Premier of the Soviet Union

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Not to be confused with the President of the Soviet Union.
Premier of the Soviet Union
Глава Правительства СССР
State Emblem of the Soviet Union.svg
ResidenceKremlin Senate, Moscow
PrecursorChairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR
Formation30 December 1922
First holderVladimir Lenin
Final holderIvan Silayev
Abolished25 December 1991
SuccessionPrime Minister of the Russian Federation

The Premier of the Soviet Union (Russian: Глава Правительства СССР) was the head of government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Twelve individuals became Premier during the time span of the office. Two of the twelve Premiers died in office of natural causes (Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin), three resigned (Alexei Kosygin, Nikolai Tikhonov and Ivan Silayev) and three had the offices of party secretary and Premier simultaneously (Lenin, Stalin and Nikita Khrushchev). The first Premier was Lenin, who was inaugurated during 1922 after the Treaty on the Creation of the Soviet Union. Ivan Silayev spent the briefest time in office at 126 days during 1991. At more than fourteen years, Kosygin spent the longest time in office and became the only premier to be the Premier for more than two government cabinets. He died soon after his resignation during 1980.

The Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom) was established on 8 November 1917 by the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) Government. Article 38 of the 1924 Soviet Constitution stated that the Council's powers, functions and duties were given to it by the Central Executive Committee (CEC) which supervised the Council's work and legislative acts. The Council of People's Commissars published decrees and decisions that were binding throughout the USSR.[1] During 1946, the Council of People's Commissars was transformed into the Council of Ministers (Sovmin) at both all-Union and Union Republic levels.[2]

After Khrushchev's ouster during 1964, a plenum of the Party's Central Committee (CC) forbade any single erson to have the two most powerful jobs of the country (the office of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Premier)[3] and Kosygin was in charge of economic administration in his role as Premier of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. However, Kosygin's prestige was weakened when he proposed the economic reform of 1965.[4] Under the 1977 Soviet Constitution, the Premier of the Council of Ministers was the head of government of the USSR. The Premier was the chief of the executive branch and head of the Soviet government as a whole, the premiership was the most powerful governmental office in the USSR by influence and recognition until the establishment of the presidency during 1990. The Premier was responsible and accountable to the Supreme Soviet and during the period between sessions of the Supreme Soviet he was also accountable to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet.[5] The Premier was tasked with resolving all state administrative duties within the jurisdiction of the USSR to the degree which were not the responsibility of the Supreme Soviet or the Presidium. The Premier managed the national economy, formulated the five-year plans and ensured socio-cultural development.[6]

When Nikolai Ryzhkov was replaced as premier by Valentin Pavlov, the Council of Ministers was renamed the Cabinet of Ministers. The premier's title was changed to Prime Minister of the Soviet Union, though most non-Soviet sources had referred to the job as "Premier" or "Prime Minister" for some time before then. After the failed August coup of 1991 and the revelation that the majority of the cabinet members endorsed the coup, the Cabinet of Ministers was dissolved and replaced by the Committee on the Operational Management of the Soviet economy during 1991. The Operational Management Committee was renamed the Inter-Republican Economic Committee of the USSR[7] and it was replaced later by the Interstate Economic Committee (IEC). The IEC was also known officially as the Economic Community.[8]

List of Premiers[edit]

#
[note 1] 		Name
(birth–death) 		Tenure Electorate Cabinets
1 Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (1922–1946)
Vladimir Lenin
(1870–1924)[9] 		Bundesarchiv Bild 183-71043-0003, Wladimir Iljitsch Lenin.jpg 30 December 1922 – 21 January 1924 — Lenin I–II
Regarded as the first Soviet Premier, Lenin led the Bolshevik Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP), later known as the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), through the Russian Revolution (February and October Revolution)[10] and successfully created the world's first socialist state, the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (RSFSR).[11] In 1922, he established the Soviet Union.[12]
2 Alexei Rykov
(1881–1938)[13] 		Alexejrykov.jpg 2 February 1924 – 19 December 1930 1924, 1925, 1927, 1929 Rykov I
A member of the moderate faction within the Bolshevik Party, he was forced, along with other moderates, to "admit their mistakes" to the party and in 1930 lost his premiership because of it.[14]
3 Vyacheslav Molotov
(1890–1986)[15] 		Molotov.bra.jpg 19 December 1930 – 6 May 1941 1931, 1935, 1936, 1937 Molotov I
Molotov oversaw Stalin's collectivization of agriculture, the implementation of the first five-year plan, industrialisation of the Soviet Union and the Great Purge of 1937–1938.[16] Despite the great human cost,[17] the Soviet Union under Molotov's nominal premiership made great strides in the adoption and widespread implementation of agrarian and industrial technology.[18]
4 Joseph Stalin
(1878–1953)[19] 		JStalin Secretary general CCCP 1942.jpg 6 May 1941 – 15 March 1946 1946 Stalin I
Stalin led the country through the Great Patriotic War (World War II) and started the country's reconstruction period. He renamed the office of the People's Commissars to the Council of Ministers.[20]
Chairman of the Council of Ministers (1946–1991)
Joseph Stalin
(1878–1953)[19] 		JStalin Secretary general CCCP 1942.jpg 15 March 1946 – 5 March 1953 1950 Stalin II
After the war, Stalin installed communist governments in most of Eastern Europe, forming the Eastern Bloc,[20] behind what was referred to as an "Iron Curtain" of Soviet rule during the long period of antagonism between the Western world and the Soviet Union, known as the Cold War.[21]
5 Georgy Malenkov
(1902–1988)[22] 		Georgy Malenkov 1964.jpg 6 March 1953 – 8 February 1955 1954 Malenkov I–II
Malenkov took over after Stalin's death, but he lost in the ensuing power struggle against Khrushchev. He continued to hold the office of Premier until Khrushchev started the process of de-Stalinisation. He was replaced on Khrushchev's orders by Nikolai Bulganin.[23]
6 Nikolai Bulganin
(1895–1975)[24] 		Bundesarchiv Bild 183-29921-0001, Bulganin, Nikolai Alexandrowitsch.jpg 8 February 1955 – 27 March 1958 1958 Bulganin I
Bulganin oversaw the period of de-Stalinisation.[25] While being a strong supporter of Khrushchev at first, he started doubting some of his more radical policies and accused of being a member of the Anti-Party Group was eventually replaced by Khrushchev himself.[26]
7 Nikita Khrushchev
(1894–1971)[22] 		Bundesarchiv Bild 183-B0628-0015-035, Nikita S. Chruschtschow.jpg 27 March 1958 – 14 October 1964 1962 Khrushchev I–II
Khrushchev led the country through the Cuban Missile Crisis and oversaw numerous reforms and policy innovations, such as the 1961 monetary reform. His increasingly erratic behaviour led to his removal by the nomenklatura both as Premier and First Secretary of the Communist Party.[25]
8 Alexei Kosygin
(1904–1980)[27] 		A. Kosygin 1967.jpg 15 October 1964 – 23 October 1980 1966, 1970, 1974, 1979 Kosygin I–V
One of three leading members of the collective leadership with Leonid Brezhnev and Nikolai Podgorny, Kosygin ruled through the era known as the "Era of Stagnation".[4] He initiated three large scale economic reforms under his leadership: the 1965, the 1973 and the 1979 reform.[28] He retired from office in October 1980 and died two months later.[29]
9 Nikolai Tikhonov
(1905–1997)[30] 		23 October 1980 – 27 September 1985 1984 Tikhonov I–II
After Kosygin's departure, Tikhonov became the new Premier.[31] He held the office through Brezhnev's last years, the rules of Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko and the very beginning of Mikhail Gorbachev's tenure.[32]
10 Nikolai Ryzhkov
(born 1929)[30] 		Nikolai Ryzhkov.jpg 27 September 1985 – 14 January 1991 1989 Ryzhkov I–II
Ryzhkov supported Gorbachev's attempt to revive and restructure the Soviet economy through decentralising planning and introducing new technology. However, he resisted Gorbachev's later attempts to introduce market mechanisms into the Soviet economy.[33] He was forced to resign when his office as Chairman of the Council of Ministers was dissolved.[34]
11 Prime Minister of the Soviet Union (1991)
Valentin Pavlov
(1937–2003)[35] 		14 January 1991 – 22 August 1991 — Pavlov I
Pavlov was elected to the new position of Prime Minister as a compromise candidate. He carried out a highly unsuccessful monetary reform which failed[36] and led him to join the State Committee of the State of Emergency. The State Committee attempted to depose Gorbachev on 19 August. With the collapse of the coup, Pavlov was arrested on 29 August.[37]
12 Chairman of the Interstate Economic Committee – Prime Minister of the Economic Commonwealth (1991)
Ivan Silayev
(born 1930)[38] 		— 6 September 1991 – 26 December 1991 — Silayev I
After the August coup of 1991, the Soviet government lost much of its power over the Soviet Republics. Along with Gorbachev, Silayev was unable to hold the Soviet state together which eventually led to its demise in December 1991.[39]

See also[edit]

This article is part of a series on the
Politics of the Soviet Union
State Emblem of the Soviet Union.svg
 

Sources[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ These numbers are not official.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Центральный Исполнительный Комитет съезда Советов. Статья №38 от Декабрь 1977 «Суверенные права союзных республик». (Central Executive Committee of the Congress of Soviets. Article #38 of December 1924 Sovereign Rights of the Member Republics. ).
  2. ^ "О преобразовании Совета Народных Комиссаров СССР в Совет Министров СССР и Советов Народных Комиссаров Союзных и Автономных республик в Советы Министров Союзных и Автономных республик" 15 марта 1946 года [On Reforming the Council of People's Commissars into the Council of Ministers of the USSR, and the Councils of People's Commissars of Union and Autonomous Republics into the Councils of Ministers of Union and Autonomous Republics, 15 March 1946]. Legislation of the USSR 1946-1952 (in Russian). World and Market Economy - Collection of Articles on Economy, Igor Averin. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
  3. ^ Service 2009, p. 378.
  4. ^ a b Brown 2009, p. 403.
  5. ^ Верховный Совет СССР. Федеральный конституционный закон №130 от 7 октября 1977 «Совета Министров СССР». (Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Article #130 of 7 October 1977 The Council of Ministers of the USSR. ).
  6. ^ Верховный Совет СССР. Федеральный конституционный закон №131 от 7 октября 1977 «Совета Министров СССР». (Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Article #131 of 7 October 1977 The Council of Ministers of the USSR. ).
  7. ^ Ferdinand 1993, pp. 163–164.
  8. ^ Ferdinand 1993, p. 133.
  9. ^ Cull, Culbert & Welch 2003, p. 182.
  10. ^ Young & Braden 2005, p. 40.
  11. ^ Service 2000, p. 1.
  12. ^ Образование СССР (in Russian). Hrono.info. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
  13. ^ Phillips 2000, p. 82.
  14. ^ Rappaport 1999, pp. 238–39.
  15. ^ Phillips 2000, p. 89.
  16. ^ Fainsod & Hough 1979, p. 295.
  17. ^ Sebag-Montefiore 2005, p. 125.
  18. ^ Sebag-Montefiore 2005, p. 236.
  19. ^ a b Totten & Bartrop 2008, p. 76.
  20. ^ a b Service 2005, pp. 3–4.
  21. ^ Service 2005, p. 503.
  22. ^ a b Duiker & Spielvogel 2006, p. 572.
  23. ^ Coppa 2006, pp. 170–71.
  24. ^ Trahair & Miller 2004, p. 69.
  25. ^ a b Gorbachev, Mikhail (26 April 2007). "The First Steps Towards a New Era". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  26. ^ Coppa 2006, p. 38.
  27. ^ Trahair & Miller 2004, p. 37.
  28. ^ ютуба, любитель (17 December 2010). "30 лет назад умер Алексей Косыгин" [A reformer before Yegor Gaidar? Kosygin died for 30 years ago]. Newsland (in Russian). Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  29. ^ Вергасов, Фатех. Организация здорового накала (in Russian). pseudology.org. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  30. ^ a b Ploss 2010, p. 219.
  31. ^ Zemtsov 1989, p. 119.
  32. ^ Service 2009, pp. 403–4.
  33. ^ Garcelon 2005, pp. 128–29.
  34. ^ Harris 2005, p. 133.
  35. ^ Валентин Сергеевич Павлов [Valentin Sergeyevich Pavlov] (in Russian). RU: Hrono. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  36. ^ Dyker 1992, pp. 207–8.
  37. ^ Bonnell & Cooper 1994, pp. 63–64.
  38. ^ Иван Степанович Силаев [Ivan Stepanovich Silayev] (in Russian). RU: Hrono. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  39. ^ Kotz & Weir 2007, p. 122.

Bibliography[edit]

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