The Government of the Soviet Union (, 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 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 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 Government Length of tenure No. of first deputies No. of deputies No. of ministers No. of ministries No. of committees Lenin I — 5 19 12 1 Rykov I — 4 18 11 1 Rykov II — 4 20 11 1 Rykov III — 5 24 11 1 Rykov IV — 4 18 11 1 Rykov V — 4 25 13 1 Molotov I — 3 13 11 1 Molotov II 1 5 36 22 1 Molotov III — 4 Molotov IV 1 10 Stalin I 2 15 Stalin II 1 15 Stalin III 2 14 Malenkov I 4 9 Malenkov II 3 6 Bulganin 6 9 Khrushchev I 3 8 Khrushchev II 3 9 Kosygin I 4 9 Kosygin II 2 9 Kosygin III 2 12 Kosygin IV 2 13 Kosygin V 1 13 Tikhonov I 3 17 Tikhonov II 3 11 Ryzhkov I 5 20 140 71 4 Ryzhkov II 4 17 56 37 2 Pavlov 2 3 46 36 1 Silayev — 5 16 9 1

See also

Premier of the Soviet Union

External links Governments of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from 1917–1964 and 1964–1991