The Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union was the head of government of the Soviet Union during the existence of the

Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union The Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union was the highest collegial body of executive and administrative authority of the Soviet Union from 1923 to 1946. As the government of the Soviet Union, the Council of People's Commissars of ...

from 1923 to 1946.

History

The post of chair of the

– the head of the executive body of the

Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union The Central Executive Committee of the USSR (), which may be abbreviated as the CEC (), was the supreme governing body of the USSR in between sessions of the All-Union Congress of Soviets from 1922 to 1938. The Central Executive Committee elec ...

– was established by the Treaty on the Formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which entered into force after approval by the First Congress of Soviets at a meeting on 30 December 1922. The first chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union was appointed to the post at the 2nd session of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union on 6 July 1923.

1923–1930

The appointment of

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

to the post of the first chair of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union on 6 July 1923, was of purely symbolic significance, since Lenin's poor state of health did not allow him to actively engage in public affairs and since May 1923 he had been left without a break in the Gorky residence near Moscow under the supervision of doctors. Before the death of Lenin in 1924, the actual leadership of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union was carried out by

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 Premier of the Soviet Union, Soviet Union from 1924 to 1929 and 1924 t ...

. Having replaced Lenin as head of government, Alexei Rykov actively pursued a

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, ...

and in the late 1920s opposed its curtailment. Together with

Nikolai Bukharin Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin (; rus, Николай Иванович Бухарин, p=nʲɪkɐˈlaj ɪˈvanəvʲɪdʑ bʊˈxarʲɪn; – 15 March 1938) was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and Marxist theorist. A prominent Bolshevik ...

and

Mikhail Tomsky Mikhail Pavlovich Tomsky (''Russian:'' Михаи́л Па́влович То́мский), born Mikhail Pavlovich Yefremov (''Russian:'' Ефре́мов) (31 October 1880 – 22 August 1936) was a factory worker, trade unionist, and Soviet poli ...

, he opposed Stalin in a discussion about

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- ...

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

''. My Life. Volume 2 – Moscow: Book, 1990 – and against forcing

industrialization Industrialisation (British English, UK) American and British English spelling differences, or industrialization (American English, US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an i ...

, opposed the adoption of a five-year economic development planning system, which caused dissatisfaction with the party elite.

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

told the writer

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (; ), was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an aut ...

: "We are thinking of changing Rykov, he is getting confused at the feet!", to which Rykov directly told Stalin: "Your policy does not smell like an economy!". In the fall of 1929, he publicly admitted his "mistakes", losing to Stalin. According to Polish historian, Marian Kamil Dziewanowski, Rykov was placed in the position of Chairman of the Soviet Union due to support from Stalin as part of a wider effort to build an alliance in the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

. Dziewanowski argued that Trotsky rather than Rykov would have been the natural successor to Lenin had he accepted the position of

Vice Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

. In 1924–1929, Rykov, simultaneously with the post of head of government of the Soviet Union, served as chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic. In December 1930, he was removed from the post of chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union and was soon appointed People's Commissar of Posts and Telegraphs of the Soviet Union.

1930–1941

The place of Alexey Rykov as chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union was taken by

Vyacheslav Molotov Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov (; – 8 November 1986) was a Soviet politician, diplomat, and revolutionary who was a leading figure in the government of the Soviet Union from the 1920s to the 1950s, as one of Joseph Stalin's closest allies. ...

, who held this position for the longest term (more than 10 years) and combined the post of head of government with other positions: chairman of the

Council of Labor and Defense The Council of Labor and Defense ()Sovet truda i oborony, Latin acronym: STO), first established as the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense in November 1918, was an agency responsible for the central management of the economy and production ...

, Defense Committee, Economic Council under the Council People's Commissars of the Soviet Union, and since 1939 – People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union. On 6 May 1941, Molotov was relieved of his post as chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union, taking the post of deputy head of government. The official reason for Molotov's resignation was his many requests, motivated by the difficulty to fulfill the duties of head of government along with the duties of the People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs. According to some historians, the real reasons for the removal of Molotov from the leadership of the government were

's personal dislike and the latter's decision to take the post of chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union to concentrate the party and executive state power in a difficult international situation on the eve of Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union.

1941–1946

During the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...

, from 30 June 1941, to 4 September 1945, all power in the Soviet Union belonged to the

State Defense Committee The State Defense Committee () was an extraordinary organ of state power in the Soviet Union during the German-Soviet War, also called the Great Patriotic War, with complete state power in the country. General scope The Soviets set up the GKO ...

of the Soviet Union under the leadership of

, who during this period combined the position of chairman of the State Defense Committee of the Soviet Union with posts Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union and People's Commissar of Defense. During the war, the activities of the People's Commissariats of the Soviet Union were subordinate to the State Committee of Defense of the Soviet Union, which did not have its own apparatus and relied on the administrative resources of the

People's Commissariat A People's Commissariat (; 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 1917–1946 which functioned as the central executive ...

s. By a decree of the State Defense Committee on 15 October 1941, the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union, together with other bodies of state power and administration, was evacuated to the city of Kuibyshev, however, Joseph Stalin, being the chairman of the State Committee of Defense of the Soviet Union and the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, remained in Moscow. In 1946, in connection with the transformation of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union 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 ˌɛsˌɛsˌɛsˈɛr), sometimes abbreviated as Sovmin or referred to as the ...

, the post of head of the government of the Soviet Union was changed to "

Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union The Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union was the head of the government of the Soviet Union during the existence of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union from 1946 to 1991. Powers The appointment of the Chairman of t ...

List of chairmen of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union and their deputies

Here are lists of chairmen of the

, first deputies and vice-chairmen of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union. The list of chairmen of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union is given in chronological order. For each chairman, alphabetical lists of his first deputies and deputies are given. Dates of a person's position are indicated in parentheses.

History

1923–1930

1930–1941

1941–1946

List of chairmen of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union and their deputies

References

See also