Premier of the Soviet Union
The Premier of the Soviet Union (Russian: Глава Правительства СССР) was the head of government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The office had three different names throughout its existence: Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (1923–1946), Chairman of the Council of Ministers (1946–1991) and Prime Minister of the Soviet Union (1991). The term premier was used by outside commentators to describe the office of head of government.
| Premier of the Soviet Union Глава Правительства СССР | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms | |
| Residence | Kremlin Senate, Moscow |
| Formation | 6 July 1923 |
| First holder | Vladimir Lenin |
| Final holder | Ivan Silayev |
| Abolished | 26 December 1991 |
| Succession | Prime Minister of the Russian Federation |
The first Soviet government was established on 6 July 1923. The government was empowered to initiate decrees and legislation that were binding throughout the USSR.[1] After the ousting of Khrushchev in 1964, Kosygin was appointed head of government. However, Kosygin's prestige was weakened when he proposed the economic reform of 1965.[2] Upon Valentin Pavlov's ascension to the premiership, the Council of Ministers was abolished and replaced with the Cabinet of Ministers. 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 in 1991. The government of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic began seizing Soviet ministries in the aftermath of the coup, and by December 1991 the Soviet government had lost control.[3]
Under the 1977 Soviet Constitution, the head of government was the leader of the highest executive and administrative organ of state. It functioned as the most influential office of government until the establishment of the Office of the President of the Soviet Union in 1990. The head of government was responsible and accountable to the Supreme Soviet (and its Presidium).[4] The head of government 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 its Presidium. The head of government managed the national economy, formulated the five-year plans and ensured socio-cultural development.[5]
Twelve individuals became head of government. Of these, two died in office of natural causes (Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin), three resigned (Alexei Kosygin, Nikolai Tikhonov and Ivan Silayev) and three held the offices of party secretary and head of government concurrently (Stalin and Nikita Khrushchev). Lenin was elected the first head of government on 6 July 1923 by a decision of the Central Executive Committee. Ivan Silayev spent the briefest time in office at 126 days. At more than 16 years, Kosygin spent the longest time in office.
Officeholders
| №[lower-alpha 1] | Portrait | Name (Born-Died) |
Term | Electorate | Cabinets | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Duration | ||||||
| 1 | Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) | 6 July 1923 | 21 January 1924 † | 199 days | – | Lenin I–II | [6] | |
| 2 | Alexei Rykov (1881–1938) | 2 February 1924 | 19 December 1930 | 6 years, 320 days | 1924 1925 1927 1929 | Rykov I–II–III–IV–V | [7] | |
| 3 | Vyacheslav Molotov (1890–1986) | 19 December 1930 | 6 May 1941 | 10 years, 138 days | 1931 1935 1936 1937 | Molotov I–II–III–IV | [8] | |
| 4 | Joseph Stalin (1878–1953) | 6 May 1941 | 5 March 1953 † | 11 years, 303 days | 1946 1950 | Stalin I–II–III | [9] | |
| 5 | Georgy Malenkov (1902–1988) | 6 March 1953 | 8 February 1955 | 1 year, 339 days | 1954 | Malenkov I–II | [10] | |
| 6 | Nikolai Bulganin (1895–1975) | 8 February 1955 | 27 March 1958 | 3 years, 47 days | 1958 | Bulganin | [11] | |
| 7 | Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971) | 27 March 1958 | 15 October 1964 | 6 years, 202 days | 1962 | Khrushchev I–II | [10] | |
| 8 | Alexei Kosygin (1904–1980) | 15 October 1964 | 23 October 1980 | 16 years, 8 days | 1966 1970 1974 1979 | Kosygin I–II–III–IV–V | [12] | |
| 9 | Nikolai Tikhonov (1905–1997) | 23 October 1980 | 27 September 1985 | 4 years, 339 days | 1984 | Tikhonov I–II | [13] | |
| 10 | Nikolai Ryzhkov (born 1929) | 27 September 1985 | 14 January 1991 | 5 years, 109 days | 1989 | Ryzhkov I–II | [13] | |
| 11 | Valentin Pavlov (1937–2003) | 14 January 1991 | 28 August 1991 | 226 days | – | Pavlov | [14] | |
| 12 | Ivan Silayev (born 1930) | 28 August 1991 | 25 December 1991 | 119 days | – | Silayev | [15] | |
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See also
| This article is part of a series on the |
| Politics of the Soviet Union |
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Leadership |
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Governance |
Notes
- These numbers are not official.
References
Citations
- 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. ).
- Brown 2009, p. 403.
- Ferdinand 1993, p. 133.
- 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. ).
- 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. ).
- Cull, Culbert & Welch 2003, p. 182.
- Phillips 2000, p. 82.
- Phillips 2000, p. 89.
- Totten & Bartrop 2008, p. 76.
- Duiker & Spielvogel 2006, p. 572.
- Trahair & Miller 2004, p. 69.
- Trahair & Miller 2004, p. 37.
- Ploss 2010, p. 219.
- Валентин Сергеевич Павлов [Valentin Sergeyevich Pavlov] (in Russian). RU: Hrono. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
- Иван Степанович Силаев [Ivan Stepanovich Silayev] (in Russian). RU: Hrono. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
Sources
- Brown, Archie (2009). The Rise & Fall of Communism. Bodley Head. ISBN 978-0061138799.
- Bonnell, Victoria; Cooper, Ann (1994). Russia at the Barricades: Eyewitness Accounts of the August 1991 coup. M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 978-1563242717.
- Coppa, Frank (2006). Encyclopedia of Modern Dictators: From Napoleon to the Present. Peter Lang. ISBN 978-0820450100.
- Cull, Nicholas; Culbert, David; Welch, David (2003). Propaganda and Mass Persuasion: A Historical Encyclopedia, 1500 to the Present. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1576078204.
- Duiker, William; Spielvogel, Jackson (2006). The Essential World History. Cengage Learning. ISBN 978-0495902270.
- Dyker, David (1992). Restructuring the Soviet economy (1st ed.). Routledge. ISBN 978-0415067614.
- Fainsod, Merle; Hough, Jerry F. (1979). How the Soviet Union is Governed. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674410305.
- Ferdinand, Maria Feldbrugge Joseph (1993). Russian Law: The End of the Soviet System and the Role of Law (1st ed.). Springer Publishing. ISBN 978-0792323587.
- Garcelon, Marc (2005). Revolutionary Passage: From Soviet to Post-Soviet Russia, 1985–2000. Temple University Press. ISBN 978-1592133628.
- Harris, Jonathan (2005). Subverting the System: Gorbachev's Reform of the Party's Apparat, 1986–1991. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0742526792.
- Kotz, David Michael; Weir, Fred (2007). Russia's Path from Gorbachev to Putin: The Demise of the Soviet System and the New Russia (2nd ed.). Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0415701471.
- Phillips, Steven (2000). Lenin and the Russian Revolution. Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-435-32719-4.
- Ploss, Sidney (2010). The Roots of Perestroika: The Soviet Breakdown in Historical Context. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0786444861.
- Rappaport, Helen (1999). Joseph Stalin: A Biographical Companion. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1576070840.
- Sebag-Montefiore, Simon (2005). Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar. Vintage Books. ISBN 978-1400042302.
- Service, Robert (2000). Lenin: A Biography. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674008281.
- Service, Robert (2009). History of Modern Russia: From Tsarism to the Twenty-first Century. Penguin Books Ltd. ISBN 978-0674034938.
- Service, Robert (2005). Stalin: A Biography. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674016972.
- Totten, Samuel; Bartrop, Paul (2008). Dictionary of Genocide: A–L. 1. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0313346422.
- Trahair, Richard; Miller, Robert (2004). Encyclopedia of Cold War Espionage, Spies, and Secret Operations. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1929631759.
- Young, Gregory; Braden, Nate (2005). The Last Sentry: The True Story That Inspired the Hunt for Red October. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1591149927.
- Zemtsov, Ilya (1989). Chernenko, the Last Bolshevik: The Soviet Union on the eve of Perestroika. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-0887382604.
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