Council coordinated and directed the work of the republics and union ministries, state committees. In 1946, the All-Union Council of Peoples Commissars became the Council of Ministers, whilst Peoples Commissars and Peoples Commissariats became Ministers, Ministers were important figures in day-to-day decision-making, with 73 percent of them elected full-members of the Central Committee at the 25th Party Congress. A large number of key ministries had been eliminated and replaced by a network of regional and local sovnarkhoz under the supervision of the Supreme Soviet of the National Economy. Khrushchevs economic reform proved disastrous as it severed regional economic relations and was abandoned by the Soviet Government following Khrushchevs ousting in 1964, the year later twenty-eight industrial ministries, eleven All-union and seventeen Union ministries were reestablished
11.
Head of government
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The term head of government is often differentiated from the term head of state, as they may be separate positions, individuals, and/or roles depending on the country. In parliamentary systems, including constitutional monarchies, the head of government is the de facto leader of the government. For example, in the United Kingdom, the prime minister advises the Queen on the appointment of the cabinet, advice she is required to accept. On the other hand, the Queens long service as the head of state enables her to provide the prime minister with information and insight into many matters to better run the government. However, because the United Kingdom is a monarchy, the Prime Minister uses his or her own discretion regarding whether or not to follow the Queens advice. The Queen also is entitled to appoint a new Prime Minister, in presidential republics or in absolute monarchies, the head of state is also usually the head of government. The relationship between that leader and the government, however, can vary greatly, ranging from separation of powers to autocracy, in semi-presidential systems, the head of government may answer to both the head of state and the legislature, with the specifics provided by each countrys constitution. A modern example is the present French government, which originated as the French Fifth Republic in 1958, in France, the president, the head of state, appoints the prime minister, who is the head of government. In some cases, the head of state may represent one political party, in this case, known as cohabitation, the prime minister, along with the cabinet, controls domestic policy, with the presidents influence is largely restricted to foreign affairs. In directorial systems, the executive responsibilities of the head of government are spread among a group of people, a prominent example is the Swiss Federal Council, where each member of the council heads a department and also votes on proposals relating to all departments. A common title for many heads of government is prime minister, various constitutions use different titles, and even the same title can have various multiple meanings, depending on the constitutional order and political system of the state in question. In addition to prime minister, titles used for the democratic model, some of these titles relate to governments below the national level. Have been used by various Empires, Kingdoms and Princely States of India as a title for the Prime Minister, maltese, In Malta, the head of government is Prim Ministru. In this case, the prime minister serves at the pleasure of the monarch, some such titles are diwan, mahamantri, pradhan, wasir or vizier. However, just because the head of state is the de jure dominant position does not mean that he/she will not always be the de facto political leader, in some cases, the head of state is a figurehead whilst the head of the government leads the ruling party. In some cases a head of government may even pass on the title in hereditary fashion, the ability to vote down legislative proposals of the government. Control over or ability to vote down fiscal measures and the budget, all of these requirements directly impact the Head of governments role. Many parliamentary systems require ministers to serve in parliament, while others ban ministers from sitting in parliament, heads of government are typically removed from power in a parliamentary system by Resignation, following, Defeat in a general election
12.
Head of state
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A head of state is the public persona that officially represents the national unity and legitimacy of a sovereign state. In some countries, the head of state is a figurehead with limited or no executive power, while in others. Former French president Charles de Gaulle, while developing the current Constitution of France, some academic writers discuss states and governments in terms of models. An independent nation state normally has a head of state, the non-executive model, in which the head of state has either none or very limited executive powers, and mainly has a ceremonial and symbolic role. In parliamentary systems the head of state may be merely the chief executive officer, heading the executive branch of the state. This accountability and legitimacy requires that someone be chosen who has a majority support in the legislature and it also gives the legislature the right to vote down the head of government and their cabinet, forcing it either to resign or seek a parliamentary dissolution. In parliamentary constitutional monarchies, the legitimacy of the head of state typically derives from the tacit approval of the people via the elected representatives. In reality, numerous variants exist to the position of a head of state within a parliamentary system, usually, the king had the power of declaring war without previous consent of the parliament. For example, under the 1848 constitution of the Kingdom of Italy, the Statuto Albertino—the parliamentary approval to the government appointed by the king—was customary, so, Italy had a de facto parliamentarian system, but a de jure presidential system. These officials are excluded completely from the executive, they do not possess even theoretical executive powers or any role, even formal, hence their states governments are not referred to by the traditional parliamentary model head of state styles of His/Her Majestys Government or His/Her Excellencys Government. Within this general category, variants in terms of powers and functions may exist, the constitution explicitly vests all executive power in the Cabinet, who is chaired by the prime minister and responsible to the Diet. The emperor is defined in the constitution as the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people and he is a ceremonial figurehead with no independent discretionary powers related to the governance of Japan. Today, the Speaker of the Riksdag appoints the prime minister, Cabinet members are appointed and dismissed at the sole discretion of the prime minister. In contrast, the contact the President of Ireland has with the Irish government is through a formal briefing session given by the taoiseach to the president. However, he or she has no access to documentation and all access to ministers goes through the Department of the Taoiseach. The president does, however, hold limited reserve powers, such as referring a bill to the court to test its constitutionality. The most extreme non-executive republican Head of State is the President of Israel, semi-presidential systems combine features of presidential and parliamentary systems, notably a requirement that the government be answerable to both the president and the legislature. The constitution of the Fifth French Republic provides for a minister who is chosen by the president
13.
Prime minister
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A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss members of the cabinet. In most systems, the minister is the presiding member. In parliamentary systems fashioned after the Westminster system, the minister is the presiding and actual head of government. In such systems, the head of state or the head of states official representative usually holds a ceremonial position. The prime minister is often, but not always, a member of the Legislature or the Lower House thereof and is expected with other ministers to ensure the passage of bills through the legislature. In some monarchies the monarch may also exercise powers that are constitutionally vested in the crown. The first actual usage of the prime minister or Premier Ministre was used by Cardinal Richelieu when in 1625 he was named to head the royal council as prime minister of France. Louis XIV and his descendants generally attempted to avoid giving this title to their chief ministers, the term prime minister in the sense that we know it originated in the 18th century in the United Kingdom when members of parliament disparagingly used the title in reference to Sir Robert Walpole. Over time, however, the title became honorific and remains so in the 21st century, the monarchs of England and the United Kingdom had ministers in whom they placed special trust and who were regarded as the head of the government. Examples were Thomas Cromwell under Henry VIII, William Cecil, Lord Burghley under Elizabeth I, Clarendon under Charles II and these ministers held a variety of formal posts, but were commonly known as the minister, the chief minister, the first minister and finally the prime minister. The power of ministers depended entirely on the personal favour of the monarch. Although managing the parliament was among the skills of holding high office. Although there was a cabinet, it was appointed entirely by the monarch, when the monarch grew tired of a first minister, he or she could be dismissed, or worse, Cromwell was executed and Clarendon driven into exile when they lost favour. Kings sometimes divided power equally between two or more ministers to prevent one minister from becoming too powerful, late in Annes reign, for example, the Tory ministers Harley and St John shared power. The monarch could no longer any law or impose any tax without its permission. It is at point that a modern style of prime minister begins to emerge. A tipping point in the evolution of the prime ministership came with the death of Anne in 1714, George spoke no English, spent much of his time at his home in Hanover, and had neither knowledge of, nor interest in, the details of English government
14.
First World
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The concept of First World originated during the Cold War and included countries that were generally aligned with the West and opposed to the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Various ways in which modern First World countries are often determined include GDP, GNP, literacy rates, in common usage, First World refers to the rich nations of the world. After World War II, the split into two large geopolitical blocs, separating into spheres of communism and capitalism. This led to the Cold War, during which the term First World was often used because of its political, social, the term itself was first introduced in the late 1940s by the United Nations. Today, the First World is slightly outdated and has no definition, however, it was generally thought of as the capitalist, industrial, wealthy. This definition included Australia, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, in contemporary society, the First World is viewed as countries that have the most advanced economies, the greatest influence, the highest standards of living, and the greatest technology. It can be defined succinctly as Europe, plus the richer countries of the former British Empire, Japan, Israel, Taiwan, there are varying definitions of the First World, however, they follow the same idea. John D. Daniels, past president of the Academy of International Business, scholar and Professor George J. Bryjak defines the First World to be the modern, industrial, capitalist countries of North America and Europe. L. Robert Kohls, former director of training for the U. S, information Agency and the Meridian International Center in Washington, D. C. uses First World and fully developed as synonyms. Varying definitions of the term First World and the uncertainty of the term in todays world leads to different indicators of First World status, in 1945, the United Nations used the terms first, second, third, and fourth worlds to define the relative wealth of nations. There are some references towards culture in the definition and they were defined in terms of Gross National Product, measured in U. S. dollars, along with other socio-political factors. The first world included the large industrialized, democratic nations, the second world included modern, wealthy, industrialized nations, but they were all under communist control. Most of the rest of the world was deemed part of the third world, if we use the term to mean high-income industrialized economies, then the World Bank classifies countries according to their GNI or gross national income per capita. The World Bank separates countries into four categories, high-income, upper-middle-income, lower-middle-income, the First World is considered to be countries with high-income economies. The high-income economies are equated to mean developed and industrialized countries, the terms First World, Second World, and Third World were originally used to divide the worlds nations into three categories. The model did not emerge to its end state all at once, the complete overthrow of the pre–World War II status quo, known as the Cold War, left two superpowers vying for ultimate global supremacy. They created two camps, known as blocs and these blocs formed the basis of the concepts of the First and Second Worlds. Early in the Cold War era, NATO and the Warsaw Pact were created by the United States and The Soviet Union and they were also referred to as the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc
15.
What Is To Be Done?
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Burning Questions of Our Movement, is a political pamphlet written by the Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin in 1901 and published in 1902. Its title is inspired by the novel of the name by the 19th century Russian revolutionary Nikolai Chernyshevsky. Lenin argues that the class will not spontaneously become political simply by fighting economic battles with employers over wages, working hours. To convert the class to Marxism, Lenin insists that Marxists should form a political party, or vanguard. The pamphlet precipitated in part the split of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party between Lenins Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks, Lenin first confronted the so-called Economist trend in Russian Social Democracy, who followed the line of Eduard Bernstein. He explained that Bernsteins positions were opportunist, a point expressed by the French socialist Alexandre Millerand, against the Economists demand for freedom of criticism, Lenin advanced the position that the orthodox Marxists had the same right to criticize in return. He goes on to argue that to understand politics you must understand all of society, not just workers and their economic struggles with their employers. The sphere from which alone it is possible to obtain this knowledge is the sphere of relationships to the state and the government, the sphere of the interrelations between all classes. Socialist theory, however, in Russia, as elsewhere in Europe, was the product of the representatives of the propertied classes. Lenin states that Marx and Engels themselves, the founders of modern scientific socialism. Lars T. Lih has suggested that Lenins pamphlet has been widely misinterpreted partly by mistranslations of key used by Lenin. Second, Lenins outlook is a revision of orthodox Marxism. Lenin is quite ready to reinterpret Marx, while claiming, of course, third, the book where this profound innovation is set forth What Is to Be Done. is therefore the founding document of Bolshevism and the key text for understanding communism. Lih argues that if we examine the controversial passages in What is to be Done. We misunderstand them if we are not alive to the meanings of the words used, some of these have been translated in such a way as to confuse or even to draw readers to the opposite of what Lenin’s real views were. Vladimir Lenin bibliography What Is To Be Done. by Vladimir I
16.
Joseph Stalin
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Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953. Holding the post of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, he was effectively the dictator of the state. Stalin was one of the seven members of the first Politburo, founded in 1917 in order to manage the Bolshevik Revolution, alongside Lenin, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Trotsky, Sokolnikov, and Bubnov. Among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who took part in the Russian Revolution of 1917 and he managed to consolidate power following the 1924 death of Vladimir Lenin by suppressing Lenins criticisms and expanding the functions of his role, all the while eliminating any opposition. He remained General Secretary until the post was abolished in 1952, the economic changes coincided with the imprisonment of millions of people in Gulag labour camps. The initial upheaval in agriculture disrupted food production and contributed to the catastrophic Soviet famine of 1932–33, major figures in the Communist Party and government, and many Red Army high commanders, were arrested and shot after being convicted of treason in show trials. Stalins invasion of Bukovina in 1940 violated the pact, as it went beyond the Soviet sphere of influence agreed with the Axis, Germany ended the pact when Hitler launched a massive invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. Despite heavy human and territorial losses, Soviet forces managed to halt the Nazi incursion after the decisive Battles of Moscow, after defeating the Axis powers on the Eastern Front, the Red Army captured Berlin in May 1945, effectively ending the war in Europe for the Allies. The Soviet Union subsequently emerged as one of two recognized world superpowers, the other being the United States, Communist governments loyal to the Soviet Union were established in most countries freed from German occupation by the Red Army, which later constituted the Eastern Bloc. Stalin also had relations with Mao Zedong in China and Kim Il-sung in North Korea. On February 9,1946, Stalin delivered a public speech in which he explained the fundamental incompatibility of communism and capitalism. He stressed that the system needed war for raw materials. The Second World War was but the latest in a chain of conflicts which could be broken only when the economy made the transformation into communism. Stalin led the Soviet Union through its post-war reconstruction phase, which saw a significant rise in tension with the Western world that would later be known as the Cold War, Stalin remains a controversial figure today, with many regarding him as a tyrant. However, popular opinion within the Russian Federation is mixed, the exact number of deaths caused by Stalins regime is still a subject of debate, but it is widely agreed to be in the order of millions. Joseph Stalin was born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili, the Russian-language version of his birth name is Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili. Ioseb was born on 18 December 1878 in the town of Gori, Georgia and his father was Besarion Jughashvili, a cobbler, while his mother was Ekaterine Keke Geladze, a housemaid. As a child, Ioseb was plagued with health issues
17.
Rise of Joseph Stalin
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Joseph Stalin was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Unions Central Committee from 1922 until his death in 1953. In the years following Lenins death in 1924, he rose to become the leader of the Soviet Union, after growing up in Georgia, Stalin conducted activities for the Bolshevik Party for twelve years before the Russian Revolution of 1917. After participating, Stalin took military leadership positions in the Russian Civil War, Stalin was one of the Bolsheviks chief operatives in the Caucasus and grew very close to Lenin, who saw him as a capable and loyal follower. Stalin played a role in engineering the 1921 Red Army invasion of Georgia. His connections helped him attain high positions in the new Soviet government, Lenin grew critical of Stalin, and many other Bolsheviks at this time, but in 1922 a stroke forced Lenin into semi-retirement. Thereafter, Stalin politically isolated his major enemies, such as arch-rival Leon Trotsky and this eventually led him to be the sole uncontested leader of the Party and the Soviet Union. He eventually earned a place in Lenins inner circle and the highest echelons of the Bolshevik hierarchy, in 1917, he participated in the Bolshevik uprising in the Russian capital of Petrograd. His pseudonym, Stalin, means man of the steel hand, in the civil war that followed, Stalin forged connections with various Red Army generals and eventually acquired military powers of his own. He brutally suppressed counter-revolutionaries and bandits, after winning the civil war, the Bolsheviks moved to expand the revolution into Europe, starting with Poland, which was fighting the Red Army in Ukraine. As joint commander of an army in Ukraine, Stalins actions in the war were later criticized by many, in late 1920, Trotsky argued for a ban on trade unions and a formal imposition of Party dictatorship over the industrial sectors. Fearing a backlash from the unions, Lenin asked Stalin to build a base for him against Trotsky. Lenins faction eventually prevailed at the Tenth Party Congress in March 1921, frustrated by the squabbling factions within the Party during what he saw as a time of crisis, Lenin convinced the Tenth Congress to pass a ban on any opposition to official Central Committee policy. Lenin still, however, encountered difficulties pushing his policies through and decided to give his ally, Stalin. With the help of Kamenev, Lenin successfully had Stalin appointed to the post of General Secretary on April 3,1922. Stalin still held his posts in the Orgburo, the Workers and Peasants Inspectorate, with this power, he would steadily place his supporters in positions of authority. It was in the Georgian affairs that Stalin first began to play his own hand, Lenin, however, disliked Stalins policy towards Georgia, as he believed all the Soviet states should be on equal standing with Russia rather than be absorbed and subordinated to it. On May 25,1922, Lenin suffered a stroke while recovering from surgery to remove a bullet lodged in his neck since a failed attempt in August 1918. Severely debilitated, he went into semi-retirement and moved to his dacha in Gorki, after this, Trotsky and Stalin were concerned about who was going to be the next successor
18.
Government of the Soviet Union
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The Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was the main body of the executive branch of government in the Soviet Union. Its head of government was the generally known in the West as the Premier of the Soviet Union. The members of the Soviet Government—peoples commissars, ministers, and heads of state committees—were recommended by the Premier, the Government of the Soviet Union exercised its executive powers in conformity with the Soviet Constitution and legislation enacted by the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. However eventually no new government was formed due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. These were accompanied by a number of government ministers and state committee chairmen, recommended by the premier. The executive branch was responsible for both short- and long-term economic, social and cultural development, the Governments official residence was at the Kremlin Senate in Moscow. The Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics exercised its powers in conformity with the Soviet Constitution and legislation enacted by the Supreme Soviet. Its structure, operational procedures and decision-making processes were defined by the 1977 Soviet constitution, the decisions and ordinances of the Council of Ministers of the USSR shall be binding throughout the USSR—these decisions and ordinances were binding throughout the country. The Government also controlled trade and had directed the general development of the Soviet armed forces. The Government managed the internal sphere of the Union of Soviet of Socialist Republics social policy and it was responsible for implementing measures which would either promote or ensure the well-being of Soviet citizens through economic, social and economic development. For instance, the Government controlled the State Bank and was responsible for the organisation of state insurance, both the five-year plan and the budget needed approval from the Supreme Soviet to be implemented. It was responsible for socialist property, public order and the protection of its citizens, the Government was responsible to the Soviet Parliament, and the parliament could in theory force the resignation of the Government as a whole or any Government appointees by a simple majority vote. The Premier and the members of the Government were jointly responsible for decisions passed by the Government and were responsible for their respective portfolios. The Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, literally head of state, appointed government ministers, the Premier could recommend civil servants to government to the Presidium, which could then either pass or reject the nominee
19.
Nikita Khrushchev
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Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev was a politician who led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, Khrushchevs party colleagues removed him from power in 1964, replacing him with Leonid Brezhnev as First Secretary and Alexei Kosygin as Premier. Khrushchev was born in the village of Kalinovka in 1894, close to the border between Russia and Ukraine. He was employed as a metalworker in his youth, and during the Russian Civil War was a political commissar, with the help of Lazar Kaganovich, he worked his way up the Soviet hierarchy. He supported Joseph Stalins purges, and approved thousands of arrests, in 1938, Stalin sent him to govern Ukraine, and he continued the purges there. During what was known in the Soviet Union as the Great Patriotic War, Khrushchev was again a commissar, Khrushchev was present at the bloody defense of Stalingrad, a fact he took great pride in throughout his life. After the war, he returned to Ukraine before being recalled to Moscow as one of Stalins close advisers, in the power struggle triggered by Stalins death in 1953, Khrushchev, after several years, emerged victorious. On 25 February 1956, at the 20th Party Congress, he delivered the Secret Speech, denouncing Stalins purges and his domestic policies, aimed at bettering the lives of ordinary citizens, were often ineffective, especially in agriculture. Hoping eventually to rely on missiles for defense, Khrushchev ordered major cuts in conventional forces. Despite the cuts, Khrushchevs rule saw the most tense years of the Cold War, flaws in Khrushchevs policies eroded his popularity and emboldened potential opponents, who quietly rose in strength and deposed the premier in October 1964. However, he did not suffer the fate of previous losers of Soviet power struggles, and was pensioned off with an apartment in Moscow. His lengthy memoirs were smuggled to the West and published in part in 1970, Khrushchev died in 1971 of heart disease. Khrushchev was born on 15 April 1894, in Kalinovka, a village in what is now Russias Kursk Oblast and his parents, Sergei Khrushchev and Ksenia Khrushcheva, were poor peasants of Russian origin, and had a daughter two years Nikitas junior, Irina. Sergei Khrushchev was employed in a number of positions in the Donbas area of far eastern Ukraine, working as a railwayman, as a miner, and laboring in a brick factory. Wages were much higher in the Donbas than in the Kursk region, Kalinovka was a peasant village, Khrushchevs teacher, Lydia Shevchenko, later stated that she had never seen a village as poor as Kalinovka had been. Nikita worked as a herdsboy from an early age and he was schooled for a total of four years, part in the village parochial school and part under Shevchenkos tutelage in Kalinovkas state school. She urged Nikita to seek education, but family finances did not permit this. In 1908, Sergei Khrushchev moved to the Donbas city of Yuzovka, fourteen-year-old Nikita followed later that year, while Ksenia Khrushcheva and her daughter came after
20.
Leonid Brezhnev
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Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in duration, during Brezhnevs rule, the global influence of the Soviet Union grew dramatically, in part because of the expansion of the Soviet military during this time. His tenure as leader was marked by the beginning of an era of economic, Brezhnev was born in Kamenskoye into a Russian workers family in 1906. After graduating from the Dniprodzerzhynsk Metallurgical Technicum, he became an engineer in the iron and steel industry. He joined Komsomol in 1923, and in 1929 became a member of the CPSU. He was drafted into military service during World War II. While at the helm of the USSR, Brezhnev pushed for détente between the Eastern and Western countries. However, in December 1981 he decided not to intervene in Poland, instead allowing the countrys government to impose martial law. After years of declining health, Brezhnev died on 10 November 1982 and was succeeded in his post as General Secretary by Yuri Andropov. Brezhnev had fostered a cult of personality, although not nearly to the degree as Stalin. Mikhail Gorbachev, who would lead the USSR from 1985 to 1991, denounced his legacy, in spite of this, opinion polls in Russia show Brezhnev to be the most popular Russian leader of the 20th century. Brezhnev was born on 19 December 1906 in Kamianske in Ukraine, to metalworker Ilya Yakovlevich Brezhnev and his wife and his parents used to live in Brezhnevo before moving to Kamenskoe. Brezhnevs ethnicity was specified as Ukrainian in some documents, including his passport, like many youths in the years after the Russian Revolution of 1917, he received a technical education, at first in land management where he started as a land surveyor and then in metallurgy. He graduated from the Dniprodzerzhynsk Metallurgical Technicum in 1935 and became an engineer in the iron. Brezhnev joined the Communist Party youth organisation, the Komsomol, in 1923, in 1935 and 1936, Brezhnev served his compulsory military service, and after taking courses at a tank school, he served as a political commissar in a tank factory. Later in 1936, he director of the Dniprodzerzhynsk Metallurgical Technicum. In 1936, he was transferred to the center of Dnipropetrovsk and, in 1939, he became Party Secretary in Dnipropetrovsk. As a survivor of Stalins Great Purge of 1937–39, he was able to quickly as the purges created numerous openings in the senior and middle ranks of the Party
21.
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
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The Communist Party of the Soviet Union, abbreviated in English as CPSU, was the founding and ruling political party of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The party was founded in 1912 by the Bolsheviks, a group led by Vladimir Lenin which seized power in the aftermath of the October Revolution of 1917. The party was dissolved on 29 August 1991 on Soviet territory soon after a failed coup détat and was abolished on 6 November 1991 on Russian territory. The highest body within the CPSU was the party Congress, which convened every five years, when the Congress was not in session, the Central Committee was the highest body. Because the Central Committee met twice a year, most day-to-day duties and responsibilities were vested in the Politburo, the Secretariat, and the Orgburo. The party leader was the head of government and held the office of either General Secretary, Premier or head of state, or some of the three offices concurrently—but never all three at the same time. The CPSU, according to its party statute, adhered to Marxism–Leninism, a based on the writings of Vladimir Lenin and Karl Marx. The party pursued state socialism, under which all industries were nationalized, a number of causes contributed to CPSUs loss of control and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Some historians have written that Gorbachevs policy of glasnost was the root cause, Gorbachev maintained that perestroika without glasnost was doomed to failure anyway. Others have blamed the stagnation and subsequent loss of faith by the general populace in communist ideology. The Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, the worlds first constitutionally socialist state, was established by the Bolsheviks in the aftermath of the October Revolution. Immediately after the Revolution, the new, Lenin-led government implemented socialist reforms, including the transfer of estates, in this context, in 1918, RSDLP became Russian Communist Party and remained so until 1997. Lenin supported world revolution he sought peace with the Central Powers. The treaty was voided after the Allied victory in World War I, in 1921, Lenin proposed the New Economic Policy, a system of state capitalism that started the process of industrialization and recovery from the Civil War. On 30 December 1922, the Russian SFSR joined former territories of the Russian Empire in the Soviet Union, on 9 March 1923, Lenin suffered a stroke, which incapacitated him and effectively ended his role in government. He died on 21 January 1924 and was succeeded by Joseph Stalin, after emerging victorious from a power struggle with Trotsky, Stalin obtained full control of the party and Stalinism was installed as the only ideology of the party. The partys official name was All-Union Communist Party in 1925, Stalins political purge greatly affected the partys configuration, as many party members were executed or sentenced for slave labour. Happening during the timespan of the Great Purge, fascism had ascened to power in Italy, seeing this as a potential threat, the Party actively sought to form collective security alliances with Anti-fascist western powers such as France and Britain
22.
Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union
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The Congress of Peoples Deputies of the Soviet Union was the highest body of state authority of the Soviet Union from 1989 to 1991. The Congress of Peoples Deputies of the Soviet Union was created as part of Mikhail Gorbachevs reform agenda, and was enabled by Gorbachevs first constitutional change. The Congress consisted of 2,250 deputies elected in three different ways,750 deputies were elected according to the used in Soviet of the Union elections in the 1936–1989 period. 750 deputies were elected according to the used in Soviet of Nationalities elections in the 1936–1989 period. 750 deputies representing public organizations, such as the Communist Party, Komsomol, the election law would allocate a fixed number of seats to organizations – for example,100 to the Communist Party and 100 to Komsomol – and the organizations would appoint deputies to those seats. The congress would gather twice a year and would elect the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union consisting of a smaller number of deputies. The Supreme Soviet would then serve as a permanent legislature, deciding all but the most important issues, such as amendments to the Soviet constitution, the month-long nomination of candidates for the Congress of Peoples Deputies of the USSR lasted until 24 January 1989. For the next month, selection among the 7,531 districts nominees took place at meetings organized by constituency-level electoral commissions. On 7 March, a final list of 5,074 candidates was published, approximately 85% of these were members of the ruling Communist Party of the Soviet Union and 17% were women. In the two prior to the 1,500 districts polls, elections to fill 750 reserved seats of public organizations. The selection process was completed in April. In the 26 March general elections, voter participation was reported at 89. 8%, with this polling,1,958 – including 1,225 district seats – of the 2,250 CPD seats were filled. At its first session commencing on 25 May, the CPD proceeded to choose the 542 Supreme Soviet members from among 573 candidates, final results were announced on 27 May. The Supreme Soviet was convened for its first session on 3 June, on 21 July, the composition of the new Council of Ministers, headed by Nikolai Ryzhkov, was announced. Only one Congress was elected, in March 1989, the fundamental difference from previous elections in Soviet Union was that elections were actually competitive. Instead of one Communist Party-approved candidate for each seat, multiple candidates were allowed, a variety of different political positions, from Communist to pro-Western, were represented in the Congress, and lively debates took place with different viewpoints expressed. Congress of Peoples Deputies of Russia Congress of Soviets
23.
One-party state
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All other parties are either outlawed or allowed to take only a limited and controlled participation in elections. One-party states explain themselves through various methods, most often, proponents of a one-party state argue that the existence of separate parties runs counter to national unity. Others argue that the one party is the vanguard of the people, the Soviet government argued that multiple parties represented the class struggle, which was absent in Soviet society, and so the Soviet Union only had one party, the Communist Party. Some one-party states only outlaw opposition parties, while allowing allied parties to exist as part of a permanent coalition such as a popular front. However, these parties are largely or completely subservient to the ruling party, examples of this are the Peoples Republic of China under the United Front, or the National Front in former East Germany. Others may allow non-party members to run for seats, as was the case with Taiwans Tangwai movement in the 1970s and 1980s. Within their own countries, dominant parties ruling over one-party states are referred to simply as the Party. One-party systems often arise from decolonization because one party has had a dominant role in liberation or in independence struggles. One-party states are often, but not always, considered to be authoritarian or totalitarian, however, not all authoritarian or totalitarian states operate based on one-party rule. Some, especially absolute monarchies and certain military dictatorships, have all political parties illegal. The term communist state is used in the West to apply to states in which the ruling party subscribes to a form of Marxism–Leninism. While the role of the Communist Party is enshrined in the constitution, no party is permitted to campaign or run candidates for election, the party was conceived by the original Black American settlers and their descendants who referred to themselves as Americo-Liberians. Initially, its ideology was influenced by that of the Whig Party in the United States. Over time it developed into a powerful Masonic Order that ruled every aspect of Liberian society for well over a century until it was overthrown in 1980, while the True Whig Party still exists today, its influence has substantially declined
24.
Soviet people
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Soviet people or Citizens of the USSR was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Initially used as a reference to the Soviet population, it was eventually declared to be a new historical, social and international unity of people. Through the history of the Soviet Union, both doctrine and practice regarding ethnic distinctions within the Soviet population varied over time, minority national cultures were not completely abolished in the Soviet Union. By Soviet definition, national cultures were to be socialist by content and national by form, to be used to promote the official aims, the fifth record was the section of the obligatory internal passport document which stated the citizens ethnicity. The 24th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union finalized this definition, according to the 2010 Russian Census 27,000 Russians identified themselves as members of the Soviet people. Homo Sovieticus Melting pot New Soviet man Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality Rootless cosmopolitan Russification Zhonghua minzu, the equivalent notion in the Peoples Republic of China Yugoslavs
25.
Vice President of the Soviet Union
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Under the 1924,1936 and 1977 Soviet Constitution these bodies served as the collective head of state of the Soviet Union. The Chairman of these bodies personally performed the ceremonial functions assigned to a single head of state. The Soviet Union was established in 1922, however, the countrys first constitution was adopted in 1924. Before that time, the 1918 Constitution of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic was adopted as the constitution of the USSR, the CEC could also limit taxes. In periods between convocations of the Congress of Soviets the CEC held supreme power, in between sessions of the Congress of Soviets the CEC was responsible for all the affairs of the Congress of Soviets. The CEC and the Congress of Soviets was replaced by the Presidium, the Supreme Soviet was the highest organ of state power, and was the sole organ to hold legislative power in the Soviet Union. Sessions of the Supreme Soviet were convened by the Presidium twice a year, however, in the event of a disagreement between the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities the Presidium could form a conciliation commission. If this commission failed the Presidium could dissolve the Supreme Soviet, the Presidency was established in 1990 and the President would, according to the altered constitution, be elected by the Soviet people by direct and secret ballot. However, the first and only Soviet President, Mikhail Gorbachev, was elected by the democratically elected Congress of Peoples Deputies, in connection with the dissolution of the Soviet Union national elections for the office of President never took place. To be elected to the office a person must have been a Soviet citizen and older than thirty-five, the same person could not be elected president for more than two terms. The Presidency was the highest state office, and was the most important office in the Soviet Union by influence and recognition, eclipsing that of Premier, with the establishment of the Presidency executive power was shared between the President and the Prime Minister. The first head of state was Mikhail Kalinin, who was inaugurated in 1922 after the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR, at over twenty years, Kalinin spent the longest time in office, he died shortly after his resignation in 1946. Andropov spent the shortest time in office, there have been four individuals appointed vice head of state. At over eight years, Vasily Kuznetsov spent the longest time in office, gennady Yanayev spent the shortest time in office
26.
State Council of the Soviet Union
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The members of the council consisted of the President of the Soviet Union, and highest officials from the Soviet Union Republics. This committee was transformed into the Committee on the Operational Management of the Soviet Economy, also chaired by Silayev. Its function was to coordinate economic policy across the Soviet Union, as Chairman of both COMSE and the IEC, Silayev presided over a quickly disintegrating Soviet Union. On 6 September 1991 a presidential decree gave the IEC the same authority as the Cabinet of Ministers. When he first took office, Silayev wanted to reduce the powers of the central government and this view changed, he demanded that Yeltsin give back much of the authority of the central government which he had usurped following the August Coup. In this he failed, and his position as Russian SFSR Premier was severely weakened as a result. Silayev, as overseer of the economy, was given the task of initiating economic reforms in the Soviet Union in a way that both the central government and the Soviet republics. Silayev tried to maintain an integrated economy while initiating the marketisation of the economy, on 19 December COMSE was dissolved by a presidential decree, and Gorbachev resigned as Soviet President on 25 December. The next day,26 December 1991, Silayev resigned from his post as IEC Chairman, and the Soviet Union was formally dissolved by the Council of Republics
27.
Collective leadership in the Soviet Union
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Collective leadership or Collectivity of leadership, was considered an ideal form of governance in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and other socialist states espousing communism. On the national level, the heart of the leadership was officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party. Vladimir Lenin was, according to Soviet literature, the example of a leader ruling in favour of the collective. At the 20th Party Congress, Stalins reign was criticised as the cult of the individual, Nikita Khrushchev, Stalins successor, supported the ideal of collective leadership but only ruled in a collective fashion when it suited him. In 1964, Khrushchev was ousted due to his disregard of collective leadership and was replaced in his posts by Leonid Brezhnev as First Secretary, collective leadership was strengthened during the Brezhnev years and the later reigns of Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko. Mikhail Gorbachevs reforms helped spawn factionalism within the Soviet leadership, the factions usually disagreed on how little or how much reform was needed to rejuvenate the Soviet system. Soviet ideologists believed that Vladimir Lenin, the first Soviet leader, after Stalins death, his successors, while vying for control over the Soviet leadership, promoted the values of collective leadership. Georgy Malenkov, Lavrentiy Beria and Vyacheslav Molotov formed a collective leadership immediately after Stalins death, after the arrest of Beria, Nikita Khrushchev proclaimed collective leadership as the supreme principle of our Party. He further stated that only approved by the Central Committee could ensure good leadership for the party. In reality, however, Khrushchev promoted these ideas so that he could win support to remove his opponents from power, most notably Premier Malenkov. Khrushchev criticised Stalins rule during the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union as a cult of the individual and he accused Stalin of reducing the Partys activities and putting an end to Party democracy among others. In the three years following Stalins death, the Central Committee and the Presidium worked consistently to uphold the leadership lost under Stalin. Khrushchevs rule as First Secretary remained highly controversial throughout his rule in the Party leadership, the first attempt to depose Khrushchev came in 1957, when the Anti-Party Group accused him of individualistic leadership. The coup failed, but Khrushchevs position weakened drastically, however, Khrushchev continued to portray his regime as a rule of the collective even after becoming Chairman of the Council of Ministers, replacing Nikolai Bulganin. Most Western observers believed that Khrushchev had become the leader of the Soviet Union by the early 1960s. This campaign culminated in 1964 with the replacement of Khrushchev in his offices of First Secretary by Leonid Brezhnev, Brezhnev and Kosygin, along with Mikhail Suslov, Andrei Kirilenko and Anastas Mikoyan, were elected to their respective offices to form and lead a functioning collective leadership. One of the reasons for Khrushchevs ousting, as Suslov told him, was his violation of collective leadership, with Khrushchevs removal, collective leadership was again praised by the Soviet media, and it was claimed to be a return to Leninist norms of Party life. At the plenum which ousted Khrushchev, the Central Committee forbade any single individual to hold the office of General Secretary, the leadership was usually referred to as the Brezhnev–Kosygin leadership, instead of the collective leadership, by First World medias
28.
History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
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The history of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union is generally conceived as also covering that of the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party from which it evolved. The history of the regional and republican branches of the party does however differ from the all-Russian, over twenty Party organizations were represented. In the eyes of the Bolsheviks the conference had, therefore, moreover, the conference declared the Mensheviks expelled from the party. Stalin and Sverdlov won election to the Central Committee despite their non-attendance at the conference, the elected alternate members of the Central Committee included Mikhail Kalinin. For the direction of work in Russia a practical center was set up, with Stalin at its head. Sverdlov, Spandaryan, S. Ordzhonikidze, M. Kalinin and Goloshchekin, I hope you will rejoice with us over the fact. In the summer of 1912, Lenin moved from Paris to Galicia in order to be nearer to Russia. An important instrument used by the Bolshevik Party to strengthen its organizations and to spread its influence among the masses was the Bolshevik daily newspaper Pravda and it was founded, according to Lenins instructions, on the initiative of Stalin, Olminsky and Poletayev. Pravda was intended as a legal, mass working-class paper founded simultaneously with the new rise of the revolutionary movement and its first issue appeared on May 51912. Previous to the appearance of Pravda, the Bolsheviks already had a newspaper called Zvezda. Zvezda had played an important part at the time of the Lena events and it printed a number of political articles by Lenin and Stalin. But the Party felt that with the revolutionary upsurge, a weekly newspaper no longer met the requirements of the Bolshevik Party, according to the analysis of the Party leadership, a daily mass political newspaper designed for the broadest sections of the workers was needed. Whilst the average circulation of Pravda was 40,000 copies per day, the circulation of Luch, in Moscow, the party launched Nash Put as a workers newspaper in September 1913. It was banned after just a few editions were published, another legally functioning central organ of the Party was the Bolshevik group in the Fourth State Duma. In 1912 the government decreed elections to the Fourth Duma, the RSDLP decided to participate in the elections. The RSDLP acted independently, under its own slogans, in the Duma elections, the slogans of the Bolsheviks in the election campaign were a democratic republic, an 8-hour day and the confiscation of the landed estates. The elections to the Fourth Duma were held in the autumn of 1912, in reply, the St. Petersburg Committee of the RSDLP, on Stalins proposal, called upon the workers of the large factories to declare a one-day strike. Placed in a position, the government was forced to yield
29.
Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union
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The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union was the highest legislative body in the Soviet Union and the only one with the power to pass constitutional amendments. It elected the Presidium serving as the head of state of the Soviet Union, formed the Council of Ministers and the Supreme Court. The administrative units of the type would send in the same number of members regardless of their size or population. Under the Soviet constitutions of 1936 and 1977, the Supreme Soviet was imbued with great lawmaking powers, after 1989 it consisted of 542 deputies. The meetings of the body were more frequent, from six to eight months a year. The presidium carried out the operations of the Supreme Soviet when it was not in session. Beside the Supreme Council, in the Soviet Union supreme councils also existed in each of union, the supreme councils of republican level also were headed by their presidiums, but all those councils consisted of one chamber. All republics in the Soviet Union were soviet, yet 15 were of union level, while the other, autonomous republics, were subordinated to the union republics
30.
Soviet of the Union
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Until Glasnost and the 1989 elections however, only candidates approved by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union were permitted to participate in the elections. As opposed to the Soviet of Nationalities, the Soviet of the Union represented the interests of all of the people of the Soviet Union no matter what their nationality was. The Soviet of the Union had the rights and competence as the Soviet of Nationalities. The legality of action was questionable, since the Soviet Constitution did not allow a republic to unilaterally recall its deputies. However, by time the Soviet government had been rendered more or less impotent. Chairman of the Soviet of the Union 1977 Soviet Constitution 1936 Soviet Constitution
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