The Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union was the highest

collegial Collegiality is the relationship between colleagues. A colleague is a fellow member of the same profession. Colleagues are those explicitly united in a common purpose and respect each other's abilities to work toward that purpose. A colleague is ...

body of

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive di ...

and administrative authority of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

from 1923 to 1946. As the

government of the Soviet Union The Government of the Soviet Union ( rus, Прави́тельство СССР, p=prɐˈvʲitʲɪlʲstvə ɛs ɛs ɛs ˈɛr, r=Pravítelstvo SSSR, lang=no), formally the All-Union Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, commonly ab ...

, the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union and the

People's Commissariat A People's Commissariat (russian: народный комиссариат; Narkomat) was a structure in the Soviet state (in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, in other union and autonomous republics, in the Soviet Union) from 1917– ...

s led by it played a key role in such significant events for the country and society as the economic recovery after the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

, the

New Economic Policy The New Economic Policy (NEP) () was an economic policy of the Soviet Union proposed by Vladimir Lenin in 1921 as a temporary expedient. Lenin characterized the NEP in 1922 as an economic system that would include "a free market and capitalism, ...

agricultural collectivization Collective farming and communal farming are various types of, "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member- ...

electrification Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histo ...

industrialization Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...

, five-year plans for the development of national economy,

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

, the fight against religion, repression and political persecution, the

Gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the State Political Directorate, GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= ...

, the deportation of peoples, the annexation of the Baltic States and other territories by the Soviet Union, the organization of the partisan movement, the organization of industrial production in the rear during the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), an ...

. In 1946, it was transformed into the

Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Совет министров СССР, r=Sovet Ministrov SSSR, p=sɐˈvʲet mʲɪˈnʲistrəf ɛsɛsɛˈsɛr; sometimes abbreviated to ''Sovmin'' or referred to as the '' ...

History

The creation of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union as the executive body of the

Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union The All-Union Central Executive Committee (russian: Всесоюзный Центральный исполнительный комитет, Vsesoyuznyy Tsentral'nyy ispolnitel'nyy komitet) was the most authoritative governing body of the USSR d ...

was provided for by the

Treaty on the Creation of the Soviet Union hy, ԽՍՀՄ ձեւավորման մասին պայմանագիր az, SSRİ-nin formalaşması haqqında müqavilə ka, ხელშეკრულება სსრკ-ს ფორმირების შესახებ , image ...

. For the first time the abbreviation "Sovnarkom" was used in this treaty. The prototype of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union was the Council of People's Commissars of Soviet Russia – the first in the history of the Soviet state a panel of chairmen of commissions entrusted with "managing certain branches of state life". Formed by the decrees of the 2nd All-Russian Congress of Soviets and the

All-Russian Central Executive Committee The All-Russian Central Executive Committee ( rus, Всероссийский Центральный Исполнительный Комитет, Vserossiysky Centralny Ispolnitelny Komitet, VTsIK) was the highest legislative, administrative and r ...

on November 9, 1917, five years before the formation of the Soviet Union, the Council of People's Commissars chaired by

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

was the government of the Russian Soviet Republic (since 1918 – the

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

). After the formation of the Soviet Union, the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic coordinated the activities of the Soviet republics that became part of the

, actually becoming the first government of the Soviet Union between the signing of the

on December 29, 1922 and the formation of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union on July 6, 1923. The first composition of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union was approved at the 2nd session of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union on July 6, 1923: *Chairman –

; *Vice-chairmen:

Lev Kamenev Lev Borisovich Kamenev. (''né'' Rozenfeld; – 25 August 1936) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and a prominent Soviet politician. Born in Moscow to parents who were both involved in revolutionary politics, Kamenev attended Imperial Moscow Uni ...

Alexei Rykov Alexei Ivanovich Rykov (25 February 188115 March 1938) was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet politician and statesman, most prominent as premier of Russia and the Soviet Union from 1924 to 1929 and 1924 to 1930 respectively. He was ...

Alexander Tsiurupa Alexander Dmitrievich Tsiurupa (russian: Алекса́ндр Дми́триевич Цюру́па, October 1, ( O.S. 19 September) 1870 — May 8, 1928) was a Bolshevik leader, Soviet statesman and Party figure. Biography Alexander Tsiurupa ...

Vlas Chubar Vlas Yakovlevich Chubar ( uk, Влас Якович Чубар; russian: Вла́с Я́ковлевич Чуба́рь) ( – 26 February 1939) was a Ukrainian Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet politician. Chubar was arrested during the Great ...

Sergo Ordzhonikidze Sergo Konstantinovich Ordzhonikidze,, ; russian: Серго Константинович Орджоникидзе, Sergo Konstantinovich Ordzhonikidze) born Grigol Konstantines dze Orjonikidze, russian: Григорий Константино ...

Mamia Orakhelashvili Mamia Orakhelashvili ( ka, მამია ორახელაშვილი, russian: Иван (Мамия) Дмитриевич Орахелашвили, ''Ivan (Mamia) Dmitrievich Orakhelashvili''; June 10, 1881 – December 11, 1937) was a ...

; *People's Commissars of the All-Union People's Commissars: for foreign affairs –

Georgy Chicherin Georgy Vasilyevich Chicherin (24 November 1872 – 7 July 1936), also spelled Tchitcherin, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and a Soviet politician who served as the first People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs in the Soviet government from ...

, for military and maritime affairs –

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

, foreign trade –

Leonid Krasin Leonid Borisovich Krasin (russian: Леони́д Бори́сович Кра́син; 15 July 1870 – 24 November 1926) was a Russian Soviet politician, engineer, social entrepreneur, Bolshevik revolutionary politician and a Soviet diplomat. In ...

, communications –

Felix Dzerzhinsky Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky ( pl, Feliks Dzierżyński ; russian: Фе́ликс Эдму́ндович Дзержи́нский; – 20 July 1926), nicknamed "Iron Felix", was a Bolshevik revolutionary and official, born into Polish nobility ...

, posts and telegraphs – Ivan Smirnov; *People's Commissars of the United People's Commissars: the Supreme Council of the National Economy –

, food –

Nikolai Bryukhanov Nikolai Pavlovich Bryukhanov; sometimes transliterated as ''Briukhanov''. (party aliases Andrey and Andrey Simbirsky; literary alias N. Pavlov; December 28, 1878 - September 1, 1938) was a Russian Bolshevik, Soviet statesman and political figure w ...

, labor –

Vasily Schmidt Vasily Vladimirovich Schmidt (Russian: Василий Владимирович Шмидт; December 17, 1886 – July 28, 1938) was a Bolshevik politician, and later a Soviet statesman. Born in Saint Petersburg to a German Russian working-class f ...

, finance –

Grigori Sokolnikov Grigori Yakovlevich Sokolnikov (born Hirsch Brilliant or Girsh Yankelevich Brilliant; 1888–1939) was a Russian Old Bolshevik revolutionary, economist, and Soviet politician. Early career Grigori Sokolnikov was born Girsh Yankelevich Brillian ...

, Workers' and Peasants' Inspection –

Valerian Kuybyshev Valerian Vladimirovich Kuybyshev (russian: Валериа́н Влади́мирович Ку́йбышев; – 25 January 1935) was a Russian revolutionary, Red Army officer, and prominent Soviet politician. Biography Early years Bo ...

. On July 17, 1923, the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union notified the Central Executive Committees of the Union Republics and their Councils of People's Commissars that the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union had begun to fulfill the tasks entrusted to it. In the Constitution of the Soviet Union of 1924, the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union was defined as the executive and administrative body of the

, and with the adoption of the Constitution of the Soviet Union of 1936, it received an alternative name – the Government of the Soviet Union – and became the highest executive and administrative body management of the

. During the Great Patriotic War, the activities of the people's commissariats of the Soviet Union were subordinated to the

State Defense Committee The State Defense Committee (russian: Государственный комитет обороны - ГКО, translit=Gosudarstvennyĭ komitet oborony - GKO) was an extraordinary organ of state power in the USSR during the German-Soviet War (Gr ...

– an emergency management body under the leadership of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...

, Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union, which was created during the war and had full power in the

. On March 15, 1946, the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union was transformed into the

by decree of the

Presidium of the Supreme Soviet The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (russian: Президиум Верховного Совета, Prezidium Verkhovnogo Soveta) was a body of state power in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The law on the transformation of the federal government also provided for the renaming of the federal bodies subordinate to the Government of the Soviet Union. Accordingly, the people's commissariats of the Soviet Union were renamed the

Ministries of the Soviet Union The Ministries of the Soviet Union (russian: Министерства СССР) were the government ministries of the Soviet Union. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 the previous bureaucratic apparatus of bourgeois ministers was replaced by Pe ...

, and the people's commissars into ministers. On the same day, the Council of People's Commissars resigned to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union of a new convocation, and after 4 days, the Council of Ministers was formed in accordance with law. On February 25, 1947, appropriate changes were made to the Constitution of the Soviet Union.

Composition

The Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union consisted of the following members: *Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union; *Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union; *The people's commissars of the Soviet Union – the leaders of the people's commissariats of the Soviet Union; *Chairman of the State Planning Commission of the Soviet Union (since 1936); *Chairman of the Soviet Control Commission (since 1936); *Chairman of the Procurement Committee (since 1936); *Chairman of the Committee on Arts (since 1936); *Chairman of the Committee for Higher Education (since 1936). The Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union also included, with an advisory vote, representatives of the republics of the Soviet Union, members of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union, chairman of the

Joint State Political Directorate The Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU; russian: Объединённое государственное политическое управление) was the intelligence and state security service and secret police of the Soviet Union f ...

and manager of the

Central Statistical Directorate The Central Statistical Administration (or Board or Directorate) (russian: Центральное Статистическое Управление), abbreviated TsSU (russian: ЦСУ), was the main statistical organization of the former Soviet U ...

. In addition, chairmen of the Council of People’s Commissars of the Union Republics and, by special resolution of the Council of People’s Commissars of the Soviet Union, other persons were allowed to participate in meetings of the Council of People’s Commissars of the Soviet Union.Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union. Resolution of November 12, 1923
"Regulations on the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union"
with amendments and additions of October 24, 1924. Throughout the activities of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union, the number and names of government bodies changed several times due to the creation of new institutions and the separation, merger and abolition of previously created ones. The composition of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union was changed accordingly.

Subordination

According to the 1924 Constitution of the Soviet Union, the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union was subordinate to the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union and its Presidium, which had the right to suspend and repeal the decrees and orders of the Council of People's Commissars, as well as the orders of the People's Commissars of the Soviet Union, with the apparent discrepancy of the order of the Union Constitution, legislation of the Soviet Union or the legislation of the Union Republic. Since 1938, the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union was formed by the Supreme Council of the Soviet Union and was accountable to it (and in the intervals between sessions – to the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Soviet Union).

Authority

The Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union, within the limits of the rights granted to it and on the basis of the Statute on the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union, had the following powers: *The publication of decrees and resolutions binding on the entire territory of the Soviet Union; *Consideration at its meetings of decrees and resolutions introduced by both individual commissariats of the Soviet Union and the Central Executive Committees of the Union republics and their presidiums; *Development of regulations on people's commissariats, which entered into force after approval by the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union; *Appointment of members of colleges – advisory and administrative bodies at the people's commissariats of the Soviet Union; *Cancellation of orders of individual commissariats of the Soviet Union; *The union and direction of the work of the All-Union and All-Republican People's Commissariats; *The adoption of measures to implement the national economic plan and the state budget; *Strengthening the monetary system; *Ensuring public order; *Implementation of general leadership in the field of foreign relations with foreign countries. The Council of People’s Commissars of the Soviet Union did not have the authority to appoint and dismiss the People’s Commissars of the Soviet Union and their deputies, members of the collegiums of the Union People’s Commissariats, as well as the leaders of a number of bodies under the Council of People’s Commissars of the Soviet Union. This right belonged to the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union, and from 1936 to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, which exercised this right between sessions of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union and subsequently submitted for approval by the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. However, the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union was given the right to select and submit candidates for approval.

Relations with republican authorities

Each federal and

autonomous republic An autonomous republic is a type of administrative division similar to a province or state. A significant number of autonomous republics can be found within the successor states of the Soviet Union, but the majority are located within Russia. M ...

had its own governments – republican councils of people's commissars – formed by the Central Executive Committee (since 1938 the Supreme Council) of the respective union or autonomous republic. Republican governments were not legally subordinate to the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union, but they were obliged in their activities to be guided by the decrees and decisions of the All-Union Council of People's Commissars. At the same time, the union-republican commissariats of the republican councils of the people's commissioners had double subordination – they simultaneously submitted to the council of the people's commissars of the union republic, within the framework of which they were created, and to the corresponding all-republic people's commissariat of the Soviet Union, orders and instructions which should have been guided in their activities. In contrast to the union republican people's commissariats of the union republic, the republican people's commissariats were subordinate only to the council of the people's commissars of the corresponding union republic.

Governing bodies

Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union

Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union was the head of the Soviet government. The appointment to the post of chairman was carried out with the approval of the composition of the government at the session of the

(since 1938 – the

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Верховный Совет Союза Советских Социалистических Республик, r=Verkhovnyy Sovet Soyuza Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respubl ...

). ;Chairmen of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union *

(July 6, 1923 – January 21, 1924); *

(February 2, 1924 – December 19, 1930); *

Vyacheslav Molotov Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov. ; (;. 9 March Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O._S._25_February.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O. S. 25 February">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dat ...

(December 19, 1930 – May 6, 1941); *

(May 6, 1941 – March 15, 1946). Under the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union, there was a staff of his deputies.

Administration of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union

;Managers of the Council of People’s Commissars of the Soviet Union *

Nikolai Gorbunov Nikolai Petrovich Gorbunov (russian: Николай Петрович Горбунов) (21 June 1892 – 7 September 1938) was a Soviet politician, chemist, engineer and academic; at one time personal secretary to leader Vladimir Lenin. Biograp ...

(July 17, 1923 – December 29, 1930); *

Platon Kerzhentsev Platon Mikhailovich Kerzhentsev (russian: Плато́н Миха́йлович Ке́рженцев), (real name Lebedev (Ле́бедев), pseudonym V. Kerzhentsev) (4 August 1881 – 2 June 1940) was a Soviet state and party official, rev ...

(December 29, 1930 – March 23, 1933); * (March 23, 1933 – March 29, 1937); * (March 29, 1937 – July 31, 1937); * (July 31, 1937 – November 5, 1938); * Ivan Bolshakov (December 17, 1938 – June 4, 1939); * (June 10, 1939 – November 14, 1940); * (November 14, 1940 – March 15, 1946).

People's Commissariats

The Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union was formed from the leaders of the central bodies of state administration – the people's commissars of the Soviet Union. According to the Constitution of 1924, the people's commissariats of the Soviet Union were divided into all-union and united. All-Union People's Commissariats had authorized representatives in the republics, who were directly subordinate to the Allied People's Commissariats. United People's Commissariats acted through a network of like-minded people's commissariats of the Union republics, which fulfilled the tasks of the corresponding union people's commissariat. Since 1936, the people's commissariats of the Soviet Union began to be subdivided into all-union and union-republican ones. Also changed the order of their activities. All-Union People's Commissars managed the branch of state administration entrusted to them throughout the entire Soviet Union directly or through the organs appointed by them, while the All-Republican People's Commissariats of the Soviet Union operated, as a rule, through the same-named People's Commissariats of the Union Republics and managed only a certain limited number of activities directly according to the list approved by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union.

Subordinate bodies

The Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union had the right to create, reorganize and abolish subordinate institutions, which were directly subordinate to the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union.

Official publications

*The newspaper "''

Izvestia ''Izvestia'' ( rus, Известия, p=ɪzˈvʲesʲtʲɪjə, "The News") is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Russia. Founded in 1917, it was a newspaper of record in the Soviet Union until the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991, and describes i ...

''" – in different years of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union, was published under various names: **" Proceedings of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Soviets of Workers, Peasants, Red Army and Cossack Deputies" (News of the Central Executive Committee and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, 1923–1938);On the official newspaper of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union: Decree of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union of July 13, 1923. **" Proceedings of the Soviets of Workers of the Soviet Union" (1938–1946); *"Bulletin of the Central Executive Committee, the Council of People's Commissars and the Council of Labor and Defense of the Soviet Union" (1923–1924); *"Collection of laws and regulations of the Workers' and Peasants' Government of the Soviet Union"On the order of publication of the laws and orders of the Government of the Soviet Union: Decree of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union and the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union of August 22, 1924. (1924–1938); *"Collection of decrees and orders of the Government of the Soviet Union" (1938–1946).

References

External links

The rulers of Russia and the Soviet Union, biographical and chronological reference
* State power of the Soviet Union. The highest authorities and their heads. 1923–1991. Historical and biographical directory. / Compiled by Vladimir Ivkin. Moscow 1999. * ''Nelidov''
Council of Ministers
// Soviet historical encyclopedia: edited by Yevgeny Zhukov. – Moscow: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1973–1982.

{{Authority control Government of the Soviet Union