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). Long before 1991, most non-Soviet sources referred to the post as "Premier" or "Prime Minister."

Not to be confused with the President of the Soviet Union.

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

Twelve individuals held the post. 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 were concurrently party leader and head of government (Lenin, Stalin and Nikita Khrushchev).Ivan Silayev spent the briefest time in office at 126 days. At more than 16 years, Kosygin spent the longest time in office.

History

The first Soviet government was established on 6 July 1923 by the Central Executive Committee, with Lenin as its first chairman. 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. The head of government was appointed by 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] It functioned as the most influential office of government until the establishment of the Office of the President of the Soviet Union in 1990.

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]

See also

• Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union
• First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union
• List of heads of state of the Soviet Union
• List of leaders of the Soviet Union

Notes

1. These numbers are not official.

References

Citations

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. Brown 2009, p. 403.
3. Ferdinand 1993, p. 133.
4. 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. ).
5. 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. ).
6. Cull, Culbert & Welch 2003, p. 182.
7. Phillips 2000, p. 82.
8. Phillips 2000, p. 89.
9. Totten & Bartrop 2008, p. 76.
10. Duiker & Spielvogel 2006, p. 572.
11. Trahair & Miller 2004, p. 69.
12. Trahair & Miller 2004, p. 37.
13. Ploss 2010, p. 219.
14. Валентин Сергеевич Павлов [Valentin Sergeyevich Pavlov] (in Russian). RU: Hrono. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
15. Иван Степанович Силаев [Ivan Stepanovich Silayev] (in Russian). RU: Hrono. Retrieved 6 December 2010.

Sources

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• 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.