List of Premiers of the Soviet Union
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Premier of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics | |
|---|---|
| Former Political Post | |
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| Coat of arms | |
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| Vladimir Lenin, the first Premier of the Soviet Union | |
| First officeholder | Vladimir Lenin |
| Last officeholder | Ivan Silayev |
| Official residence | Moscow Kremlin |
| Appointer | Members of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet elected and relieved the Premier of his duties |
| Political office started | 1917 |
| Political office ended | 1991 |
Premier of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is the most commonly used English term for the offices of the Chairmens of the Council of People's Commissars and of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, the office of Prime Minister and the Chairmens of the Committee on the operational management of the Soviet economy, Inter-Republican economic committee of the USSR and the Prime Minister of the Economic Community (also called Chairman Interstate Economic Committee of the USSR), the latest four mentioned controlled the Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR, in the last months of 1991. The premier was the head of government in the Soviet Union according to the 1977 Soviet Constitution. As head of the union government as a whole, the premiership was the highest government office in the Soviet Union by influence and recognition. The premiership was elected by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet and if needed, relieved of his duties. Upon the death, resignation, or removal from office of an incumbent premier, the First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers was supposed to assume the office; but this never happened.
As some Soviet leaders held both positions at the same time, the western press often referred to the General Secretary as the "premier of the Soviet Union" regardless of whether the man actually held the office. For example Leonid Brezhnev was often referred to by the title without ever holding the office.
The first premier was Vladimir Lenin, the founder of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) and the USSR who became the premier of RSFSR in 1917 and the first premier of the USSR in 1922. The longest-serving premier was the ninth, Alexei Kosygin, who first took office on 20 February 1964, and served five terms, totaling just over 16 years in office. Ivan Silayev, the last premier, had the shortest term, serving over three months following due to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Contents |
[edit] Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (1917–1946)
| Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Other offices held while Prime Minister |
Party leader | President | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) |
8 November 1917 |
21 January 1924 |
Leader of the Bolshevik Party, Chairman of the Council of Labour and Defence |
Himself | Mikhail Kalinin | ||
| — | ||||||||
| Regarded as the first Soviet Premier; led the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) through the Russian Revolution (February and October Revolution)[1] and successfully created the world's first socialist state, the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (RSFSR).[2] He initated War Communism,[3] a fore-runner to the planned economy and later the New Economic Policy (NEP) which introduced a mixed economy to the RSFSR.[4] Treaty on the Creation of the USSR in 1922 established the Soviet Union.[5] | ||||||||
 |
Alexey Rykov (1881–1938) |
2 February 1924 |
19 December 1930 |
Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, Chairman of the Council of Labour and Defence |
Joseph Stalin | Mikhail Kalinin | ||
| 1929 | ||||||||
| A member of the moderate faction within the Bolshevik Party.[6] He was forced, along with other moderates, to "admit their mistakes" to the party and would later, in 1930 lose his premiership to Joseph Stalin because of it.[7] | ||||||||
 |
Vyacheslav Molotov (1890–1986) |
19 December 1930 |
6 May 1941 |
People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs | Joseph Stalin | Mikhail Kalinin | ||
| 1937 | ||||||||
| He oversaw Stalin's collectivization of agriculture, the implementation of the first First Five-Year Plan, industrialization of the USSR and the Great Purge of 1937-38.[8] | ||||||||
 |
Joseph Stalin (1878–1953) |
6 May 1941 |
15 March 1946 |
General Secretary of the CPSU | Himself | Nikolay Shvernik | ||
| 1946 | ||||||||
| Led the country through World War II (Eastern Front) and started the country's reconstruction period. He re-named the office of the People's Commissars to the Council of Ministers of the USSR.[9] | ||||||||
[edit] Chairman of the Council of Ministers (1946–1991)
| Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Other offices held while Prime Minister |
Party leader | President | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Joseph Stalin (1878–1953) |
15 March 1946 |
5 March 1953 |
First Secretary of the CPSU, Minister of Defence, Chairman of the State Defense Committee |
Himself | Nikolay Shvernik | ||
| 1950 | ||||||||
| After the war Stalin installed communist governments in most of Eastern Europe, forming the Eastern bloc,[9] behind what was referred to as an "Iron Curtain" of Soviet rule during the long period of antagonism between the Western world and the USSR, known as the Cold War.[10] | ||||||||
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Georgy Malenkov (1902–1988) |
6 March 1953 |
8 February 1955 |
First Secretary of the CPSU | Nikita Khrushchev | Kliment Voroshilov | ||
| 1954 | ||||||||
| Took over after Stalin's death, but lost in the ensuing power struggle against Nikita Khrushchev. He continued to hold the office of Premier until Khrushchev started the process of de-Stalinization. He was replaced on Khrushchev's orders by Nikolai Bulganin.[11] | ||||||||
 |
Nikolai Bulganin (1895–1975) |
8 February 1955 |
27 March 1958 |
— | Nikita Khrushchev | Kliment Voroshilov | ||
| 1958 | ||||||||
| Oversaw the period of de-Stalinization in the USSR.[12] While being a strong supporter of Khrushchev at first, he starting doubting some of his more radical policies and therefor joined the Anti-Party Group to remove him as leader. They failed and Bulganin was replaced the following year by Khrushchev himself.[13] | ||||||||
 |
Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971) |
27 March 1958 |
14 October 1964 |
First Secretary of the CPSU | Himself | Leonid Brezhnev | ||
| 1962 | ||||||||
| Oversaw plenty of reforms and policy innovations in the USSR, 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 CPSU.[12] | ||||||||
 |
Alexei Kosygin (1904–1980) |
20 February 1964 |
23 October 1980 |
— | Leonid Brezhnev | Nikolai Podgorny | ||
| 1966, 1970, 1974, 1979 |
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| Was one of three leading members of the new "collective leadership" along with Leonid Brezhnev and Nikolai Podgorny. He ruled through the era known by historians as the Brezhnev stagnation.[14] He retired from office in October 1980 and died two months later.[15] | ||||||||
 |
Nikolai Tikhonov (1905–1997) |
23 October 1980 |
27 September 1985 |
— | Mikhail Gorbachev | Andrei Gromyko | ||
| 1984 | ||||||||
| Having been a close associate of Brezhnev before taking power, Tikhonov was made a First Deputy Minister on the orders of Brezhnev. After Kosygin's death, he took over the role of the Council of Ministers[16] and held it through the rules of Yuri Andropov, Konstantin Chernenko and the very beginning of Mikhail Gorbachev's tenure.[17] | ||||||||
 |
Nikolai Ryzhkov (1929–present) |
27 September 1985 |
14 January 1991 |
— | Mikhail Gorbachev | Andrei Gromyko | ||
| 1989 |
|
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| 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.[18] Was forced to resign when the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union passed a bill replacing the Council of Ministers of the USSR with the Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR.[19] | ||||||||
[edit] Prime Minister (1991)
| Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Other offices held while Prime Minister |
Party leader | President | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Valentin Pavlov (1937–2003) |
14 January 1991 |
22 August 1991 |
— |
|
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| Pavlov was elected to the new position of Prime Minister as a compromise candidate. He carried out a highly unsuccessful monetary reform in 1991, also known as the Pavlovian reform, which failed[20] and led him to join the State Committee of the State of Emergency which attempted to depose Gorbachev on August 19. With the collapse of the coup, Pavlov was arrested on August 29.[21] | ||||||||
[edit] Prime Minister of the Economic Community (1991)
| Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Other offices held while Prime Minister |
Party leader | President | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Ivan Silayev (1930–present) |
6 September 1991 |
25 December 1991 |
Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR |
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| After the August Coup of 1991, the Soviet government lost much of its power over its own republics. Silajev was unable, together with Gorbachev, to hold the Soviet state together which eventually led to its demise.[22] | ||||||||
[edit] See also
- Index of Soviet Union-related articles
- President of the Soviet Union
- List of leaders of the Soviet Union
- Deputies of the Soviet Union
- First Deputies of the Soviet Union
- List of Governments of the Soviet Union
[edit] References
- Notes
- ^ D. Young, Gregory; Braden, Nate (2005). The last sentry: the true story that inspired the hunt for Red October. Naval Institute Press. p. 40. ISBN 1591149924. http://books.google.com/books?id=Tnq8WB4Us5AC&dq.
- ^ Service 2000, p. 1.
- ^ Service 2000, p. 430.
- ^ Service 2000, p. 488.
- ^ "Образование СССР" (in Russian). Hrono.info. http://hrono.info/sobyt/1900sob/cccp.php. Retrieved September 24, 2010.
- ^ Rappaport 1999, p. 238.
- ^ Rappaport 1999, p. 289.
- ^ Hough, Jerry F.; Fainsod, Merle (1979). How the Soviet Union is governed. Harvard University Press. p. 295. ISBN 0674410300. http://books.google.com/books?id=38gMzMRXCpQC&dq.
- ^ a b Service, Robert (2005). Stalin: A Biography. Harvard University Press. p. 3–4. ISBN 0674016971. http://books.google.com/books?id=hSWK6Dh4wRgC&dq.
- ^ Service, Robert (2005). Stalin: A Biography. Harvard University Press. p. 503. ISBN 0674016971. http://books.google.com/books?id=hSWK6Dh4wRgC&dq.
- ^ Coppa 2006, p. 170–71.
- ^ a b Gorbachev, Mikhail (April 26, 2007). "The first steps towards a new era". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2007/apr/26/greatspeeches4. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
- ^ Coppa 2006, p. 38.
- ^ Brown, Archie (2009). The Rise & Fall of Communism. Bodley Head. p. 403. ISBN 978-1-845-95076-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=yWQpAQAAIAAJ&q.
- ^ Вергасов, Фатех. "Организация здорового накала" (in Russian). pseudology.org. http://www.pseudology.org/byvaly/ZdorovyjNakal.htm. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
- ^ Zemtsov, Ilya (1989). Chernenko: the last Bolshevik : the Soviet Union on the eve of Perestroika. Transaction Publishers. pp. 119. ISBN 0887382606. http://books.google.com/books?id=hgscfLr5dCsC&dq.
- ^ Service, Robert (2009). History of Modern Russia: From Tsarism to the Twenty-first Century. Penguin Books Ltd. p. 403–404. ISBN 0141037970. http://books.google.com/books?id=o8Z1QAAACAAJ&dq.
- ^ Garcelon, Marc (2005). Revolutionary passage: from Soviet to post-Soviet Russia, 1985-2000. Temple University Press. p. 128–29. ISBN 1592133622. http://books.google.no/books?id=2dqGABT3Yw0C&dq.
- ^ Harris, Jonathan (2005). Subverting the System: Gorbachev's Reform of the Party's Apparat, 1986-1991. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 133. ISBN 0742526798. http://books.google.no/books?id=2dqGABT3Yw0C&dq.
- ^ Dyker, David A. (1992). Restructuring the Soviet economy. Routledge. p. 207–8. ISBN 0415067618. http://books.google.no/books?id=nOKi0BIAa7MC&dq.
- ^ Bonnell, Victoria E.; Cooper, Ann (1994). Russia at the barricades: eyewitness accounts of the August 1991 coup. M.E. Sharpe. p. 63–4. ISBN 1563242710. http://books.google.no/books?id=njDmMpVGPGsC&dq.
- ^ Kotz, David Michael; Weir, Fred (2007). Russia's path from Gorbachev to Putin: the demise of the Soviet system and the new Russia. Taylor & Francis. p. 122. ISBN 0415701473. http://books.google.no/books?id=njDmMpVGPGsC&dq.
- Bibliography
- Coppa, Frank J. (2006). Encyclopedia of modern dictators: from Napoleon to the present. Peter Lang. p. 38. ISBN 0820450103. http://books.google.no/books?id=gTv99LBYSL4C&dq.
- Rappaport, Helen (1999). Joseph Stalin: a biographical companion. ABC-CLIO. pp. 372. ISBN 1576072088. http://books.google.com/books?id=lsKClpnX8qwC&dq.
- Service, Robert (2000). Lenin: A Biography. Harvard University Press. p. 561. ISBN 0674008286. http://books.google.com/books?id=frDGHIxc4EUC&dq.
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