List of governments of the Soviet Union

The Government of the Soviet Union (Russian: Правительство СССР, Pravitel'stvo SSSR), formally the All-Union Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, commonly abbreviated to Soviet Government, was the main executive institution of government in the former Soviet Union. It was led by a chairman, but the office was commonly referred to as Premier of the Soviet Union. The premier was nominated by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) at the 1st Plenary Session of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union in the aftermath of national elections. Certain governments, such as Ryzhkov's II, had more than 100 other government members, serving as first deputy premiers, deputy premiers, government ministers or heads of state committees/commissions; they were chosen by the premier and confirmed by the Supreme Soviet. The Government of the Soviet Union exercised its executive powers in conformity with the constitution of the Soviet Union and legislation enacted by the Supreme Soviet. The first government was led by Vladimir Lenin, and the last government was led by Ivan Silayev.

Following the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR of 1922, the Russian Soviet Socialist Federative Republic, Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic, the Byelorussian Socialist Soviet Republic and the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic established the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The treaty established the government, which was later legitimised by the adoption of the first Soviet constitution in 1924. The 1924 constitution made the government responsible to the Congress of Soviets of the Soviet Union. In 1936, the state system was reformed with the enactment of a new constitution. It abolished the Congress of Soviets and established the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union in its place. At the 1st Plenary Session of the II Supreme Soviet in 1946 the government was renamed Council of Ministers. Minor changes were introduced with the enactment of the 1977 constitution. The CPSU's 19th All-Union Conference voted in favor of amending the constitution. It allowed for multi-candidate elections, established the Congress of People's Deputies and weakened the party's control over the Supreme Soviet. Later on 20 March 1991 the Supreme Soviet on Mikhail Gorbachev's suggestion amended the constitution to establish a presidential system. The Council of Ministers was abolished and replaced by a Cabinet of Ministers that was responsible to the President of the Soviet Union. The head of the Cabinet of Ministers was the Prime Minister of the Soviet Union. The government was forced to resign in the aftermath of the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, in which Prime Minister Valentin Pavlov participated in. In its place the Soviet state established what was supposed to be a transitory committee headed by Silayev to run the basic governmental functions until a new cabinet was appointed. On 26 December 1991 the Supreme Soviet dissolved the Soviet Union and therefore, the government of the Soviet Union.

Governments

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Government Premier First Deputy Premier(s) Took office Left office Legislature
Lenin I Vladimir Lenin None 6 July 1923 21 January 1924 Congress of Soviets I
Rykov I Alexei Rykov None 23 January 1924 2 February 1924 Congress of Soviets I
Rykov II None 2 February 1924 20 May 1925 Congress of Soviets II
Rykov III None 13 May 1925 18 April 1927 Congress of Soviets III
Rykov IV None 18 April 1927 20 May 1929 Congress of Soviets IV
Rykov V None 20 May 1929 19 December 1930 Congress of Soviets V
Molotov I Vyacheslav Molotov None 19 December 1930 8 March 1931 Congress of Soviets V
Molotov II Valerian Kuybyshev 8 March 1931 28 January 1935 Congress of Soviets VI
Molotov III None 28 January 1935 5 December 1936 Congress of Soviets VII
None 5 December 1936 12 December 1938 Supreme Soviet I
Molotov IV Nikolai Voznesensky 12 December 1937 6 May 1941
Stalin I Joseph Stalin Vyacheslav Molotov 6 May 1941 10 February 1946
Nikolai Voznesensky
Stalin II Vyacheslav Molotov 10 February 1946 12 March 1950 Supreme Soviet II
Stalin III Vyacheslav Molotov 12 March 1950 5 March 1953 Supreme Soviet III
Nikolai Bulganin
Malenkov I Georgy Malenkov Vyacheslav Molotov 6 March 1953 14 March 1954
Nikolai Bulganin
Lavrentiy Beria
Lazar Kaganovich
Malenkov II Vyacheslav Molotov 14 March 1954 8 February 1955 Supreme Soviet IV
Nikolai Bulganin
Lazar Kaganovich
Bulganin Nikolai Bulganin Vyacheslav Molotov 8 February 1955 27 March 1958
Lazar Kaganovich
Anastas Mikoyan
Mikhail Pervukhin
Maksim Saburov
Joseph Kuzmin
Khrushchev I Nikita Khrushchev Anastas Mikoyan 27 March 1958 18 March 1962 Supreme Soviet V
Frol Kozlov
Alexei Kosygin
Khrushchev II Anastas Mikoyan 18 March 1962 14 October 1964 Supreme Soviet VI
Alexei Kosygin
Dmitriy Ustinov
Kosygin I Alexei Kosygin Anastas Mikoyan 14 October 1964 12 June 1966
Dmitriy Ustinov
Kirill Mazurov
Dmitry Polyansky
Kosygin II Kirill Mazurov 12 June 1966 14 June 1970 Supreme Soviet VII
Dmitry Polyansky
Kosygin III Kirill Mazurov 14 June 1970 16 June 1974 Supreme Soviet VIII
Dmitry Polyansky
Kosygin IV Kirill Mazurov 16 June 1974 4 March 1979 Supreme Soviet IX
Nikolai Tikhonov
Kosygin V Nikolai Tikhonov 4 March 1979 23 October 1980 Supreme Soviet X
Tikhonov I Nikolai Tikhonov Ivan Arkhipov 23 October 1980 11 April 1984 Supreme Soviet X
Heydar Aliyev
Andrei Gromyko
Tikhonov II Ivan Arkhipov 11 April 1984 27 September 1985 Supreme Soviet XI
Heydar Aliyev
Andrei Gromyko
Ryzhkov I Nikolai Ryzhkov Ivan Arkhipov 27 September 1985 17 July 1989
Heydar Aliyev
Nikolai Talyzin
Vsevolod Murakhovsky
Yuri Maslyukov
Ryzhkov II Vsevolod Murakhovsky 17 July 1989 14 January 1991 Supreme Soviet XII-XIII
Yuri Maslyukov
Lev Voronin
Vladilen Nikitin
Pavlov Valentin Pavlov Vladimir Velichko 14 January 1991 28 August 1991
Vitaly Doguzhiev
Silayev Ivan Silayev None 28 August 1991 25 December 1991

Statistics

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Government Length of tenure No. of first deputies No. of deputies No. of ministers No. of ministries No. of committees
Lenin I 199 days 5 19 12 1
Rykov I 10 days 4 18 11 1
Rykov II 1 year, 107 days 4 20 11 1
Rykov III 1 year, 341 days 5 24 11 1
Rykov IV 2 years, 32 days 4 18 11 1
Rykov V 1 year, 213 days 4 25 13 1
Molotov I 79 days 3 13 11 1
Molotov II 3 years, 326 days 1 5 36 22 1
Molotov III 3 years, 318 days 4
Molotov IV 3 years, 145 days 1 10
Stalin I 4 years, 280 days 2 15
Stalin II 4 years, 30 days 1 15
Stalin III 2 years, 358 days 2 14
Malenkov I 1 year, 8 days 4 9
Malenkov II 331 days 3 6
Bulganin 3 years, 47 days 6 9
Khrushchev I 3 years, 356 days 3 8
Khrushchev II 2 years, 210 days 3 9
Kosygin I 1 year, 241 days 4 9
Kosygin II 4 years, 2 days 2 9
Kosygin III 4 years, 2 days 2 12
Kosygin IV 4 years, 263 days 2 13
Kosygin V 1 year, 233 days 1 13
Tikhonov I 3 years, 171 days 3 17
Tikhonov II 1 year, 169 days 3 11
Ryzhkov I 3 years, 293 days 5 20 140 71 4
Ryzhkov II 1 year, 181 days 4 17 56 37 2
Pavlov 226 days 2 3 46 36 1
Silayev 119 days 5 16 9 1

See also

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